Two hundred years after the first appearance of Henry Fielding's classic novel, new generations of readers discover and proclaim it as one of the most vital works of fiction in all literature.  Its sparkling wit and satire, its magnificent gallery of characters, its ridicule of the pretensions and tolerance of the frailties of mankind, and, above all, its absorbing story, assure the permanence of Tom Jones through the ages.  The inclusion of this perennial favorite of English literature as the fifty-fourth title in the Modern Library Giant series will be welcomed by educators, students and readers in and out of schools. It is a volume to be read and re-read and treasured.