Romola, George Eliot's only historical novel, always occupied a special place in her own affections. Looking back at the end of her career, she remarked `I could swear by every sentence as having been written with my best blook'. Henry James called it `on the whole the finest thing she wrote'. Yet since its first appearance the novel has perplexed many of George Eliot's admirers by the range and density of its historical references. The Clarendon Edition, based on the original Cornhill serialization with emendations from later authoritative editions, traces and explains the allusions and provides a comprehensive account of the composition and publishing history of the novel: it confirms Romola as one of George Eliot's greatest artistic achievements.