Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Longlisted for the Man/Booker Prize for Fiction 2004 Film rights have been acquired by the studio behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy The year's most talked about debut is sure to become the year's biggest novel in paperback

In this title, readers can enter the dazzling world of 19th century magicians fighting Napoleon's advancing army - and fighting between themselvesTwo magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.