Mr. Slope believed he could outsmart the lady and had no doubt about his ultimate triumph. "Barchester Towers" (1857) was the book that established Trollope's reputation, and it remains his most popular and entertaining work. The arrival of a new bishop in Barchester, accompanied by his impressive wife and the ambitious chaplain Obadiah Slope, throws the town into turmoil as Archdeacon Grantly declares "War, war, civil war!" against Bishop Proudie and his supporters. Who will emerge victorious in the battle between the Archdeacon, the Bishop, Mr. Slope, and Mrs. Proudie? The livelihood of Mr. Harding, the saintly hero of "The Warden," is once again threatened, yet the ecclesiastical war becomes entangled in the willful and sometimes perverse desires of the many courtiers, temptations, and romances in the book. Who will marry Eleanor Bold? Can any man resist the charm of the exotically beautiful woman?.