John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi Book

Barely 60 pages in hardcover, this is an introduction to Pride and Prejudice that probably won't tell you anything new if you've read the book and might be hard to understand if you haven't. It has a synopsis and a list of major characters along with a short Austen biography, an introduction by Bloom, and a sampling of critics' reactions. It's not a difficult read, except that the criticism includes references to other Austen works without always naming them, so someone unfamiliar with Pride and Prejudice might get a bit lost.

The back cover probably explains this book: "a definitive guide for independent study and a single source for footnoting essays and research papers." Otherwise I wouldn't be sure what its purpose is. Better to just read the novel itself, which is excellent.