Jane Austen, still universally acknowledged at 250

By Rachel Lloyd, Deputy culture editor,The Economist

Few writers remain the height of fashion 250 years after they were born. No one talks about Charles Lamb as a must-read essayist, or Elizabeth Benger as a trendy poet. But two and a half centuries on from her birth (on December 16th 1775), Jane Austen stands unchallenged as the greatest romance novelist of all time. “Pride and Prejudice” alone has sold more than 20m copies. The coming year will be marked by declarations of admiration from her legions of fans around the world.