In this episode, Faulks looks at how the hero in literature and ideas of heroism have evolved over the last 300 years, from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to Martin Amis's John Self.

In episode two of Sebastian Faulks's series on the English novel, he looks at how literary lovers have taught us the truth about love, from Jane Austen's Mr Darcy to Alan Hollinghurst's Nick Guest.

Sebastian looks at how the characterization of the villain has grown in British novels over the past 3 centuries, from Lovelace in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa to Barbara in Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal.