Later in the 19th century George Eliot's (1819–1880) "" (1871–72), described by novelists Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language, is a work of realism. Through the voices and opinions of different characters the reader becomes aware of important issues of the day, including the Reform Bill of 1832, the beginnings of the railways, and the state of contemporary medical science. "Middlemarch" also shows the deeply reactionary mindset within a settled community facing the prospect of what to many is unwelcome social, political and technological change.