Doing for Jane Austen what Malaria did for travel in Asia, Pride and Perpetration is a story that includes improbable adventures, a very odd druid, and a dinosaur called Fluff. In the year 2047, the world is laid waste. It is a frightening, post-apocalyptic land where existence is divided into a series of kingdoms ruled by dark magic. London is mostly in ruins, with a few ragged inhabitants, but no other city survives in this broken landscape. Commander Fitz Darcy is the leader of a team of elite mercenaries, hired to protect the treasures of a powerful-and somewhat unpleasant-sorcerer. A chance meeting with a dance troupe turns his stable world upside down, especially when he makes the acquaintance of Beth, a charismatic dancer and part-time palaeontologist. She quickly dominates all his thoughts. When Fitz is wrongly accused of stealing a book of powerful magic from the sorcerer's library, he has to flee the castle, along with Beth. Pursued across the ruins of England through caves and flying towns, Fitz and Beth must find their way to a mysterious White Wizard, who might be their only hope to protect them, and bring about the downfall of dark magic.