The Book and the Brotherhood is the 23rd novel of Iris Murdoch, first published in 1987. Considered by some critics to be among her best novels, it is the story of a circle of Oxford University graduates in 1980s England. The eponymous book is a theoretical work on Marxism which is to be written by a member of the group. After graduating from university the friends had agreed to finance the writing of this book as 'brotherhood' but grow uneasy as no written work is in sight and the stipend continues to be paid. উৎস: Wikipedia (en)