Barnaby Rudge

"Barnaby Rudge: a portrait of London's descent into anarchy, where 'King Mob' rules the streets, and innocent lives are swept up in the chaos. Set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge is a story of mystery and suspense which begins with an unsolved double murder and goes on to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution. Through the course of the novel fathers and sons become opposed, apprentices plot against their masters and Protestants clash with Catholics on the streets. And, as London erupts into riot, Barnaby Rudge himself struggles to escape the curse of his own past. Hard times: Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school owner and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and his family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from young minds. As a consequence his young daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman and “bully of humility” Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery. And, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and victimized weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognize the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery"--Penguin Books.

Provides an account of the 'No Popery' riots that were instigated by Lord George Gordon in 1780, and terrorised London for days. This novel tells the tale of a long unsolved murder, and a romance that combines forbidden love, passion, treachery and heroism.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Barnaby Rudge’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Charles Dickens’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Dickens includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Barnaby Rudge’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Dickens’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Barnaby Rudge, a novel by Charles Dickens, was initially published serially and later on, as a book in 1841. This was Dickens’s first attempt at a historical novel. Set in the late 18th century, it presents with great vigour and understanding the spectacle of large-scale mob violence. In what was a case of mistaken identity, Barnaby Rudge, the intellectually disabled son of a murderer, is arrested as a leader of a mob of anti-Catholic rioters. He is jailed and sentenced to death, but he is pardoned at the scaffold. Although it is one of his less popular novels, many called it "one of Dickens's most neglected, but most rewarding, novels.” Set in the year 1775, the plot of Barnaby Rudge revolves around John Willet, proprietor of the Maypole, and his three cronies. Solomon Daisy, one of the three, tells an ill-kempt stranger at the inn a well-known local tale of the murder of Reuben Haredale which had occurred 22 years earlier on that very day. After the murder, Reuben's gardener and steward went missing and were suspects in the crime.

Barnaby Rudge is a story of a forbidden love in the time of great London riots in 1780. Both Edward's father, John Chester, and Emma's uncle, the Catholic Geoffrey Haredale – these two are sworn enemies – oppose their union after Sir John untruthfully convinces Geoffrey that Edward's intentions are dishonourable. Sir John intends to marry Edward to a woman with a rich inheritance, to support John's expensive lifestyle and to pay off his debtors. Edward quarrels with his father and leaves home for the West Indies.

The late Mr Waterton having, some time ago, expressed his opinion that ravens are gradually becoming extinct in England, I offered the few following words about my experience of these birds. The raven in this story is a compound of two great originals, of whom I was, at different times, the proud possessor. The first was in the bloom of his youth, when he was discovered in a modest retirement in London, by a friend of mine, and given to me. He had from the first, as Sir Hugh Evans says of Anne Page, 'good gifts', which he improved by study and attention in a most exemplary manner. He slept in a stable—generally on horseback—and so terrified a Newfoundland dog by his preternatural sagacity, that he has been known, by the mere superiority of his genius, to walk off unmolested with the dog's dinner, from before his face. He was rapidly rising in acquirements and virtues, when, in an evil hour, his stable was newly painted. He observed the workmen closely, saw that they were careful of the paint, and immediately burned to possess it.