21 h 45 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 21 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What must a gifted young man hide when birth matters more than talent?
Julien Sorel is clever, proud, and poor—a carpenter's son who dreams of Napoleon's glory. With a military path closed to him, he looks to the Church for a way up. A tutor's place in Monsieur de Rênal's household brings him close to comfort, rank, and the mayor's gentle wife.
In Stendhal's The Red and the Black, ambition leads Julien from provincial life to a seminary and a powerful Paris household. Madame de Rênal discovers love with him; Mathilde de la Mole longs for a hero unlike her predictable suitors. Among priests, nobles, and watchful servants, Julien must weigh what he feels against what he hopes to become.
What you’ll discover
- Talent against rank Follow a gifted outsider whose hopes depend on the very society that limits him.
- Love in different worlds Meet two women whose contrasting desires draw Julien beyond his plans for advancement.
- Lessons in hiding Enter a seminary where rivalry, spies, and small cruelties teach Julien to conceal himself.
- Pride behind polite manners Watch money and social standing shape choices in a mayor's home and a Paris mansion.
- A narrator who teases Enjoy a narrator who comments on his characters and invites you to question them.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love sharp portraits of ambition, secret love stories, and fierce young heroes who watch themselves closely. It also suits anyone curious about politics, class and the Church in nineteenth century France.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A small town where profit rules everything
- A carpenter's son is hired as tutor
- A first love grows between tutor and mother
- Guilt and gossip break up the happiness
- The seminary teaches Julien the cost of ambition
- Paris opens the great house of the Marquis de la Mole
- Mathilde turns love into a proud contest
- Ambition and real feeling pull against each other
- Class, Church and hypocrisy shape every choice
- A watchful narrator tells the chronicle of 1830
Who’s who
- Julien SorelA carpenter's son with a prodigious memory and fierce pride, he hides a love of Napoleon and plans to rise through the Church.
- Madame de RênalThe mayor's gentle, sheltered wife, devoted to her three sons, she finds in the young tutor a tenderness she has never known.
- M. de RênalThe vain mayor of Verrières, he measures everything by rank and money and hires a tutor to impress the town.
- Abbé PirardStern, honest director of the Besançon seminary, he becomes Julien's protector and sends him toward a career in Paris.
- Marquis de la MoleA powerful nobleman with sharp business sense and changing moods, he makes Julien his secretary and begins to trust him.
- Mathilde de la MoleThe marquis's proud, bored daughter, she longs for a love as daring as her ancestor's and chooses Julien as her hero.
- Curé ChélanThe old priest of Verrières who taught Julien theology, he sees through him and fears for his soul.
- FouquéJulien's loyal friend, a timber merchant in the mountains, he offers an honest life and help whenever Julien is in need.
Formats and delivery
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- Large print hardcover
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Rot und Schwarz: Eine Chronik des Jahres 1830
by Stendhal · 1830
A carpenter's son learns the Latin New Testament by heart, conceals his love of Napoleon and schemes his way to Paris.
Challenging10–20 hours to readDeutsch
Learn a language with challenging classicsSpanischFranzösischDeutschItalienischJapanischPortugiesischEnglischHow we measure levels
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In short
What would you do if the only way up were to pretend to be someone you are not? Julien Sorel, a sawmill owner's son in a small town in the Jura mountains, makes that choice at eighteen.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A small town where profit rules everything
The story opens in Verrières, a pretty town with red-tiled roofs, a rushing torrent and a nail factory that shakes the street. Its master is M. de Rênal, the mayor. He is a proud man with decorations, and he is ashamed that his wealth comes from trade.
Stendhal shows his character through small acts. The mayor builds a tall wall for a public walk and has the plane trees trimmed twice a year because he likes shade. He can think of no other use for a tree unless it earns money. He is an Ultra, a supporter of king and Church, and his rival M. Valenod, the workhouse director, cheats the poor while boasting of his Norman horses.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1830
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 14 h 10 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Stendhal. The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830.
Stendhal. (2026). The red and the black: A chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830 (Original work published 1830)
Stendhal. The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830.
@book{stendhal2026red,
author = {Stendhal},
title = {The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830},
note = {First published 1830}
}
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What is The Red and the Black about?
It follows Julien Sorel, a poor young man from a mountain town who tries to rise in France through the Church. His ambition leads him into a love affair with a mayor's wife, the seminary, and a powerful Paris household.
What do the red and the black mean in the title?
Most readers take them to stand for the army and the Church, the two careers open to an ambitious young Frenchman after Napoleon's fall. Some also see passion and death in the colors.
Is The Red and the Black based on a true story?
Stendhal drew on a real court case of the 1820s, and he subtitled the book A Chronicle of 1830 because it paints actual French society. Julien and the other characters are invented, though.
The author
Stendhal
1783–1842 · French novelist
Stendhal was the pen name of Henri Beyle, a French writer born in Grenoble in 1783. He lived in France and Italy and died in Paris in 1842. He wrote On Love (1822) and the novels The Red and the Black (1830) and The Charterhouse of Parma (1839).
More by Stendhal
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