25 h 18 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man telling you about murder speaks with the calm pride of a craftsman?
In Meadows Taylor’s Confessions of a Thug, Ameer Ali sits before an English officer and tells his life story. Captured, but not pleading for pity, he describes his place among travelling killers on India’s roads. His calm voice draws you close to a brotherhood whose loyalty goes hand in hand with cruelty.
Ameer Ali explains how the band moves among ordinary travellers, hiding behind the appearance of merchants, pilgrims or soldiers. He recalls its rules, rites and friendships, and claims that the goddess Bhowani guides its work. As his account unfolds, you must decide how far to trust a man who takes pride in his deadly trade.
What you’ll discover
- A captive’s unsettling voice Hear Ameer Ali describe terrible acts with the steady confidence of a skilled worker.
- Danger among ordinary travellers Follow a band whose everyday disguises conceal its purpose on the roads of India.
- The rules of brotherhood Explore the roles, rites and loyalties that hold Ameer Ali’s band together.
- Faith in the telling Discover how Ameer Ali invokes Bhowani, omens and religious duty to explain the band’s actions.
- Tenderness beside cruelty Meet men whose warmth toward friends and families sits uneasily beside their violence.
Who will love it
For readers who love first person narratives, colonial history and dark subjects seen from the inside. It also suits anyone curious about how fear of the Thugs shaped British views of India.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A killer tells his story calmly
- A young man is drawn into the brotherhood
- The band works like a trade
- Faith, omens and the goddess Bhowani
- Loyalty and cruelty live side by side
- What the book means and how it is told
Who’s who
- Ameer AliA Muslim Thug who tells his life story to an English officer, proud of his skill and loyal to his band.
- FeringeeaA Thug leader drawn from a real figure of the period, skilled, feared and respected within the brotherhood.
- The English officerThe silent listener who hears Ameer Ali's account and stands for the British effort to end Thuggee.
- BhowaniThe goddess in whose name the Thugs claim to act, whose omens and rites govern their work.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 25 h 18 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Confesiones de un thug in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Confesiones de un thug
by Meadows Taylor · 1839
A captured killer tells an English officer how brotherhood, faith and loyalty govern murder on the roads of India.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Confessions of a Thug is a novel by Philip Meadows Taylor, published in 1839. Taylor was an Englishman who served in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and he wrote the book while the British were hunting down the bands known as Thugs.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A killer tells his story calmly
The book opens with a frame. An English officer sits down to hear the life of Ameer Ali, a Thug who has been taken and has agreed to speak. In the language of the time, such a man is an approver, someone who gives evidence against his old companions in return for his life. Taylor builds the whole novel on this arrangement.
Ameer Ali is not a raving villain. He is courteous, fluent and often cheerful as he talks. He treats the listener as a guest who has asked about a craft, and he explains terms as a teacher might. That calm is the first thing a reader notices, and it is meant to unsettle.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Confesiones de un thug
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Confessions of a Thug about?
It is a novel in which Ameer Ali, a captured Thug, tells an English officer how he joined a band of travelling stranglers, learned their methods and lived by their religion and code of loyalty.
Is Confessions of a Thug a true story?
No, Ameer Ali is an invented narrator. Taylor wrote it in 1839 using real accounts and reports from the British campaign against the Thugs, so many details reflect what real captured Thugs were said to have told.
Who were the Thugs?
The Thugs were bands of professional killers who travelled the roads of India, joined travellers and strangled them for their goods. British officials of the 1830s said they worshipped the goddess Bhowani, though historians debate how much of that picture is accurate.
The author
Meadows Taylor
1808–1876 · British administrator and novelist
Philip Meadows Taylor was a British administrator and novelist. He was born in Liverpool in 1808 and went to India in 1824. He worked there for many years, including as an administrator in Shorapur. His novel Confessions of a Thug appeared in 1839. He died in Menton, France, in 1876.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
