11 h 2 minAudiobook12 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 happens when a city can send pictures across distances but leaves its poor with nothing to hope for?
In Ignatius Donnelly’s Caesar’s Column, Gabriel Weltstein travels from a farming community in Uganda to New York to sell produce. The year is 1988. Airships and electric light dazzle him, but misery sits beside towering wealth. In letters to his brother Heinrich, Gabriel describes a city where a few men own nearly everything.
Maximilian Petion helps Gabriel see how power works behind the glitter. Prince Cabano embodies the ruling class, while Estella Washington, a governess with little money, draws Gabriel’s heart. Beneath this divided city, the Brotherhood of Destruction gathers. Its leader, Caesar Lomellini, wants to break the rich by force, turning anger toward a violent reckoning.
What you’ll discover
- A dazzling, divided city Explore a future where airships and bright towers stand beside poverty and fear.
- Letters from an outsider Follow Gabriel’s hopes and fears as he tells his brother what New York reveals.
- Love amid the fear Meet Estella Washington, whose modest circumstances place Gabriel’s love within the city’s stark divide.
- Anger beneath the glitter Encounter a secret brotherhood that sees force as the answer to the power of wealth.
- A blunt political warning Consider Donnelly’s argument that concentrated wealth leaves democracy hollow and society in danger.
Who will love it
For readers who love early science fiction, American history of the Gilded Age, and political stories that argue a case. A city of airships, towering wealth, and secret revolt brings questions of power and freedom to life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A shepherd from Uganda writes home
- New York shows Gabriel its two faces
- Maximilian Petion opens his eyes
- The oligarchs and their glittering palaces
- Love enters a world of fear
- The Brotherhood of Destruction gathers
- What the story says about wealth and power
- A prophecy with a blind spot
- How the book is told and built
Who’s who
- Gabriel WeltsteinA young, honest man from a Ugandan farming colony who travels to New York to sell produce and writes home about what he sees.
- Heinrich WeltsteinGabriel's brother back in Uganda, the person to whom Gabriel addresses his letters and confides his hopes and fears.
- Maximilian PetionAn educated New Yorker who teaches Gabriel how the city is ruled and who is tied to the secret movement against it.
- Prince CabanoA polished, powerful master of wealth in New York who stands for the confident ruling class.
- Estella WashingtonA thoughtful young woman of modest means who is uneasy about the world around her and draws Gabriel's heart.
- Caesar LomelliniThe hard, brilliant leader of the Brotherhood of Destruction, who is set on breaking the power of the rich by force.
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- Audiobook
- 11 h 2 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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La columna de César
by Ignatius Donnelly · 1890
Gabriel comes to New York to sell produce and finds a city ruled by wealth, where a secret brotherhood plans revolt.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Caesar's Column is a novel of the future written by Ignatius Donnelly, a Minnesota politician and reformer. It first appeared in 1890 under the pen name Edmund Boisgilbert.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A shepherd from Uganda writes home
The book opens with Gabriel Weltstein writing to his brother Heinrich. He explains who he is and where he comes from. His family belongs to a colony in Uganda, founded by people of Swiss descent who left Europe to build a simpler life. They farm and herd animals in a high, healthy country, and they govern themselves by plain rules. Gabriel has grown up in that peace.
The colony has produce to sell, and Gabriel is sent out into the wider world to find buyers. This is the practical reason for his trip. It also lets Donnelly place an honest outsider in front of a corrupt society. Gabriel is clever and brave, but he knows little of city tricks. He believes that people deal fairly with each other, because that is how he was raised.
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What is Caesar's Column about?
It is a novel set in 1988, told through letters from Gabriel Weltstein, a visitor from Uganda. He finds New York ruled by a rich oligarchy over a suffering working class, while a secret brotherhood plans revolt.
When was Caesar's Column written?
Ignatius Donnelly published it in 1890 under the pen name Edmund Boisgilbert. It reflects the Gilded Age, when farmers and workers fought monopolies, and it was written to support the cause of reform.
Why is it called Caesar's Column?
The title names a monument tied to the revolutionary leader Caesar Lomellini and the uprising he leads. It stands as the book's central, shocking symbol of what a violent upheaval might bring.
The author
Ignatius Donnelly
1831–1901 · American politician and writer
Ignatius Donnelly (1831–1901) was an American politician and writer. He was born in Philadelphia and later lived in Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. His books included Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882) and the novel Caesar’s Column (1890).
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