13 h 19 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 does the law owe an innocent man when a warship’s safety comes first?
In Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, a cheerful young sailor leaves the merchant ship Rights of Man for the British warship Bellipotent. It is 1797, and recent mutinies weigh on the fleet. Billy wins affection easily, but John Claggart, the powerful master-at-arms, feels a hatred for him that has no clear cause.
Captain Edward Fairfax Vere is drawn to Billy, yet remains loyal to rank and law. Between the trusting sailor, the hostile officer and the thoughtful captain, duty presses against conscience. This volume brings the short novel together with shorter prose by Melville, whose narrator pauses to explore history, human nature and the sea.
What you’ll discover
- Innocence under pressure Meet a good-natured sailor whose trusting nature leaves him exposed to another man’s hatred.
- A ship on edge Step aboard the Bellipotent, where recent mutinies make order a matter of urgent concern.
- A captain’s divided loyalties Consider Vere’s difficult position as sympathy for Billy meets his commitment to command.
- The texture of sea life Find rope, deck and watch described with detail drawn from Melville’s own years at sea.
- Questions without easy answers Weigh the safety of the many against the fairness owed to one innocent man.
Who will love it
For readers who love sea stories, moral puzzles, and questions of duty and justice. It also suits anyone curious about Melville beyond Moby-Dick.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A beloved sailor leaves the Rights of Man
- The warship Bellipotent in anxious times
- Claggart, the master-at-arms, takes a dislike
- Captain Vere, a thoughtful man of duty
- Law, conscience and the limits of fairness
- How Melville tells it and what the other pieces add
Who’s who
- Billy BuddA handsome, trusting young foretopman, impressed into the navy, who has no guile and stammers when he is badly shaken.
- John ClaggartThe master-at-arms, a pale, orderly officer who commands fear below decks and feels a hatred for Billy that has no clear cause.
- Captain Edward Fairfax VereThe reserved, bookish captain of the Bellipotent, loyal to rank and law, who is drawn to Billy yet must command him.
- The DanskerAn old, wary sailor who watches Billy with sour amusement and seems to sense the trouble that is coming.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- 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.
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Billy Budd et autres récits en prose
On a British warship, a trusting young sailor faces an officer's hatred as law and conscience pull apart.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Billy Budd is the last story Herman Melville wrote. He worked on it from about 1888 until his death in 1891 and left the manuscript unfinished among his papers.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A beloved sailor leaves the Rights of Man
The story opens with a portrait of Billy Budd, a young seaman of about twenty-one who serves on a merchant ship called the Rights of Man. He is strikingly handsome, strong, cheerful and good-natured. The crew treat him almost as a favorite child, and even the rough men on board soften around him.
Then a British warship stops the merchant vessel. In those years Britain was at war with France and short of sailors, so naval officers could take men from passing ships. This was called impressment. Billy is chosen, and to the surprise of his shipmates he goes without complaint, bidding farewell to the ship he is leaving in a cheerful way that carries an irony Melville does not miss.
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What is Billy Budd about?
It is a short novel about a young, innocent sailor on a British warship in 1797. He is hated by the master-at-arms, and the captain must weigh naval law against conscience when trouble comes.
When did Melville write Billy Budd and when was it published?
Melville worked on it from about 1888 until he died in 1891 and left it unfinished. It was first published in 1924, long after his death.
Is Billy Budd a true story?
It is fiction, though built on real history. The setting is the British navy in 1797 after the Spithead and Nore mutinies, and Melville drew on his own experience at sea.
The author
Herman Melville
1819–1891 · American novelist and poet
Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He was born and died in New York City and also lived in Massachusetts. He published Moby-Dick in 1851, Pierre in 1852, and The Confidence-Man in 1857. His unfinished Billy Budd was published after his death, in 1924.
More by Herman Melville
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