2 h 3 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 happens when the most honest town around finally gets a good reason to lie?
Hadleyburg guards its reputation for honesty with fierce pride. Then a stranger arrives at the home of bank cashier Edward Richards and his wife, Mary, leaving a sack that puts their principles under pressure. Offended by the town's self-regard, he plans a quiet revenge: a test of whether its goodness is real.
A bag of gold, a mysterious letter and an approaching public meeting stir hopes behind respectable doors. As Edward and Mary struggle with temptation, Hadleyburg's leading households begin to scheme. In The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain turns a tight comic plot into a sharp question: what is virtue worth when it has never faced a serious test?
What you’ll discover
- Honesty under pressure Watch a cherished public reputation meet the private pull of gold.
- A kitchen full of doubt Sit with Edward and Mary as talk of duty begins to drift toward possibility.
- Respectable people with secrets Follow leading households as their proud certainty gives way to restless hope.
- Praise with a sting Hear Twain's solemn admiration turn into dry irony at the town's expense.
- A darker kind of laughter Enjoy sharp comedy that asks whether good character can survive a tempting offer.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who enjoy satire, short fiction and sharp observation of small communities, and for anyone who wants Twain in a darker mood. If you want warm adventure like Tom Sawyer, you may find its tone colder.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A town proud of its honesty
- A stranger leaves a sack behind
- The Richardses cannot sleep
- Honest citizens begin to scheme
- What the story says about virtue
- How Twain tells it
Who’s who
- Edward RichardsA modest bank cashier in Hadleyburg, honest and well liked, who is left in charge of the stranger's sack and its test.
- Mary RichardsEdward's wife, kind and sharp, who shares his struggle as the gold begins to change how they see their neighbors.
- The StrangerA man offended by Hadleyburg's pride, who plans a quiet revenge by testing whether the town's honesty is real.
- Reverend BurgessThe town's minister, who helps run the public meeting where the claims for the gold are to be heard.
- Jack HallidayAn idle, witty townsman who sees through Hadleyburg's self-regard and enjoys watching the town squirm.
- Barclay GoodsonA dead townsman remembered as a plain-spoken man who thought little of Hadleyburg's pride, and whose name is soon linked to the gold.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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L’Homme qui corrompit Hadleyburg
by Mark Twain· 1899
A stranger tests a town’s honesty with the promise of gold.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A town proud of its honesty
Hadleyburg is a small town in the American heartland, and it is known across the region as the most honest and upright town around. Its people have held that name for three generations. They are proud of it to the point of vanity, and they guard it carefully.
The town does more than hold the belief. It builds the belief into its children. From the earliest age the young are taught to stay away from temptation, and the whole upbringing is arranged to keep them safe from it. The town motto is carved into its identity, and it asks heaven to lead the people not into temptation.
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The author
Mark Twain
1835–1910 · American humorist and novelist
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an American author born in Missouri in 1835. He lived in Hartford, Connecticut, from 1874 to 1891. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Prince and the Pauper (1881). He died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910.
“Lead us not into temptation.”
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What is The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg about?
It is about a town proud of its honesty that is tested by a stranger with a sack of gold and a puzzling letter. The story asks whether virtue that has never been challenged is real.
When was The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg written?
Mark Twain published it in 1899, in a late period of his career. It is a work of fiction, though the small town it mocks is drawn from the kind of American places Twain knew well.
Who is the man that corrupted Hadleyburg?
The title points to a stranger who feels insulted by the town and plans revenge. He never attacks anyone directly. He only sets up a situation that tempts the town's most respected people.
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