2 h 3 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 3 minPaperback · 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.
Who will love it
You will love this story if you enjoy sly humor, clever plots with a trap at the center, and sharp portraits of small-town pride. It suits anyone curious about how reputation, money, and private conscience pull against each other.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hadleyburg guards its honesty like a treasure
- A stranger vows to corrupt the whole town
- The sack tests the Richardses on the first night
- Fame turns pride into private torment
- Nineteen letters arrive on one Saturday night
- Burgess collects a pocketful of secrets
- The public test collapses into a scramble
- Virtue untested is only habit, and fear is its price
- Twain tells it with a straight face and a grin
Who’s who
- Edward RichardsA poor old bank cashier in Hadleyburg who is tired of being another man's slave and hides an old guilt about Burgess.
- Mary RichardsEdward's loyal wife, who longs for money and sharply sees that the town's honesty may be only a habit.
- The StrangerA bitter visitor who feels wronged by the town and sets out to corrupt it by leaving a sack of counterfeit coins.
- Jack HallidayThe town's idle, good-natured fisherman and joker, who notices every change in people's faces and laughs at them all.
- Reverend BurgessA disliked minister, blamed for an old disgrace, who is named to judge the claims on the sack.
- PinkertonThe small, smiling banker who shows off the sack and loves to praise Hadleyburg's old reputation.
- Barclay GoodsonA dead townsman who spoke bluntly against Hadleyburg and is thought to be the only man who could have helped the stranger.
- Lawyer WilsonOne of the leading citizens, quick with words, who stands ready to claim the sack at the town hall.
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L’Homme qui corrompit Hadleyburg
by Mark Twain · 1899
A stranger leaves a sack of supposed gold in an honest town, and soon its proudest citizens cannot sleep.
Medium level2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
What happens to an honest town when a stranger leaves it a sack supposedly worth forty thousand dollars? Nobody is robbed by force.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hadleyburg guards its honesty like a treasure
Hadleyburg is a small town with one great possession, its name for honesty. For three generations it has kept that name spotless, and it is prouder of it than of anything else. Neighboring towns call the pride vanity. Yet they admit that a young man from Hadleyburg needs no other letter of recommendation.
The town protects its name with great care. Children learn the rules of honest dealing in their cradles. The young are also kept away from temptation, so that honesty can grow firm.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1899
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 1 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Twain, Mark. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-that-corrupted-hadleyburg.
Twain, M. (2026). The man that corrupted Hadleyburg. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-that-corrupted-hadleyburg (Original work published 1899)
Twain, Mark. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-that-corrupted-hadleyburg.
@book{twain2026man,
author = {Twain, Mark},
title = {The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-that-corrupted-hadleyburg},
note = {First published 1899}
}
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What is The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg about?
It tells of a town proud of its honesty. A stranger, angry at an old insult, leaves counterfeit coins supposedly meant for an unknown benefactor. The offer tests every leading family, and the story shows how pride and greed shape their choices.
Who is the man who corrupted Hadleyburg?
He is an unnamed stranger who feels the town wronged him. He studies the place, sets a clever trap, and uses supposed gold and deceptive letters to tempt the leading households. The story leaves his full story to the end.
What is the main message of the story?
Twain argues that virtue that has never been tested is fragile. A town can look honest because it has never faced a real temptation, and the fear of what neighbors think can matter more than real goodness.
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.
More by Mark Twain
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