14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What separates civilization from savagery when war puts duty, safety, and private wishes at odds?
In Barbarians, Robert W. Chambers turns to the First World War and the demands it places on ordinary people. Duty and sacrifice stand at the heart of this wartime fiction. Against a world in upheaval, personal comfort and safety come into conflict with obligations larger than the self.
The title raises an uneasy question: who deserves to be called a barbarian? Chambers explores what makes a person or a nation civilized when war tests those claims. Reading across a century, you also encounter attitudes toward nations and enemies that can feel forceful or one-sided today.
What you’ll discover
- Civilization under strain Explore the uncertain boundary between civilized ideals and savagery in a world at war.
- The demands of duty Consider what larger obligations ask of people whose comfort and safety are at stake.
- Sacrifice made personal Follow the tension between private wishes and the call to put something else first.
- A wartime American perspective Encounter an American writer's response to the conflict in Europe and its human demands.
- Questions across a century Reflect on how attitudes toward war, nations, and enemies shape the act of reading.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like war stories in short, vivid episodes, spy tales with odd clues, quiet French villages, ghost legends, and young love tested by danger.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Restless men leave for war
- Isolation turns play into danger
- Friendship meets the claims of duty
- Hospitality carries an uncertain risk
- An omen may conceal real danger
- Corruption follows men into the trenches
- Affection grows through everyday acts
- The bells become a wartime signal
- Kindness and watchfulness answer barbarism
Who’s who
- Maryette CourtrayThe young bell-mistress of Sainte Lesse, called Carillonnette, who plays the carillon, runs her father's inn, and wants to serve France.
- Jack BurleyA tall, loud, good-hearted American muleteer who believes he speaks fluent French and falls in love with the girl of the bells.
- Sticky Smith and Kid GlennBurley's two muleteer comrades, who joke, watch, and stand ready to help when Maryette needs them.
- Jacques WaylandA lame American writer of children's stories who has returned to his Breton home and longs to rejoin the Foreign Legion.
- Captain NeelandAn American painter serving with the Canadians, sent to Finistère to check rumors of German airmen, who hopes to find a natural cause for every strange event.
- Dr. VailA calm American surgeon who tells a story of a corrupt ward boss in the trenches and the meaning of tyranny.
- The American airmanA shot-down gunner-observer who has lost his brother and plans a daring strike from the Nivelle belfry.
- Jean CourtrayThe crippled old master of the bells and keeper of the White Doe Inn, proud of his daughter and mourning the lost carillons.
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.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook 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 USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Barbarians in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Barbarians
by Robert W. Chambers · 1917
A girl searches for a spy among the muleteers while playing forty-six bells in a French belfry.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Anyone can weep for a friend. Few avenge their dead.”
In short
Twelve men stand on the deck of a mule transport, sick of waiting for Washington to act. They sail for the war in Europe, hoping to find what they cannot find at home.
Barbarians at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 50 min3 h 5 min fast, 4 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 55,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1917by Robert W. Chambers
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Twelve fed-up men sail for Europe
Chambers opens on a hot wharf. A mule transport waits there, and twelve men climb aboard to ride with the animals. Eight are Americans, three are Frenchmen, and one is a Belgian. All are fed up with politicians who dither while Europe burns.
The Americans are a mixed lot. Carfax is a young soldier of fortune. Harry Stent is rich and has shot every kind of big game except a German. Jim Brown is an engineer, and Dr. Vail is a physician. Jacques Wayland writes children's stories and walks with a limp from the Foreign Legion.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1917
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chambers, Robert W. Barbarians. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/barbarians.
Chambers, R. W. (2026). Barbarians. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/barbarians (Original work published 1917)
Chambers, Robert W. Barbarians. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/barbarians.
@book{chambers2026barbarians,
author = {Chambers, Robert W.},
title = {Barbarians},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/barbarians},
note = {First published 1917}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 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
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Barbarians
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 Barbarians by Robert W. Chambers about?
It follows twelve fed-up men who sail for the First World War and meets them in separate tales in the Vosges, the Alps, Brittany, a trench, and the town of Sainte Lesse, where a bell-mistress faces spies.
Who is Maryette Courtray in Barbarians?
She is the young carillon player of Sainte Lesse, nicknamed Carillonnette, who also runs the White Doe Inn and cares for her father. She wins the Legion cross for her courage at Nivelle.
What is a carillon in the book?
A carillon is a set of fixed bells tuned to a scale and played from a keyboard with wooden gloves. Maryette plays the forty-six bells of Sainte Lesse, which signal the hours and lift the town's spirits.
The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
“Anyone can weep for a friend. Few avenge their dead.”
More by Robert W. Chambers
See all their booksMore 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 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
