8 h 19 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 19 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a guardian angel reads so much that he can no longer obey heaven?
In a wealthy Catholic household in Paris, Arcade grows bored with guarding Maurice d'Esparvieu and turns to the family library. Theology changes his mind rather than securing his faith. He leaves his post to live among people, falls in love, and begins to imagine rebellion against heaven.
Paris holds other angels in exile, including Prince Istar, who wants another war against heaven, and Nectaire, who doubts what victory can bring. In The Revolt of the Angels, Anatole France turns their plans into a witty challenge to obedience, organised religion, and the comfortable people who take belief for granted.
What you’ll discover
- An angel among books Follow Arcade into a family library where reading unsettles everything he believes about his duty.
- Heaven's exiles in Paris Meet rebel angels who bring their old quarrels into life among people.
- Love after obedience Watch Arcade leave his guardian's post and discover the pull of earthly love.
- Rebellion under scrutiny Consider Nectaire's doubts about victory as Prince Istar prepares another challenge to heaven.
- Irony with a purpose Enjoy a calm, polished narrator who notices small absurdities while questioning power and belief.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like witty satire, old libraries and their guardians, and big ideas about gods, freedom and power told with a smile.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An unseen reader disturbs the household
- A guardian angel declares his rebellion
- The exiles want different things
- Nectaire tells history from below
- A treasured book becomes a commodity
- Revolution draws on money and desire
- The rebels copy their rulers
- Public virtue hides private exceptions
- Joy offers another kind of freedom
Who’s who
- ArcadeMaurice's guardian angel, who reads himself out of faith and leaves Heaven to lead a revolt against the demiurge Ialdabaoth.
- Maurice d'EsparvieuA charming, idle young Parisian from a devout family, who loses his angel and spends the book trying to bring him back.
- Monsieur SarietteThe anxious librarian who guards three hundred and sixty thousand books and will do almost anything to keep them in place.
- ZitaAn archangel living as a poor woman in Montmartre, cool and shrewd, who organizes the rebel angels and wants action.
- Prince IstarA big, warm-hearted Cherub, once a winged bull, who makes bombs and dreams of a free humanity.
- Théophile BelaisAn angel turned musician, who left Heaven for love of the singer Bouchotte and still adores God.
- NectaireThe old gardener and flute player whose story tells the history of the world from the rebels' side.
- Gilberte des AubelsA magistrate's wife and Maurice's lover, practical and fashionable, who gradually adapts to the unexpected appearance of an angel.
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The Revolt of the Angels
by Anatole France · 1914
A librarian's books fly off the shelves at night, and a guardian angel plans to storm Heaven.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“But here, as always, France, with the unerring taste of the really great writer, avoids cheap effect.”
In short
Picture a librarian who comes to work each morning and finds his rarest books heaped on a table. Hebrew Bibles lie crumpled, a page is blotted with ink, and faint bare footprints show in the powder on the floor.
The Revolt of the Angels at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 45 min3 h 45 min fast, 5 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 67,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1914by Anatole France
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
A pious family and its enormous library
The story opens with the d'Esparvieu family, who live in an old mansion in the shadow of St. Sulpice in Paris. Their fortune began with a farmer who bought Church lands. Over the generations their religion has moved from convenient habit to loud devotion, because belief has become fashionable in their circle.
René d'Esparvieu defends the Church in the courts and hosts bishops in his green drawing room. His son Maurice is charming and idle, and he keeps his faith precisely because he never examines it. His uncle Gaétan is a gentle agnostic who loves ancient Greece.
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Details
- First published
- 1914
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
France, Anatole. The Revolt of the Angels. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-revolt-of-the-angels.
France, A. (2026). The revolt of the angels. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-revolt-of-the-angels (Original work published 1914)
France, Anatole. The Revolt of the Angels. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-revolt-of-the-angels.
@book{france2026revolt,
author = {France, Anatole},
title = {The Revolt of the Angels},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-revolt-of-the-angels},
note = {First published 1914}
}
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What is The Revolt of the Angels about?
It follows a guardian angel named Arcade who reads his way out of faith in a Paris library. He leaves Heaven to raise a rebellion of angels against God, while his charge Maurice tries to stop him.
Who is Ialdabaoth in The Revolt of the Angels?
Ialdabaoth is the name Arcade gives to the God of Jews and Christians. He claims this being is only a proud, limited demiurge who did not create the universe, a name taken from old Gnostic ideas.
Is The Revolt of the Angels a satire?
Yes, it is a comic, satirical novel. France laughs at pious families, politicians, police, bankers and rebels alike, and he uses the angels' war to comment on French society before the First World War.
The author
Anatole France
1844–1924 · French novelist
Anatole France (1844–1924) was a French novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Paris and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France. His novels include The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), Thaïs (1890), The Red Lily (1894), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914).
“Knowledge, where are you leading me? Thought, where are you luring me?”
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