11 h 38 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does war ask of the people who stay behind, far from the fighting but never beyond its reach?
In The Red Planet, William John Locke turns to the English home front during the First World War. Families wait, work and grieve in towns and villages while the fighting continues elsewhere. Those who remain, and those who return changed, live with costs that reach into quiet places.
Duty to country, family and conscience does not always pull in the same direction. Locke explores the people caught between these claims with warmth, sympathy and quiet humor. Here, sacrifice means more than a visible wound, and the distance from the battlefield offers no simple shelter from war.
What you’ll discover
- War in quiet places Enter English towns and villages where waiting and grief become part of daily life.
- The claims of duty Consider what happens when country, family and conscience ask different things of a person.
- Wounds beneath the surface Look beyond bodily injury to the less visible costs of sacrifice.
- Warmth amid sorrow Find a gentle storyteller whose sympathy and quiet humor leave room for human feeling.
- A wartime perspective Explore the home front through a novel written while the war still continues.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy First World War home front stories, English country town life and warmhearted, sharp-tongued narrators will love this novel. It also suits those drawn to mysteries of character.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Grief arrives beside ordinary duty
- Duty cannot answer every loss
- Betty chooses marriage before departure
- Boyce carries a troubling reputation
- Randall's certainty meets personal stakes
- Threats meet gaps in memory
- Betty keeps caring through grief
- Public courage leaves private doubts
- Kindness matters among flawed people
Who’s who
- Major Duncan MeredythThe paralyzed retired gunner who writes the chronicle, loves his friends dearly, and wants to serve his country from his wheelchair.
- Sergeant MarigoldMeredyth's one-eyed, wigged, wooden-faced old comrade and servant, who longs to rejoin the army and guards his master fiercely.
- Betty FairfaxA tall, independent young nurse who marries in a rush and faces war with iron cheerfulness, while hiding an older feeling.
- Leonard BoyceA charming, bull-necked officer, hailed as a hero, who chases honors for reasons he will not explain.
- Randall HolmesAn Oxford poet who calls fighting a waste of intellect, and who loves a builder's daughter.
- Phyllis GedgeA loyal, sweet-natured nurse in training, torn between love for Randall and shame at her father's opinions.
- Daniel GedgeA socialist builder who hates the war and the town's great families, and who nurses a secret grudge.
- Sir Anthony FenimoreThe peppery mayor of Wellingsford, who buries grief in public duty and fiercely guards his family's name.
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.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 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 and the audiobook open 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, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook 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, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Red Planet 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.
The Red Planet
by William John Locke · 1917
A paralyzed major in an English market town watches war change his friends and guards a secret about a hero.
Medium level5–10 hours to read16 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 anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”
In short
February 1915. A car carries Major Duncan Meredyth, who has not walked in years, to Wellings Park, the great house of his oldest friends.
The Red Planet at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 45 min5 h 25 min fast, 8 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 96,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1917by William John Locke
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 cripple and his sergeant hold a household together
Duncan Meredyth is a retired major of the Royal Field Artillery, forty-seven years old, paralyzed from the waist down by a Boer shell. He lives in a small house in Wellingsford and gets about in a wheelchair or a donkey carriage. He is cheerful, vain about his wit, and quick to lose his temper.
Beside him stands Sergeant Marigold, struck down by the same shell. Both men feel the shame of staying home while younger men go.
Free for 3 months · 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
- 7 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Locke, William John. The Red Planet. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-planet.
Locke, W. J. (2026). The red planet. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-planet (Original work published 1917)
Locke, William John. The Red Planet. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-planet.
@book{locke2026red,
author = {Locke, William John},
title = {The Red Planet},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-planet},
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 audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, 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 The Red Planet
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 The Red Planet about?
It follows life in the English town of Wellingsford during the First World War, told by a crippled retired major. Grief, hasty marriage, a reluctant poet and a much-admired soldier all meet around an unsolved drowning.
Who is Sergeant Marigold?
Marigold is Major Meredyth's devoted servant and old comrade from the Boer War. He has one eye, a curly wig and a stiff manner, and he is the book's best source of dry humor and loyalty.
What does the title The Red Planet mean?
The title refers to Mars, the planet of war. The epigraph says its red light hides not only over battlefields but over the sheltered vales of home, and the novel shows its glow on every family.
The author
William John Locke
1863–1930 · British novelist
William John Locke (1863–1930) was a British novelist. He lived in England and later in France, and died in Paris. His novels include The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905), Simon the Jester (1910), The Red Planet (1917), and The Rough Road (1918). He also wrote plays.
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”
More by William John Locke
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, new audiobooks 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
