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Caleb Williams

First published: 1794
Pages: 387

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About this book

William Godwin turned his radical politics into a gripping story of pursuit. Caleb Williams, a bright young man of humble birth, takes a post as secretary to the wealthy squire Ferdinando Falkland. Curiosity leads him to a terrible discovery: his master once committed murder and let innocent men hang for it. Once Falkland knows he has been found out, he uses every advantage of rank, money, and law to hound Caleb from place to place, turning the whole machinery of society into an instrument of persecution. Published in 1794 as Things as They Are, the novel reads as an early psychological thriller and a fierce attack on class privilege and injustice. This free PDF and EPUB edition includes the full text.

About the author

William Godwin

William Godwin (1756-1836) was an English political philosopher and novelist, and an early voice of anarchist thought. His treatise An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice made him famous, while Caleb Williams put his ideas into fiction. He married Mary Wollstonecraft and was father to Mary Shelley.