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Democracy

Downloads: Under 100
First published: 1880
Pages: 154

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About this book

Published anonymously in 1880 by Henry Holt and Company, Democracy: An American Novel was the secret work of Henry Adams (1838-1918), the historian whose grandfather and great-grandfather had both occupied the White House. The story follows Madeleine Lee, a wealthy young widow who moves to Washington to study political power at its source and finds herself courted by Senator Silas Ratcliffe, a man whose corruption is matched only by his plausibility, a figure readers linked to James G. Blaine. The novel sold widely in America and Britain while guessing its author became a society game; the publisher revealed Adams's hand only after his death. It remains one of the sharpest fictional portraits of Gilded Age Washington.

About the author

Henry Brooks Adams

Henry Brooks Adams was an American historian, novelist, essayist, and autobiographer whose writing tested political ideals against modern power. Democracy, also issued as Democracy: An American Novel, first appeared anonymously in 1880 and follows Madeleine Lee as her search for political understanding exposes Washington intrigue and corruption.