Darkness and Dawn Or, Scenes in the Days of Nero. An Historic Tale

Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William), 1831-1903Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
124

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Portrait GalleryFate and FortunePower GamePower GamesAngst RomancePopular Narrative

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Darkness and Dawn; Or, Scenes in the Days of Nero. An Historic Tale by F. W. FarrarAuthor: Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William), 1831-1903,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 31, 2014

Editor's review

This is a historical novel set in the age of Nero, by the nineteenth-century English clergyman and author F. W. Farrar. The narrative centres on the situation of the early Christian community under the shadow of Roman imperial power, using scenic episodes to present court luxury, conflicts of faith and moral choices. Its value lies not in rigorous historical scholarship but in letting readers directly experience the social atmosphere of ancient Rome and the public and existential pressures faced by Christians. The prose shows the typical style of Victorian historical fiction: unhurried narration, evident moral concern and relatively clear divisions between good and evil characters. It suits readers as an introduction to the Western historical novel tradition and early Christian-themed literature, and also suits those interested in ancient Rome for chapter-by-chapter leisure reading. Note that this is a public-domain English original with a somewhat dated language.

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Reading tips

  1. First learn the basic background of Nero's reign and early Christianity, then begin the text.
  2. Proceed chapter by chapter and take notes on character relationships to avoid confusion among multiple plotlines.
  3. When encountering unfamiliar place names and official titles, skim over them first and focus on plot and character positions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

Is this book a work of history or a novel? It is a historical novel, using fictional characters and plot set in the age of Nero to present the social and religious atmosphere of the time; it cannot be cited directly as a historical source.
How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers? The work was written in the nineteenth century, with long sentences and rather formal vocabulary; non-native readers will find a certain threshold, and it is advisable to have at least intermediate English reading ability and to consult notes or a translation.
Why does Project Gutenberg appear in the edition information? The book was released by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book, as part of a public-domain digitisation project; therefore the edition record notes the platform name and release year rather than a traditional publisher.

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About the author

Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William), 1831-1903 Author

F. W. Farrar (Frederic William Farrar, 1831–1903) was a nineteenth-century English Anglican clergyman, theologian and prolific author. The library holds eleven of his works, including Bible commentaries written for general readers, such as the volumes on the Second Book of Kings and the Book of Daniel in The Expositor's Bible series, a Life of Christ composed in Greek (Ο Βίος του Χριστού), and studies of religious thought and the search for faith such as Seekers after God and Jumalan etsijöitä. He also wrote historical novels and school stories: Darkness and Dawn is set in Rome under Nero, while Eric, or, Little by Little and St. Winifred's depict school life with a strong moral purpose. His prose is clear and readable, blending theological discussion with narrative, and his works found a wide readership in the Victorian era. As public information is limited, no further details of his life are given here.