Saint Bartholomew's Eve: A Tale of the Huguenot Wars

Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6
Word count
794K words
Chapters
80

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalWars of ReligionHuguenot WarsPower GamePatriotismMoral Dilemma

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.Saint Bartholomew's Eve: A Tale of the Huguenot Wars by G. A. HentyAuthor: Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 12, 2006

Editor's review

This historical novel embeds individual fates in the turmoil of sixteenth-century French religious wars, narrating around the conflict between Huguenot and Catholic camps. Henty follows his familiar method: a young protagonist's adventures string together real historical events, letting readers encounter the political and confessional fractures surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre amid tense plotting. The book's value lies not in depth of scholarship but in readability and immersion—it turns distant sectarian confrontation, family choices, and physical danger into concrete scenes, making it a literary entry point to this history. Readers should note the author's evident partisan leanings and treat it as a specimen of Victorian historical fiction, not a neutral history. The English original is long, with archaic expressions and many French proper names, suited to readers willing to read slowly and check background as they go.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read a brief background summary of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre first; characters' choices will then be clearer.
  2. Prepare a chart of characters and factions, marking key Huguenot and Catholic figures as you go.
  3. Separate the author's stance from historical fact; pause to annotate where bias is obvious.
  4. Advance chapter by chapter in the English original, reviewing the historical timeline after each chapter to keep the threads clear.

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
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in French history? It can be read, but first spend a dozen minutes or so learning the basic configuration of the sixteenth-century French religious wars, especially the Huguenot–Catholic confrontation. The novel moves through characters and plot; the clearer the background, the more you can see how the author embeds historical events in an adventure story.
Is the historical narrative objective and neutral? It should not be treated as neutral history. Henty's historical fiction carries evident period stance and bias, and its treatment of the two camps is uneven. Readers can take it as a specimen of Victorian historical narrative while consulting other sources and noting the author's choices and omissions.
How difficult is the English original? It is long, with nineteenth-century prose, many French proper names, and old-fashioned sentence structures. Readers used to English originals can read it slowly chapter by chapter, checking names and places as needed; those unfamiliar with religious-war terminology should read alongside background materials.

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About the author

Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902 Author

George Alfred Henty (1832–1902) was a well-known British writer of historical adventure novels for young readers in the nineteenth century. The collection here contains 107 of his works, most of them drawn from major historical events in Europe and the Americas: By Right of Conquest is set during Cortez's conquest of Mexico, Under Wellington's Command takes the Peninsular War as its background, and For the Temple deals with the fall of Jerusalem. He typically placed a young hero at the centre of real historical scenes, weaving military campaigns and political struggles together with personal adventure. The plots are tightly paced and rich in detail, and they reflect a distinctly British outlook and the moral tastes of the Victorian age. His output was considerable, and his books had a lasting influence on later historical adventure fiction. Public information about his family, education and career is limited, so no speculation is offered here.