The Duke of Stockbridge: A Romance of Shays' Rebellion

Edward BellamyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
590K words
Chapters
59

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalPower GameGroup BiographySocial CritiqueTurbulent Era

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.The Duke of Stockbridge: A Romance of Shays' Rebellion by Edward BellamyAuthor: Bellamy, Edward, 1850-1898,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2005

Editor's review

Set against Shays' Rebellion after the American Revolution, this novel is a notable work of historical fiction by Edward Bellamy beyond Looking Backward. It is not merely a romance but weaves rural social tensions, debt pressures, and grassroots political conflict into the characters' fates, letting readers grasp the social atmosphere before and after the uprising through concrete scenes of daily life. Bellamy's narrative emphasizes moral tension and period detail, with dialogue and scenes carrying the sober tone of nineteenth-century historical fiction. The public-domain electronic edition is easy to search and compare with historical sources, making it a useful supplementary read for early American republic history, the craft of historical fiction, or Bellamy's creative trajectory. Readers are advised to treat it as an entry point into history through fiction rather than a strict historical study; those unfamiliar with post-independence New England town society may first learn the basic outline of Shays' Rebellion before entering the character relationships, which makes the origins of conflict easier to grasp.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Look up the basic timeline and causes of Shays' Rebellion before reading the main text to reduce background obstacles.
  2. Take notes on town debt, land, and political rights conflicts, and understand the narrative by comparing them with characters' choices.
  3. If the English is difficult, read chapter summaries first, then return to key dialogue and conflict scenes.
  4. After finishing, compare with other American historical novels to observe how Bellamy handles fact and fiction.

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

FAQ

What is the relationship between this novel and Bellamy's Looking Backward? Both share the same author, but their subjects and methods differ markedly. Looking Backward is utopian imagination, while The Duke of Stockbridge returns to post-independence town society, unfolding historical narrative against Shays' Rebellion. Readers may treat it as a supplement for understanding the breadth of Bellamy's work, not as a sequel to Looking Backward.
Can I read this book without knowing about Shays' Rebellion? You can, but learning the basic background of the rebellion beforehand will make it smoother. The novel places debt, land, and grassroots political conflicts within characters' lives; if entirely unfamiliar, the origins of conflict may be hard to grasp. It is advisable to read a brief historical introduction first, then enter the main text.
Is this edition suitable for citation in research? This is a public-domain electronic text, suitable for reading and general reference, but it should not replace a collated or annotated scholarly edition. For citation in papers, verify against authoritative editions, page numbers, and relevant historical sources, and note that electronic texts may have formatting differences.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Edward Bellamy Author · American · 1850–1898

Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) was an American novelist and journalist, best known for his utopian novel Looking Backward: 2000–1887. The book imagines a future society based on nationalization and cooperation; it became a bestseller of its time and gave rise to the Nationalist Club movement, influencing social reform debates. His other works include Equality, Dr. Heidenhoff's Process, Miss Ludington's Sister, and The Blindman's World. Twenty-two of his works are held in the collection. His writing often centers on social ideals, future visions, and human nature, combining narrative drive with speculative reflection. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so this introduction focuses on the themes and influence of his works.