Enter the terrifying and turbulent world of the Gordon Riots with Charles Dickens’ most historical—and most neglected—masterpiece, and read the complete book online for free.
Published in 1841, Barnaby Rudge stands as the first of only two historical novels Charles Dickens ever wrote (the other being A Tale of Two Cities). It is also, by a wide margin, his darkest. Set against the backdrop of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, this novel departs from the cozy Christmases and benevolent orphans of popular imagination. Here, Dickens unleashes a mob.
The story revolves around Barnaby, a simple-minded young man with a pet raven named Grip, who lives with his tormented mother in rural England. But Barnaby is merely the innocent eye of a vast, violent storm. Around him swirls a murder mystery eighteen years unsolved, a forbidden romance across political divides, and the descent of London into an inferno of drunken violence and arson. At the center of the chaos stands the menacing, one-armed John Chester and his bastard son, the secretive Hugh—perhaps the most purely savage character Dickens ever created.
On this page, you can experience Dickens at his most visceral and politically furious. We offer the complete 1841 novel for online reading.
Book Info
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ‘Eighty |
| Author | Charles Dickens |
| Year of Publication | 1841 |
| Genre | Historical Fiction, Gothic, Mystery |
| Language | English |
| Legal Status | Public Domain Worldwide |
| Format | Online Reading |
Read Barnaby Rudge Online
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About the Novel Barnaby Rudge
Barnaby Rudge is the forgotten pillar of Dickens’ early career. Overshadowed by its immediate predecessor, The Old Curiosity Shop, and dismissed by critics for its uneven tone, it has since been reclaimed as a work of profound psychological and political insight. It is the novel where Dickens stopped being a comedian and started being a prophet.
Grip: The Raven Who Inspired Poe
Barnaby’s constant companion is Grip, a talking raven who repeats phrases like “I’m a devil” and “Never say die.” This bird was not merely decorative. Edgar Allan Poe read Barnaby Rudge while writing his own famous poem and was so struck by Dickens’ talking raven that he wrote an essay analyzing its role. In his review, Poe complained that the bird should have been made more central to the plot—criticism he then answered by writing “The Raven.” Grip is the direct ancestor of literature’s most famous fowl.
The Mob as Monster
Unlike the largely peaceful crowds in his other novels, Dickens portrays the mob in Barnaby Rudge as a single, mindless, bloodthirsty organism. The riot scenes are unprecedented in nineteenth-century literature. Dickens does not romanticize the rebellion of the poor; he shows them burning down the homes of the innocent, drinking themselves into oblivion, and destroying the very neighborhoods they live in. Written during a period of Chartist agitation, the novel is Dickens’ warning to England: this is where revolution leads.
Lord George Gordon: The Fanatic
Dickens includes the historical leader of the riots as a character, and his portrayal is remarkably unsympathetic. Gordon is not a hero of religious freedom; he is a vain, unstable, easily manipulated aristocrat who unleashes forces he cannot control. Dickens, the son of a debtor and a lifelong urbanite, had little patience for crusades. He saw in Gordon the danger of conviction without compassion.
The Riddle of the Murder
The novel opens with a murder at the Warren, the home of the Haredale family. The killer escapes, and the mystery haunts the narrative for eighteen years. This cold case is the engine that drives the personal, non-historical half of the plot. Dickens plants clues with unusual subtlety (for him), and the final unmasking carries genuine tragic weight. It is, in essence, a Victorian detective novel nested inside a historical epic.
The Tyranny of Parents
Like many Dickens novels, Barnaby Rudge is preoccupied with bad fathers and absent fathers. John Chester disowns his son to protect his social standing. Geoffrey Haredale’s obsessive hunt for his brother’s murderer consumes his capacity for love. Old John Willet, the landlord of the Maypole, treats his grown son Joe as a perpetual child. Even Barnaby’s mother, Mary Rudge, protects her son so fiercely that she imprisons him in innocence. The riots are, among other things, a rebellion of sons against fathers.
Duality and Doubles
The novel is structured on pairs and opposites. Catholic and Protestant. Master and servant. City and country. The aristocratic, polished villainy of John Chester mirrors the brute, instinctive villainy of Hugh. Barnaby’s innocent idiocy mirrors the cunning intelligence of Grip the raven. Even the plot is doubled: an old murder and a new riot. This dual structure gives the novel a satisfying, almost musical architecture often missed on first reading.
Why Read the Novel Barnaby Rudge Today?
Barnaby Rudge is for readers who think they know Dickens and want to be surprised. It lacks the sentimental safety net of his better-known works. There is no benevolent uncle arriving to settle the debts. There is no cosy Christmas dinner. There is only the fire, the crowd, and the raven laughing in the dark. It is the novel that connects the Victorian novelist to the gothic tradition of Walpole and the political anxieties of Orwell. It is Dickens unchained.
FAQ
Why is this novel less famous than A Tale of Two Cities?
Barnaby Rudge was written early in Dickens’ career, before he achieved total mastery of his craft. The tone is inconsistent, veering from broad comedy to gothic horror. The serial publication was interrupted and its sales were disappointing. Dickens himself seems to have cooled on it. Yet many modern readers prefer its raw energy to the polished sentiment of his later work.
Is the raven really that important?
Yes. Grip appears on nearly every page Barnaby occupies. He perches on his shoulder, pecks at his food, and croaks ominous phrases. When Barnaby is imprisoned, Grip is his only visitor. After Dickens’ death, one of his original ravens was stuffed and placed on display. You can still see it today at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Is this book anti-Catholic?
No. Dickens portrays the anti-Catholic rioters as drunken, destructive fools. Lord Gordon’s Protestant Association is depicted as a conspiracy of fanatics and opportunists. The Catholic characters, particularly the Haredales, are dignified and sympathetic. The novel is anti-zealotry, not anti-Catholic.
How does it compare to A Tale of Two Cities?
Both are historical novels about mob violence. However, A Tale of Two Cities is more structurally disciplined and emotionally refined. Barnaby Rudge is messier, more eccentric, and perhaps more honest. It lacks the famous opening and closing lines of the later novel, but it has a raven who says “I’m a devil.” Choose your priorities.
Can I read it on my phone?
Yes. While it is a substantial novel, the chapters are short and the pacing is relentless once the riots begin. The first third is a slow-burn country mystery; the final third is an urban apocalypse. It reads remarkably well on a small screen.