An edition of Sybil, or, The Two Nations (1830)

Sybil or The Two Nations

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Sybil or The Two Nations
Benjamin Disraeli, Benjamin Di ...
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  • 5.0 (1 rating) ·
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Last edited by bitnapper
September 30, 2023 | History
An edition of Sybil, or, The Two Nations (1830)

Sybil or The Two Nations

  • 5.0 (1 rating) ·
  • 15 Want to read
  • 1 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Benjamin Disraeli was a remarkable historical figure. Born into a Jewish family, he converted to Anglican Christianity as a child. He is now almost certainly most famous for his political career. Becoming a member of the British Parliament at the age of 33, he initially rose to prominence within the Conservative (“Tory”) party because of his clashes with the then Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Rising to lead the Conservative Party, Disraeli became Prime Minister for a short period in 1868, and then for an extended period between 1874 and 1880. He became friendly with Queen Victoria and was appointed Earl of Beaconsfield by her in 1876.

However, Disraeli was much more than a politician. He wrote both political treatises and no less than seventeen novels during his lifetime, of which Sybil, or The Two Nations is now among the best regarded. The “Two Nations” of the subtitle refer to the divisions in Britain between the rich and the poor, each of whom might as well be living in a different country from the other. In the novel, Disraeli highlights the terrible living conditions of the poor and the shocking injustices of how they were treated by most employers and land-owners. He contrasts this with the frivolous, pampered lifestyles of the aristocracy. He covers the rise of the Chartist movement, which was demanding universal manhood suffrage—the right for all adult men to vote, regardless of whether they owned property—and other reforms to enable working men a voice in the government of the country. (Female suffrage was to come much later). The upheavals of the time led to the development of the People’s Charter and a massive petition with millions of signatures being presented to Parliament. However the Parliament of the time refused to even consider the petition, triggering violent protests in Birmingham and elsewhere. All of this is well covered and explained in the novel.

Sybil is rather disjointed in structure as it ranges over these different topics, but the main plot revolves around Egremont, the younger son of a nobleman, who encounters some of the leaders of the workers’ movement and in particular Walter Gerard, one of the most respected of these leaders, whom Egremont befriends while concealing his real name and social position. During visits to Gerard under an assumed name, Egremont falls for the beautiful and saintly Sybil, Gerard’s daughter, but she rejects him when his true identity is exposed. Sybil subsequently undergoes many difficult trials as the people’s movement develops and comes into conflict with the authorities.

Publish Date
Publisher
The Folio Society

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Sybil
Sybil
2018, Standard Ebooks
in English
Cover of: Sybil or The Two Nations
Sybil or The Two Nations
Jan 02, 2017, Independently published
paperback
Cover of: Sybil, or the Two Nations
Sybil, or the Two Nations
November 3, 2006, Hard Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: Sybil (Oxford World's Classics)
Sybil (Oxford World's Classics)
June 30, 1999, Oxford University Press, USA
in English
Cover of: Sybil or The Two Nations
Sybil or The Two Nations
1983-01-01, The Folio Society
Cover of: Sybil
Sybil: or, the two nations
1980, Oxford University Press
in English
Cover of: Sybil
Sybil: or, The two nations.
1920, Longmans, Green
Cover of: Sybil; Or, The Two Nations
Sybil; Or, The Two Nations
1907, Longmans, Green
Cover of: Sybil or the two nations
Sybil or the two nations
1904, M.W. Dunne
in English
Cover of: Sybil
Sybil: the two nations
1900, P.F. Collier
in English
Cover of: Sybil, or, The two nations
Sybil, or, The two nations
1845, H. Colburn
in English
Cover of: Sybil; or, The two nations
Sybil; or, The two nations
1830, P. F. Collier & Son
in English

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Book Details


ID Numbers

Open Library
OL47810391M
Amazon ID (ASIN)
B000HJKEJQ
Better World Books
BWB32826090

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
September 30, 2023 Edited by bitnapper Merge works (MRID: 83528)
September 27, 2023 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
May 20, 2023 Created by ImportBot Imported from Promise Item