Caleb Williams

About This Book

First published in 1794, Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams is a novel by the radical philosopher William Godwin (1756–1836). It was written as a fictional companion to his political treatise An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), translating abstract arguments about institutional tyranny into a gripping narrative of pursuit and persecution.

Caleb Williams, a clever young man of humble origins, takes a position as secretary to the wealthy and respected country squire Ferdinando Falkland. Driven by insatiable curiosity, Caleb discovers that his master harbors a terrible secret — a past crime concealed behind a facade of honor. When Falkland realizes what Caleb knows, he uses his wealth and social position to destroy the young man's reputation, hound him from place to place, and demonstrate that no individual, however innocent, can withstand the power of a determined persecutor backed by the law.

Caleb Williams is widely regarded as one of the first detective novels in English and a foundational work of the thriller genre. It influenced later writers from Charles Dickens to Edgar Allan Poe. Godwin was married to Mary Wollstonecraft and was the father of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. The novel is in the public domain and freely available through Project Gutenberg.

Excerpt

My life has for several years been a theatre of calamity. I have been a mark for the vigilance of tyranny, and I could not escape.— Opening of Caleb Williams

What Critics Say

A masterpiece, both as to invention and execution.— William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age, 1825

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