Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was a key figure in the radical movement of the 1790s. This work is intended for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was a key figure in the radical movement of the 1790s. This work is intended for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was a key figure in the radical movement of the 1790s. This work is intended for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was a key figure in the radical movement of the 1790s. This work is intended for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was a key figure in the radical movement of the 1790s. This work is intended for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

Whilst Thomas Holcroft's place in the novelistic and dramatic traditions of the Romantic era is uncontested, none of his writings are currently in print. This new critical edition is essential reading for scholars wanting to understand Britain and its literature in the 1790s.

"This edition invites a re-evaluation of Godwin's power as a thinker and a novelist." -- Jeanne Moskal, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

William Godwin was one of the most popular novelists of the Romantic era; P.B. Shelley praised him, Byron drew heavily on his narrative style, and Mary Shelley, Godwin's daughter, dedicated Frankenstein to him.Caleb Williams is the riveting account of a young man whose curiosity leads him to pry into a murder from the past. The first novel of crime and detection in English literature, Caleb Williams is also a powerful expose of the evils and inequities of the political and social system in 1790s Britain.In addition to the text itself, the editors have included an extensive selection of primary source materials from the period, ranging from Godwin's original manuscript ending and excerpts from his political writings to contemporary reviews, the political writings of Burke and Paine, and materials on criminals and the English prison system.