The Gadfly (1897) by Ethel Lillian Voynich is a startling multi-layered story of ideological transformation, love, and legendary, superhuman courage. It encapsulates the life of Arthur Burton and his transition from a delicate and beautiful, innocent youth to a disillusioned and outspoken revolutionary hero, a remarkable man who undergoes a crisis of faith and becomes the proverbial Gadfly.

The Gadfly is an ordinary man with human failings and weaknesses, a secret love, and a complex burden of pain. And yet he is larger than life, a superhero of fortitude, an atheist and humanist, an outspoken opponent of the political status quo and a proponent of freedom for the people; his words devastate and sting his enemies by the force of truth they convey.

Set in Italy during the tumultuous period of political unrest in the middle of the nineteenth century, this unusual novel was an inspirational bestseller abroad, particularly remarkable in its emotional impact. And now it deserves to be discovered by a whole new generation of readers.

Arthur sat in the library of the theological seminary at Pisa, looking through a pile of manuscript sermons. It was a hot evening in June, and the windows stood wide open, with the shutters half closed for coolness. The Father Director, Canon Montanelli, paused a moment in his writing to glance lovingly at the black head bent over the papers. "Can't you find it, carino? Never mind; I must rewrite the passage. Possibly it has got torn up, and I have kept you all this time for nothing." Montanelli's voice was rather low, but full and resonant, with a silvery purity of tone that gave to his speech a peculiar charm. It was the voice of a born orator, rich in possible modulations. When he spoke to Arthur its note was always that of a caress. "No, Padre, I must find it; I'm sure you put it here. You will never make it the same by rewriting." Montanelli went on with his work. A sleepy cockchafer hummed drowsily outside the window, and the long, melancholy call of a fruitseller echoed down the street: "Fragola fragola " "'On the Healing of the Leper'; here it is." Arthur came across the room with the velvet tread that always exasperated the good folk at home. He was a slender little creature, more like an Italian in a sixteenth-century portrait than a middle-class English lad of the thirties. From the long eyebrows and sensitive mouth to the small hands and feet, everything about him was too much chiseled, overdelicate. Sitting still, he might have been taken for a very pretty girl masquerading in male attire; but when he moved, his lithe agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. "Is that really it? What should I do without you, Arthur? I should always be losing my things. No, I am not going to write any more now. Come out into the garden, and I will help you with your work. What is the bit you couldn't understand?"

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1906 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1906 Edition.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

1906. The Gadfly is a highly romantic yet realistic treatment of risorgimento period in Italy concerning the activities of the international republican agent Arthur Burton who successfully eludes the Austro-Hungarian policy and contributes to the revolutionary cause culminating in the Italian uprising of 1848. Voynich, who was the daughter of George Boole, of Boolean mathematics fame, and Mary Everest Boole, a feminist writer, based this story of conspiracy in the Italian Risorgimento on the early life experiences of her boyfriend, Sidney Rosenblum (also known in Britain as Reilly Ace of Spies). The Gadfly remains as Voynich's greatest literary achievement.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

A gadfly is a person known to upset the status quo by posing upsetting questions or attempting to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant. Ethel Lilian Voynich was born in Ireland in the middle of the 19th century. Her life as a writer, musician and supporter of revolutionary causes spanned almost an entire century. The Gadfly was published in 1897. The Gadfly, set in Italy, tells the story of Arthur Burton, a young international revolutionary member of the Youth Movement. This novel was very popular in the Soviet Union and was compulsory reading there. The Gadfly was seen as ideologically useful; for similar reasons and became popular in the People's Republic of China as well. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.

A gadfly is a person known to upset the status quo by posing upsetting questions or attempting to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant. Ethel Lilian Voynich was born in Ireland in the middle of the 19th century. Her life as a writer, musician and supporter of revolutionary causes spanned almost an entire century. The Gadfly was published in 1897. The Gadfly, set in Italy, tells the story of Arthur Burton, a young international revolutionary member of the Youth Movement. This novel was very popular in the Soviet Union and was compulsory reading there. The Gadfly was seen as ideologically useful; for similar reasons and became popular in the People's Republic of China as well. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.