It is the end of the eighteenth century, and Billy Budd is a young sailor on a merchant ship called the Rights-of-Man. Billy is a beautiful young man, a specimen of what Melville calls the Handsome Sailor. He is young, simple, innocent, a foundling with no real family, and his charm and good nature put the men around him at ease. The narrator tells us of Billy's one serious weakness: when seized by strong emotion, he stutters. The time is one of dread for the British Empire: from the continent, Napoleon's ambitions and France's revolutionary fervor menace the world. The navy is extremely short-handed, and recent mutinies have threatened the force that is the foundation of Britain's prosperity and defense. The navy continues to depend on impressments, or forced conscriptions, to fill its rosters

14

22

1

Shisticha Bali

Mehta Publishing House

2019

Paperback