‘Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colours, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity.’

Sadly left unfinished by his death in 1891, Melville’s novella Billy Budd is acclaimed by critics and quickly took its place in the literary canon.

Billy Budd, a handsome sailor working on a British naval ship in the eighteenth century, is falsely accused of mutiny against the ship’s captain by the master-at-arms, John Claggart. Billy, who unfortunately obtains a speech impediment, is overcome by the accusation and unable to verbally defend himself against Claggart’s unfounded hate for him. Instead, he lashes out at Claggart, much to his own demise. An instant classic once published, Billy Budd is a tragic tale that has been adapted into film, plays and even an opera. This audiobook edition is narrated by the talented Christopher Ragland.

Herman Melville (1819 – 1891) was a novelist and poet of the American Renaissance, best known for his works in adventure and travel writing, including Mody Dick and Bartleby, the Scrivener. His writing was met with mixed reviews by his contemporaries; it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that he gained recognition for his literary genius.