Confessions of a Thug (novel)

Confessions of a Thug
AuthorPhilip Meadows Taylor
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical novel
PublisherRichard Bentley
Publication date
1839
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages552 pp

Confessions of a Thug is an English novel written by Philip Meadows Taylor in 1839 based on the Thuggee cult in India.[1][2] It was a best-seller in 19th-century Britain, becoming the British Empire's most sensational ethnographic fiction in the first half of the 19th century; its avid readers included Queen Victoria.[3] It was one of the best-selling crime novels of the 19th century, and was the most influential novel about India prior to Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901).[4] The novel's popularity established the word "thug" in the English language.[5]

  1. ^ Poovey, Mary (2004-01-01). "Ambiguity and Historicism: Interpreting Confessions of a Thug". Narrative. 12 (1): 3–21. doi:10.1353/nar.2003.0025. ISSN 1538-974X.
  2. ^ "The SF Site Featured Review: Confessions of a Thug". www.sfsite.com. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  3. ^ Pal-Lapinski, Piya (2005). The Exotic Woman in Nineteenth-century British Fiction and Culture: A Reconsideration. University Press of New England. p. 31. ISBN 9781584654292.
  4. ^ Taylor, Philip Meadows (1998). Confessions of a Thug. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192880215.
  5. ^ Rushby, Kevin (18 January 2003). "The myth and mystery of the oriental criminal". The Guardian.