Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty is a historical novel by the author Charles Dickens. The plot is based on the "no-popery" or Gordon riots of 1780 seen through the eyes of the simple but good-hearted title character. The fanatical anti-Catholic Lord George Gordon is treated with some sympathy in the novel, which concludes with a panoramic description of the riots, which lasted several days.

Barnaby Rudge (along with The Old Curiosity Shop) was one of two novels which Dickens published in his short-lived weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock, which lasted from 1840 to 1841, when Barnaby Rudge was published. It was Dickens' first attempt at a historical novel, his only other being A Tale of Two Cities.

The title character is accompanied throughout by a talking raven whose vocalizations, though seemingly random, are usually comments on the action. It is said that Edgar Allan Poe was inspired by Barnaby Rudge in writing The Raven.

External links

• Barnaby Rudge - in easy-to-read HTML format.