About this book
A Few Words About the Devil and Other Biographical Sketches and Essays by Charles Bradlaugh delivers a candid, spirited collection of nonfiction sketches and essays that opens with a partial autobiography tracing a working-class childhood in Hoxton and the stirrings of nineteenth-century political life. Bradlaugh’s opening "page of his life" reads like a farewell address—frank about limited schooling, early employment as an errand lad and wharf clerk, and the excitement of the Chartist movement—while respecting the privacy of others involved in contemporary political events.
Across these biographical sketches and essays, Bradlaugh blends personal memory with sharp social observation, exploring themes of class, labor, conscience, and political reform in Victorian England. His voice is restrained yet forthright: he refuses Rousseau-like confessions but offers accurate, vivid glimpses of the life that shaped his public work and convictions.
Ideal for listeners of historical nonfiction, biography, and political essays, this audiobook appeals to anyone curious about Victorian social history, early labor movements, and the roots of nineteenth-century reformist thought. Hear a primary voice from the era and gain an accessible, first-hand perspective on the forces that forged a notable radical thinker.