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Richard Carvel - Complete
A swashbuckling, patriotic tale of romance, villainy and adventure on the high seas, written by American author Winston Churchill (not to be confused with British statesman Winston S. Churchill), Richard Carvel was a publishing phenomenon in its time, selling more than 2 million copies in a nation of 76 million people. The story opens around 1765 with young Richard Carvel, an orphaned descendant of English nobility, living on his grandfather's estate in colonial Annapolis, Maryland. He witnesses growing discontent with the rule of King George III and observes the transformation of his childhood playmate, Dorothy Manners, into a celebrated debutante. Richard's treacherous uncle Grafton, determined to claim his inheritance, plots to have him kidnapped by pirates bound for the West Indies. After Richard is rescued by Scottish sea captain John Paul, he arrives in England and meets some of its most influential noblemen — gaining an inside view of the tyranny and corruption against which his fellow Colonials were prepared to rebel. Upon learning that his grandfather has died and his uncle has claimed his inheritance, Richard returns to Maryland, where he joins the struggle for American independence. He participates in one of the Revolution's greatest sea battles alongside the captain who had once rescued him -- now known as John Paul Jones. He also fights to regain his inheritance and win the hand of his beloved Dorothy.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2012
17 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Winston Churchill
389 books110 followers
This is not the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. This is the American novelist, Winston Churchill.
Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While he would be most successful as a novelist, he was also a published poet and essayist.
His first novel was The Celebrity (1898). (Mr. Keegan's Elopement was published in 1896 within a magazine. In 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.) Churchill's next novel—Richard Carvel (1899)—was a phenomenon, selling as many as two million copies in a nation of only 76 million, and made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.
Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. He often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.
In 1899, Churchill moved to Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in 1903 and 1905. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1906. In 1912, he was nominated as the Progressive candidate for governor but did not win the election. He did not again seek office. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.
Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Some of his works are in the collections of Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.
In 1919, Churchill decided to stop writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In 1940, The Uncharted Way, his first book in 20 years, was published. The book examined Churchill's thoughts on religion. He did not seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."
Churchill died in Winter Park, Florida in 1947. He is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...]
Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While he would be most successful as a novelist, he was also a published poet and essayist.
His first novel was The Celebrity (1898). (Mr. Keegan's Elopement was published in 1896 within a magazine. In 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.) Churchill's next novel—Richard Carvel (1899)—was a phenomenon, selling as many as two million copies in a nation of only 76 million, and made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.
Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. He often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.
In 1899, Churchill moved to Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in 1903 and 1905. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1906. In 1912, he was nominated as the Progressive candidate for governor but did not win the election. He did not again seek office. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.
Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Some of his works are in the collections of Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.
In 1919, Churchill decided to stop writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In 1940, The Uncharted Way, his first book in 20 years, was published. The book examined Churchill's thoughts on religion. He did not seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."
Churchill died in Winter Park, Florida in 1947. He is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...]
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 13, 2022
This is an adventure novel set in colonial Maryland at the time when the American revolution was brewing. It was a best-seller when first published in 1899. I learned about it in the memoirs of Ethel Barrymore Memories: An Autobiography, because she mentions being acquainted with both the British and the American Winston Churchill, and I wanted to find out more about the American one.
Richard Carvel grew up with his grandfather, a rich man from Maryland and faithful to King George. But young Richard's sympathies are with the people of the colonies who complain about England's treatment of them. The novel is a soap opera with family feuds, love interests, kidnapping, pirates, the high life in London and the important historical characters both British and American. It's very entertaining.
Richard Carvel grew up with his grandfather, a rich man from Maryland and faithful to King George. But young Richard's sympathies are with the people of the colonies who complain about England's treatment of them. The novel is a soap opera with family feuds, love interests, kidnapping, pirates, the high life in London and the important historical characters both British and American. It's very entertaining.
February 1, 2016
This was a truly beautiful book. The story, set as the posthumous diary published by the title character's grandson, follows Richard Carvel through his coming of age during the late 18th Century. This young, upstart noble of Maryland finds himself conflicted between love of his loyalist grandfather and his strongly held convictions about the rights of man and of the English subjects in the American colonies. His family is divided in more ways than one, however, which leads him in adventures across the Atlantic, where he encounters vividly portrayed historical personages and struggles to not only get back home, but to win the love of a high spirited and conflicted girl.
I seriously could not put this book down and lost sleep over it. It's everything fiction today should be but isn't. The language is not dumbed down but rather beautiful, which actually makes it easier to read. The characters have flaws but work to overcome them. The friendships formed on paper are remarkably touching; I can't help but wish to know what became of Comyn, or of Richard and his love. Patriotism is held as a virtue, and the glory of the English race, whether of the Stars and Stripes or of the Union Jack, is exemplified with an uncanny similarity in tone and language to that of the other, more famous Winston S. Churchill.
And yes, this book was written by the American Churchill, not the British. When I saw this book, a first edition, sitting in a thrift store for one dollar, I could not remember the name of the more famous Winston's only fictional work and had forgotten the Prime Minister used his middle initial to distinguish himself from this author (whom he had read and enjoyed), so I risked the dollar and bought the book. When I discovered the author was not who I thought it was, I figured I would give it a shot anyway. All too happy that I did, though now I wish sequels existed telling the rest of the story of Mr. Carvel.
I seriously could not put this book down and lost sleep over it. It's everything fiction today should be but isn't. The language is not dumbed down but rather beautiful, which actually makes it easier to read. The characters have flaws but work to overcome them. The friendships formed on paper are remarkably touching; I can't help but wish to know what became of Comyn, or of Richard and his love. Patriotism is held as a virtue, and the glory of the English race, whether of the Stars and Stripes or of the Union Jack, is exemplified with an uncanny similarity in tone and language to that of the other, more famous Winston S. Churchill.
And yes, this book was written by the American Churchill, not the British. When I saw this book, a first edition, sitting in a thrift store for one dollar, I could not remember the name of the more famous Winston's only fictional work and had forgotten the Prime Minister used his middle initial to distinguish himself from this author (whom he had read and enjoyed), so I risked the dollar and bought the book. When I discovered the author was not who I thought it was, I figured I would give it a shot anyway. All too happy that I did, though now I wish sequels existed telling the rest of the story of Mr. Carvel.
November 8, 2007
Not THAT Winston Churchill.
May 26, 2009
I have already read this book once. It is the "Diary of Richard Carvel" referred to in my favorite novel "The Crisis", also by Winston Churchill.
The hero, Richard Carvel narrates his sympathy for the cause of American Independance before and during the American Revolution, and of his enduring love for his childhood sweetheart, Dorothy Manners. His uncle's betrayal sends Richard to face kidnapping and piracy, until he is finally rescued and befriended by a true-life hero of the American Revolution, John Paul Jones; and ultimately restored to his birthright and his true love.
I'm currently recording this book in 56-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
The hero, Richard Carvel narrates his sympathy for the cause of American Independance before and during the American Revolution, and of his enduring love for his childhood sweetheart, Dorothy Manners. His uncle's betrayal sends Richard to face kidnapping and piracy, until he is finally rescued and befriended by a true-life hero of the American Revolution, John Paul Jones; and ultimately restored to his birthright and his true love.
I'm currently recording this book in 56-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
March 4, 2020
If you like historical epics and tales of adventure on the high seas, you will enjoy this book, which was a huge best seller when it was published in 1899. Richard Carvel weaves strands of fiction (the story of a young boy/man from colonial Maryland) with a carefully researched and polished presentation of historical figures and events (e.g., the naval battle in which John Paul Jones said "I have not yet begun to fight!").
Part swashbuckler, part romance, and part historical epic, it provides not only a glimpse into the world of 18th-century America and England, but also into the mindset of late Victorian-era America -- the era in which it was written. So it's a doubly historical and fascinating book.
Part swashbuckler, part romance, and part historical epic, it provides not only a glimpse into the world of 18th-century America and England, but also into the mindset of late Victorian-era America -- the era in which it was written. So it's a doubly historical and fascinating book.
December 18, 2023
It's been a while since I've read any Winston Churchill, the American author who in latter days lived in Cornish, NH — a place where I have some in-law relatives —, not his better-known cousin, who later on became a British Prime Minister. Early in his career, Churchill wrote historical novels, and this is one of them. One of the appeals of this book to me is that the main character, Richard Carvel, lived in Maryland, the state of my birth.
Anyway, Richard Carvel's uncle brought him up on a plantation in Maryland, and Richard was tapped to be heir. Richard's uncle was less than happy about this and contrived to have Richard kidnapped by pirates and spirited off to the Caribbean. But, a privateer intercepted the pirates and Richard was saved. He became a sailor for a time and developed a strong friendship for the captain of the privateer because he was the only one on board with which the captain could have an interesting intellectual conversation.
Well, they go to England for a while and Richard makes some friends among the rich and famous. There's lots of talk about the issues in the "colonies". Oops, did I forget to say that this book was set just before the American Revolution? Anyway, interesting things happen, Richard and his captain friend make it back to Maryland and become involved in the Revolutionary War, and so forth.
All in all, a pretty fun read. It's rather a shame that Winston Churchill is no longer much read. I find him interesting.
Anyway, Richard Carvel's uncle brought him up on a plantation in Maryland, and Richard was tapped to be heir. Richard's uncle was less than happy about this and contrived to have Richard kidnapped by pirates and spirited off to the Caribbean. But, a privateer intercepted the pirates and Richard was saved. He became a sailor for a time and developed a strong friendship for the captain of the privateer because he was the only one on board with which the captain could have an interesting intellectual conversation.
Well, they go to England for a while and Richard makes some friends among the rich and famous. There's lots of talk about the issues in the "colonies". Oops, did I forget to say that this book was set just before the American Revolution? Anyway, interesting things happen, Richard and his captain friend make it back to Maryland and become involved in the Revolutionary War, and so forth.
All in all, a pretty fun read. It's rather a shame that Winston Churchill is no longer much read. I find him interesting.
October 24, 2021
I was mistaken, this is not written by the former prime minister of England famous for it's defense during WWII. They just share the same name. Richard Carvel was the #3 best seller in 1899 and remained in the top ten for another year. It took me a long time to get into this book. It had a very slow start. There is an obvious Dickens influence and the language can be over the top and tedious. At first glance the novel seems to be about the American Revolution taking place in the twenty years or so before and during. But actually there's very little about the war and revolt. But it is an adventure story with a very long and annoying romance sprinkled in. A good chunk of the book is seemingly about the real life John Paul Jones and also the real life Charles Fox. I found this third or so of the book the most entertaining. While not easy to read, there is a good story hidden in there. While apparently adapted for the stage, it is hard to believe there hasn't been a mini-series. Look to Netflix.
November 10, 2017
Historical fiction set during the American Revolution. Like other Churchill books, this is a long book and requires a certain amount of dedication and perseverance to complete, but it's a very good book as well and moves at a fairly lively pace.
December 10, 2017
Historical Romance about the time of the American Revolution.
September 18, 2012
I thought I would check out an old classic from the bookshelf. The end leaf was inscribed with Brett's great grandmother's signature and I was curious about what an author Winston Churchill could be. I would not have guessed that the gentleman would not only write historical fiction like he had been alive during the colonial period, but he could love his characters and have them love in such a deep rich way.
I not only enjoyed this book and the characters portrayed in history, but I wished the story could have gone on.
If you want to relive history, you may step back in time with this book.
I not only enjoyed this book and the characters portrayed in history, but I wished the story could have gone on.
If you want to relive history, you may step back in time with this book.
August 9, 2016
Richard Carvell is an enchanting novel told in the old story telling style before movies and TV occupied most of our limited attention. I thought the book had been written by the late prime minister of Great Britain but instead this Winston Churchill was his American cousin, and in his prime a best seller and household name like James Patterson.
The book itself is a coming of age story based on the American Revolution and the events leading up to it.
Been a while since I read it. I should pick it up again.
The book itself is a coming of age story based on the American Revolution and the events leading up to it.
Been a while since I read it. I should pick it up again.
October 13, 2014
Written by the American author (not the British Prime Minister) in the late 1800s, this story (unlike the others of his I've read) takes place in colonial times. This was perhaps the most difficult of Churchill's novels for me to keep engaged in, but it was still interesting and instructive.
I read it several years ago, but in looking for books to add to my "to read" list found that I've read all the Churchill books I have.
I read it several years ago, but in looking for books to add to my "to read" list found that I've read all the Churchill books I have.
January 29, 2008
Very enjoyable historical fiction - if you like Kenneth Roberts, try this.
September 3, 2011
It's been several years since I read this book. But I read it a couple times in the last decade I've owned it. Good adventure/romance/historical fiction.
March 4, 2020
An epic, first-person tale of the American Revolution, written by one of the most popular American authors of the early 20th century.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews