Billy Budd summary
Billy Budd Posthumously published in London in 1924, Billy Budd, Sailor was the final novel written by American writer Herman Melville. Melville began working on the story in 1888, but the work remained unfinished until the time of his death in 1891. The novel was discovered in 1919 by Columbia Professor and Melville biographer Raymond M. Weaver, who edited the novel for publication. Considered a masterpiece by British critics, the novel became an instant classic when it was published in America. Set during the Napoleonic Wars at the end of the eighteenth century, the story follows Billy Budd, a handsome British seaman with a verbal stutter who is falsely accused of staging a mutiny aboard the HMS Bellipotent . The novel was adapted as a stage play in 1951, the Broadway production of which went on to win the Donaldson Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards for best play. In 1962, the play was adapted as a feature film produced, co-written, directed, and starring Peter Us