Paul Clifford — Complete

Here begins the most famous opening in English fiction: "It was a dark and stormy night..." But behind that legendary first line lies a bold, surprising novel. First published in 1830, Paul Clifford follows a young man betrayed by circumstance—wrongfully imprisoned, cast out, and reborn as the dashing highwayman "Captain Lovett"—as he moves through London's gambling hells, country roads, and courtrooms, falling in love with the woman who might redeem him. Part adventure, part satire, part impassioned plea for penal reform, the book scandalized and delighted readers while exposing the cruelties of Britain's criminal justice system. This edition presents the complete, unabridged original text exactly as Bulwer Lytton wrote it, accompanied by a new introduction and reader's notes that illuminate the Newgate novel tradition, the author's remarkable life, and the phrases this book gave the English language. Part of The Founding Texts Library.