A radical outsider, a fearless heroine and a society under scrutiny

Volume II of a three-volume edition

In this second volume of Robert Bage's Hermsprong; or, Man as He Is Not, social comedy deepens into moral confrontation. As Hermsprong's plain speaking continues to unsettle rank and pretension, the tensions between principle and power grow sharper. Private affections and public authority collide, and the costs of sincerity in a hierarchical world become increasingly clear.

Maria Fluart's independence shines more boldly than ever, her intelligence and courage challenging the assumptions that seek to confine her. Around her, Bage exposes the fragile foundations of privilege, hypocrisy and inherited superiority.

First published in 1796, Hermsprong remains one of the most daring and humane novels of the late Enlightenment.

This new three-volume P-Wave Classics edition presents the text with a fresh introduction and extensive notes (printed in Volume I), restoring Bage's remarkable novel to its full intellectual and historical resonance.

Edited with notes and an introduction by L.A. Davenport.