Product Details

Like new, never read. First edition hardcover Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang is a dark academia fantasy novel set in an alternate 1830s Oxford, exploring colonialism, translation, and revolution through its magic system, which is based on the power of silver-working and translation. The story follows Robin Swift, a Chinese orphan brought to England to study at Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation (Babel), where he discovers the institute's role in fueling the British Empire's colonial expansion and must choose between loyalty to Babel and joining a secret society fighting against it. The novel is known for its complex characters, critique of imperialism, and its central theme questioning the necessity of violence for liberation.