The Root of Evil

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The Root of Evil
Title Page of The Root of Evil.png
Title page of the first edition.
Authors Thomas Dixon, Jr.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherDoubleday, Page & company [1]
Publication date
1911 [1]
Pages407 [1]

The Root of Evil is a 1911 novel by Thomas Dixon, Jr.

Contents

Plot summary

James Stuart, a Southerner, becomes a successful attorney in New York City. [2] Meanwhile, Nan Primrose, his childhood lover marries his college friend, John C. Calhoun Bivens, now a millionnaire lawyer. [2] At the same time, Dr Henry Woodman takes care of the poor in New York, and opposes the takeover of a drug company by Bivens. [2] Stuart eventually marries his daughter. [2] When Woodman steals some jewelry from Bivens, he goes through a trial but is acquitted by the judges thanks to his good deeds. [2]

Main theme

Biographer Anthony Slide viewed the book as an 'attack on capitalism.' [2]

Critical reception

Slide called it 'a novel for today and for all ages.' [2] It has also been called 'a novel with a purpose' [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 HathiTrust: The Root of Evil
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Anthony Slide, American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2004, pp. 127-129
  3. The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, Excelsior Publishing House, 1911 , Volume 34, p. 138