A collection of essays providing a multifaceted introduction to Herman Melville's Billy Budd.Billy Budd is Herman Melville's most read work after Moby-Dick. Melville wrote the novella 5 years before his death, and it was published posthumously in 1924. The essays collected here provide a multifaceted introduction to the work. This collection will prove an invaluable resource for students of this major American writer.Billy Budd is Herman Melville's most read work after Moby-Dick. Melville wrote the novella 5 years before his death, and it was published posthumously in 1924. The essays collected here provide a multifaceted introduction to the work. This collection will prove an invaluable resource for students of this major American writer.Billy Budd is Herman Melville's most popular work after Moby-Dick. Melville wrote the novella during the five years before his death, and it was published posthumously in 1924. The essays collected here provide a multifaceted introduction to this major American work.Introduction Donald Yannella; 1. Melville's indirection: Billy Budd, the Genetic text, and 'the deadly space between' John Wenke; 2. Billy Budd and American labour unrest: the case for striking back Larry J. Reynolds; 3. Religion, myth and meaning in the art of Billy Budd, Sailor Gail Coffler; 4. Old man Melville: the rose and the cross R. Milder; Selected Bibliography. The collection as a whole as well as every contributor meets the highest standard of textual criticism and may exemplify the classic principles of carrying on polemics. American Studies International