Sign-In
Cart
Babel Collector's Edition: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Hardcover
Publisher Price: $55.00
ISBN13: 9780063432888
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Published: Jun 16 2026
Pages: 576
Weight: 1.84
Height: 1.54 Width: 6.26 Depth: 9.28
Language: English
R. F. Kuang's instant #1 New York Times bestselling novel is now available as a stunning Deluxe Collector's Edition featuring a stamped faux-leather case with gold foil, beautiful illustrated endpapers, bookmark ribbon, designed edges, and intricate interior black-and-white illustrations from Nico Delort. Babel is a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation--also known as Babel.
Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working--the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars--has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire's quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide...
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Also from
Kuang, R. F.
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paperback
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Hardcover
The Complete Poppy War Trilogy Boxed Set: The Poppy War / The Dragon Republic / The Burning God
Kuang, R. F.
Paperback
From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars)
Dickinson, Seth
Kuang, R. F.
Green, Hank
Paperback
From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars)
Kuang, R. F.
Green, Hank
Dickinson, Seth
Hardcover
Also in
Fantasy
The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, Book 1) (Indie Exclusive Edition)
Gillig, Rachel
Paperback
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paperback
Japanese Gothic: A Folk Horror Novel of Japanese Mythology, Murder, and Family Duty Across Two Timelines
Baker, Kylie Lee
Hardcover
Assistant to the Villain: A Cozy Fantasy Romantic Comedy from a Tiktok Sensation
Maehrer, Hannah Nicole
Paperback
Before I Knew I Loved You: A Cozy Magical Realism Novel of Time Travel, Love, and Memory, Set in a Fabled Tokyo Café
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu
Hardcover