Editing Political fiction (section)

==19th-century novel==
An early example of the political novel is ''[[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|The Betrothed]]'' (1827) by [[Alessandro Manzoni]], an Italian [[historical novel]]. Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the oppressive years of direct Spanish rule, it has been seen sometimes as a veiled attack on the [[Austrian Empire]], which controlled [[Italy]] at the time the novel was written. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.<ref name="Archibald Colquhoun 1954">Archibald Colquhoun. ''Manzoni and his Times.'' J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1954.</ref>

In the 1840s British politician [[Benjamin Disraeli]] wrote a trilogy of novels with political themes. With ''[[Coningsby (novel)|Coningsby; or, The New Generation]]'' (1844), Disraeli, in historian [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Robert Blake]]'s view, "infused the novel genre with political sensibility, espousing the belief that England's future as a world power depended not on the complacent old guard, but on youthful, idealistic politicians."<ref name=gale>[http://www.enotes.com/benjamin-disraeli-essays/disraeli-benjamin "Benjamin Disraeli 1804–1881"], '' Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism'', eNotes, accessed 25 August 2013</ref> ''Coningsby''  was followed by ''[[Sybil (novel)|Sybil; or, The Two Nations]]'' (1845), another political novel, which was less idealistic and more clear-eyed than ''Coningsby''; the "two nations" of its subtitle referred to the huge economic and social gap between the privileged few and the deprived working classes. The last of Disraeli's political-novel trilogy, ''[[Tancred (novel)|Tancred; or, The New Crusade]]'' (1847), promoted the Church of England's role in reviving Britain's flagging spirituality.<ref name=gale/>

[[Ivan Turgenev]] wrote ''[[Fathers and Sons (novel)|Fathers and Sons]]'' (1862) as a response to the growing cultural schism that he saw between [[Russia]]'s liberals of the 1830s and 1840s, and the growing Russian [[nihilist movement]] among their sons. Both the nihilists and the 1830s liberals sought Western-based social change in Russia. Additionally, these two modes of thought were contrasted with the [[Slavophile]]s, who believed that Russia's path lay in its [[Russian Orthodox Church|traditional spirituality]].  Turgenev's novel was responsible for popularizing the use of the term "[[Nihilist movement|nihilism]]", which became widely used after the novel was published.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nihilismus|url=http://www.iwp.jku.at/born/mpwfst/05/0510_Nihilismus.pdf|publisher=Johannes Kepler University|access-date=24 September 2013}}</ref>
 
The Polish writer [[Bolesław Prus]]' novel, ''[[Pharaoh (Prus novel)|Pharaoh]]'' (1895), is set in the Egypt of 1087&ndash;85 BCE as that country experiences internal stresses and external threats that will culminate in the fall of its [[Twentieth Dynasty]] and [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]. The young protagonist Ramses learns that those who would challenge [[The powers that be (phrase)|the powers that be]] are vulnerable to co-option, [[seduction]], subornation, [[defamation]], intimidation, and [[assassination]]. Perhaps the chief lesson, belatedly absorbed by Ramses as pharaoh, is the importance, to power, of [[knowledge]].  Prus' vision of the fall of an ancient civilization derives some of its power from the author's intimate awareness of the final demise of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1795, a century before he completed ''Pharaoh''.  This is a political awareness that Prus shared with his 10-years-junior novelist compatriot, [[Joseph Conrad]], who was an admirer of Prus' writings.  ''Pharaoh'' has been translated into 23 languages and adapted as a 1966 Polish [[Pharaoh (film)|feature film]].<ref>[[Christopher Kasparek]], "Prus' ''Pharaoh'' and Curtin's Translation", ''[[The Polish Review]]'', vol. XXXI, nos. 2-3, 1986, p.&nbsp;129.</ref> It is also known to have been [[Joseph Stalin|Joseph Stalin's]] favourite book.<ref>[[Christopher Kasparek]], "Prus' ''Pharaoh'' and Curtin's Translation", p.&nbsp;128.</ref>