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Gore Vidal
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1876: A Novel Paperback – February 15, 2000

by Gore Vidal (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 296 ratings
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Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers.

The centennial of the United States was celebrated with great fanfare--fireworks, exhibitions, pious calls to patriotism, and perhaps the most underhanded political machination in the country's history: the theft of the presidency from Samuel Tilden in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes. This was the Gilded Age, when robber barons held the purse strings of the nation, and the party in power was determined to stay in power. Gore Vidal's 1876 gives us the news of the day through the eyes of Charlie Schuyler, who has returned from exile to regain a lost fortune and arrange a marriage into New York society for his widowed daughter. And although Tammany Hall has faltered and Boss Tweed has fled, the effects of corruption reach deep, even into Schuyler's own family.
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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    February 15, 2000
  4. Dimensions
    5.19 x 0.87 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0375708723
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0375708725
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Suspenseful and extravagantly decorated. . . . If you think politics are dirty now, you should have witnessed the goings-on a hundred years ago. . . . Impossible to resist." --Cosmopolitan

"Vidal writes so well that you find yourself holding your breath over something that is a foregone conclusion. . . . Vidal's talent makes the bloated characters of Washington live in a way history books don't."  --The Boston Globe

From the Inside Flap

Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers.

The centennial of the United States was celebrated with great fanfare--fireworks, exhibitions, pious calls to patriotism, and perhaps the most underhanded political machination in the country's history: the theft of the presidency from Samuel Tilden in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes. This was the Gilded Age, when robber barons held the purse strings of the nation, and the party in power was determined to stay in power. Gore Vidal's 1876 gives us the news of the day through the eyes of Charlie Schuyler, who has returned from exile to regain a lost fortune and arrange a marriage into New York society for his widowed daughter. And although Tammany Hall has faltered and Boss Tweed has fled, the effects of corruption reach deep, even into Schuyler's own family.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; 1st Vintage Intl Edition February 2000 (February 15, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375708723
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375708725
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.19 x 0.87 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 296 ratings

About the author

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Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal

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Gore Vidal has received the National Book Award, written numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been a political activist and as Democratic candidate for Congress from upstate New York, he received the most votes of any Democrat in a half-century.

Photo by David Shankbone (Photographer's blog post about the photo and event) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
296 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Franz Limoges
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024
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The whole series is iconic but this novel gets to the negotiation over the 1876 election and it’s very hard to put down even though you know the outcome.
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David Fulmer
4.0 out of 5 stars A Novel of the American Centennial
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2021
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In this novel set on the hundredth birthday of America, Gore Vidal takes as his mouthpiece Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler, a 62 year old diplomat who left New York in 1837 for Europe and now returns with his daughter, Emma, seeking, somewhat desperately, paid journalism assignments for himself and a husband for his daughter. Schuyler dines with newspaper editors and politicos from whom he hopes for jobs in New York and Washington, attends the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and crosses paths with President Grant in the White House. Meanwhile Emma flirts and socializes with aristocratic families in New York and Newport.

1876 was in many ways a low point in American democracy with a corrupt Grant administration giving way to a Republican successor who plainly lost the election to the Democratic governor of New York only to have the presidency stolen like so many other things. The novel doesn’t get too deeply into the politics to be boring but there are plenty of deliciously bitchy encounters with historical characters and Schuyler nicely describes the atmosphere of New York city at the time, having last seen it in 1837 an old Dutch-English village now the seat of the Gilded Age. Both the Schuyler career plot and the Emma marriage plot are kind of ho hum but the novel does sparkle in its many witty, epigrammatic observations. Since that’s the highlight of the novel, I’ll close this review with some of my favourites:

“Americans have always lived entirely in the present, and this generation is no different from mine except that now there is more of a past for them to ignore.”

“With age one does grow, if not wise, forgiving; also, forgetting-also, forgotten.”

“I daresay the fact that I have spent most of my life in Roman Catholic countries has not only made me more tolerant ..., but also convinced me that Roman Catholic societies are more agreeable to live in than Protestant ones because they are not in the slightest degree Christian.”

I admit that our presidents have very little to do. The Congress governs-and does most of the stealing.”

“Most parents are as little fond of their children as their children are of them.”

[At the Astor’s] “Like money, the arts are never mentioned. Unlike money, the arts are never thought of.”

“I have always found it strange that a nation whose prosperity is based entirely upon cheap immigrant labour should be so unrelentingly xenophobic.”
8 people found this helpful
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R. McOuat
5.0 out of 5 stars Vidal's "Tale of Two Cities"
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2006
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The year is 1876, and social ills plague both New York and Washington, DC. Charles Schuyler returns to the U.S. with his daughter Emma with the duel intentions of marrying her off to an eligible bachelor and finding himself means to regenerate his meager funds. He finds the democratic utopia corrupted by a greedy and detached aristocracy. The corrupt Ulysses Grant presidency marks the transition of America from its puritan roots to an ostentatious imperial empire. Charles finds the gentry of New York City to be fatuous and fastidious, oblivious to current events and thriving off ill-begotten fortunes. In Washington, unheard of Ohio Governor Rutherford Hayes steals the presidential election despite losing the popular vote.

Vidal presents the basic formula that war begets large sums of money changing hands, which in turn incites greed, hence corruption. In the New York City of the post civil war era, a stratification of the classes has begun. The men with the officer titles (Commodore, Colonel, Major, General) divide the spoils of wars, hoarding fortunes, while the common grunts are beggars on the streets, doomed to petty theft for survival.

In Washington DC, Vidal paints a picture of America where democracy has not been a success. The presidential election of 1876 puts America at the verge of another civil war. States are sending conflicting poll returns to the Congress and the Electoral College. Votes are for sale. The Republican Party and troops under the republican President U.S. Grant have openly been trying to reverse the popular vote won by Democrat Tilden. Tilden, portrayed by Vidal as honest with the ill-conceived notion of winning an election by scholarly arbitration and argument of political ideals, is given the dilemma. He ran for president on the platform of reform, but to win the election, he must outspend the incumbent Republican Party.

Vidal's strength is his immense vivid characterizations and poignant observations. Only with fictional characters can he provide a first hand perspective of so many historical events and persons. Although the setting of the book is 1876, and the main narrator is Charles Schuyler, Vidal is clearly providing his critique of modern America. Vidal is obviously opinionated and is not writing as an objective historian. The federal government is portrayed the most corrupt in the western world while the press is preoccupied with idiotic irrelevancies such as the wardrobes of the aristocratic rich. Vidal is at his best when describing the ceremonies of court and the accouchements of power battles. Whether writing about roman emperors or centennial presidents, his views of the current social and political milieu are clearly reflected.
12 people found this helpful
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Barbara B. Levinson
5.0 out of 5 stars It is a very interesting story about American history.
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2022
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Well worth your time. My library chose it as this month's book selection.
One person found this helpful
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Joanne
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting period of the nation's history.
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2020
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It was an interesting story but was a slow read. If you had no sense of the history of the times, you would be lost.
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RF
5.0 out of 5 stars A good copy of an interesting book by Vidal
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2013
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I was very pleased when the book arrived within the advertised time and looked to be in excellent condition. Both factors prepared me for what turned out to be not only Vidal's usual ironic take on American history, but an introduction to some salient details I had never known. Let's just say stealing elections is not a 20th century political phenomenon.
One person found this helpful
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Steven L. Kennedy
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, with one mistake
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2022
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I re-read this novel after about 36 years because I thought it might provide some perspective on the alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election. It did, and I also got more out of the novel on its own terms than I did from the first reading. I have only one criticism. On page 267 Vidal refers to Hendricks as being from Illinois. As a Hoosier, I can say categorically that Hendricks was governor of Indiana. This error is the only reason I don’t give the novel five stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Ryan Thier
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect delivery
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2020
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Great shape!
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Top reviews from other countries

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MTT
4.0 out of 5 stars No entiendo la pregunta
Reviewed in Spain on January 20, 2021
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En este caso el precio me ha parecido caro. No sé si lo que ha subido es el transporte
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J. T. Atkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars His best book, if you discount Julian, Live From Golgotha, Burr...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2012
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I am going to keep this review short. Or at least try. This is isn't the sort of book I would normally review, given that it was written by a giant of literature whose other works I have greedily devoured and, in some cases, enjoyed more. However, seeing that there were only three reviews praising this book and given the author's untimely passing, I just wanted to add my voice to the fray shout its praises. For those unfamiliar with Gore Vidal's work, 1876 is the third volume of his lengthy treatise examining the history of America. What distinguishes this work from the varying qualities of what came before, and after, is that is another memoir from a man who is possibly Vidal's greatest creation, Charles Schuyler. Through his writings we are made privy to the changing face of politics in America's centennial year. But for me, the (fascinating, to be sure) story is secondary to a character that is so real you will be hanging on his every word. Interestingly, Gore Vidal himself declared this novel's predecessor, Burr, his personal favourite of his books. Well, Burr may be the better novel, but it is 1876 that will break your heart when you read its final pages. Witty, beautifully written, and insightful to the point leaving me feeling that my accrued knowledge was just a whisker above ignorance, the combination of Burr and 1876 should be considered a real modern classic. Unfortunately, the former has been overshadowed by lesser novels and the latter deemed little more than a footnote to The Narratives of Empire. A shame, as 1876 may just be Gore Vidal's best book, if you discount Julian, Live from Golgotha, Burr, Creation, Kalki, A Search for the King...
6 people found this helpful
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Ronald Ramsay
5.0 out of 5 stars Great history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015
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Vidal's approach to writing history is indeed novel. His knowledge from the inside of politics makes this a fascinating read.
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Barnaby Drudge
3.0 out of 5 stars a bit bored, I might continue after I've read a couple ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2015
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Got stuck half-way through, a bit bored, I might continue after I've read a couple of crime novels and the battle in the Ardennes.
One person found this helpful
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