''The Root of Evil'' is a 1911 novel by

Thomas Dixon, Jr. Thomas Frederick Dixon Jr. (January 11, 1864 – April 3, 1946) was an American white supremacist, Baptist minister, politician, lawyer, lecturer, novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Referred to as a "professional racist", Dixon wrote two best- ...

Plot summary

James Stuart, a Southerner, becomes a successful attorney in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Anthony Slide, ''American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon'', Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2004, pp. 127-12

/ref> Meanwhile, Nan Primrose, his childhood lover marries his college friend, John C. Calhoun Bivens, now a millionnaire lawyer. 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. Stuart eventually marries his daughter. When Woodman steals some jewelry from Bivens, he goes through a trial but is acquitted by the judges thanks to his good deeds.

Main theme

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

Critical reception

Slide called it 'a novel for today and for all ages.' It has also been called 'a novel with a purpose'''The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer'', Excelsior Publishing House, 1911 , Volume 34, p. 138

References

External links

The Novel at Project Gutenberg
1911 American novels Novels set in New York City Novels by Thomas Dixon Jr. {{1910s-novel-stub