Which Dickens novel is set during the Gordon Riots?

Which Dickens novel is set during the Gordon Riots? The answer is Barnaby Rudge. Published in 1841, the novel is subtitled A Tale of the Riots of ’Eighty and takes place largely during the violent disturbances that shook London in June 1780.

The Gordon Riots began as a Protestant Association protest against the Papists Act of 1778, which eased some legal restrictions on British Catholics. Under Lord George Gordon, the demonstration grew into days of arson, looting, and attacks on Catholic chapels, Newgate Prison, and other buildings. The army eventually restored order, with hundreds of people killed or wounded.

Dickens combines this real upheaval with a fictional plot involving Barnaby, his raven Grip, the Varden family, the Haredales, and the Maypole inn. Lord George Gordon also appears as a historical figure, linking the novel’s personal drama to the political crisis.

The other options belong to different Dickens settings: David Copperfield is autobiographical in tone, The Pickwick Papers is a comic travel novel, and A Tale of Two Cities concerns the French Revolution.