Cheerful, hardworking, and handsome, Billy is pressed into naval service aboard a British ship during the Napoleonic wars. The innocent and loveable young man quickly wins the hearts of all his comrades, save one: Claggart, the implacably bitter master-at-arms, who falsely accuses Billy of inciting mutiny. Rich in ambiguities, Herman Melville's haunting parable of the clash between good and evil raises thought-provoking issues related to the conflict between the requirements of the law and the needs of humanity.

From the dust jacket of the Dover Classic edition