The Reign of Greed

About the book

Simoun moves among powerful figures in the Philippines, using wealth and privileged access to encourage decisions whose consequences extend far beyond private advantage. Around him, students seek educational reform, families struggle against arbitrary authority, and people injured by the existing order confront incompatible hopes for change. This sequel to Noli Me Tangere turns toward conspiracy and the moral hazards of answering oppression with calculated violence. Rizal's satire remains attentive to vanity, greed, and the habits that allow public injustice to reproduce itself in ordinary life. Readers familiar with the earlier novel will recognize continuing histories beneath new appearances. Charles Derbyshire's English translation presents the work as The Reign of Greed, preserving its movement between political argument and personal tragedy.

• Colonial oppression
• Reform and violence
• Revenge and responsibility

Why read it

The sequel makes the desire for liberation inseparable from hard questions about the means used to pursue it.

English translation by Charles Derbyshire, 1912