Challenging Authority

In this Collection, we've gathered together a selection of fictional and real-life narratives that share the theme of Challenging Authority. These selections feature protagonists and real-world figures who stand up to both powerful individuals and oppressive systems in an array of cultural and historical settings.

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government, Trust & Doubt, Perseverance, Power & Greed, Sexual Identity, Good & Evil

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction

Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Fear, Guilt, Hope, Love, Regret, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Midlife, Family, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Politics & Government, Beauty, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Humor

Published in 2000, Confessions of a Shopaholic was the breakout success of British novelist Sophie Kinsella (the pen name of Madeleine Wickham), a former financial journalist from London. Before adopting the Kinsella pseudonym, Wickham published several traditional novels, but she gained international recognition through the Shopaholic series, along with later stand-alone works such as Can You Keep a Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess.The novel follows Rebecca Bloomwood, a journalist whose compulsive spending habits clash comically... Read Confessions of a Shopaholic Summary

Publication year 1608

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Nation, Politics & Government, Power & Greed

Tags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Tragedy, Historical Fiction, British Literature, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature

Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, likely written around 1607-1608. The play is set in Ancient Rome, much like Shakespeare’s other plays Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, and Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus dramatizes the life of the legendary Roman soldier Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus, a patrician who was exiled from the Roman Republic in the 5th century BC after an unsuccessful bid to become consul. Through this narrative, Shakespeare explores themes of the difficulties of controlling... Read Coriolanus Summary

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Teamwork, Siblings, Daughters & Sons, Family, Shame & Pride, Power & Greed, Equality, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Fathers, Death, Wins & Losses, Perseverance, Conflict, Guilt, Gratitude, Grandparents, Self Discovery

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Sports, Bullying, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction

Publication year 1866

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Forgiveness, Power & Greed

Tags Classic Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Philosophy, Poverty, Social Class, Russian Literature, Education, Education, World History, Philosophy

Crime and Punishment is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1866. The story charts the alienation of a student named Raskolnikov who decides to commit the perfect crime to philosophically proving his superiority over others. The novel traces the depths of his mental disintegration as he comes to grips with the psychological consequences of being a murderer, exploring themes like Alienation and Shame, Criminality, and The Necessity of Suffering.Dostoevsky, a stalwart... Read Crime and Punishment Summary

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Power & Greed

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Medieval, Coming of Age, Social Class, Depression & Suicide, European History, Politics & Government, Poverty

Crispin: The Cross of Lead is a 2002 children’s historical fiction novel by Avi. Set in medieval England, the novel follows the adventures of a boy who goes on the run after he is falsely accused of theft and murder and explores themes related to poverty, education, choice, and freedom. Crispin won the Newbery Medal in 2003. A sequel, Crispin at the Edge of the World, was released in 2006, while a third novel, Crispin:... Read Crispin: The Cross of Lead Summary

Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes War, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology

Tags Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Historical Fiction, World War II

Cryptonomicon (1999) is a science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson. Describing events in two different time periods—World War II and an unspecified period in the 1990s—the novel tells the interconnected stories of a large cast of characters. One timeline follows Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, a mathematician and naval captain who is assigned to a 1942 secret, anti-Nazi cryptographic mission, and the other follows his grandson, Randy, a crypto-hacker uncovering a decades-old conspiracy in the present day... Read Cryptonomicon Summary

Publication year 1993

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Colonialism, Power & Greed, Literature

Tags Colonialism & Postcolonialism, World History, Philosophy, Politics & Government, European History, Middle Eastern History, Asian History, Literary Criticism, Sociology, Philosophy, Arts & Culture

Culture and Imperialism is a nonfiction book published in 1993 by the Palestinian American author and academic Edward Said. Originating from a series of lectures that Said delivered in 1985 and 1986, Culture and Imperialism is an expansion of the ideas set out in his groundbreaking earlier work, Orientalism (1978). Considered one of the founders of the field of post-colonial studies, Said looks at how the formerly colonized margins influence the metropolitan centers, and vice... Read Culture and Imperialism Summary

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Hate & Anger, Shame & Pride, Nature Versus Nurture, Fathers, Siblings, Teamwork, Social Class, Good & Evil, Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Romance

Cursed Fates (2020) is a dark fantasy romance novel by British writing duo Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It is the fifth book in the internationally bestselling Zodiac Academy series, which is part of the larger United States of Solaria interconnected universe. The series gained significant popularity through social media platforms, particularly TikTok, and has appeared on bestseller lists from outlets including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The novel continues the story of... Read Cursed Fates Summary

Publication year 1782

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Marriage, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Femininity, Love, Revenge, Sexual Identity

Tags Classic Fiction, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Love & Sexuality

Dangerous Liaisons is an epistolary novel (i.e., a story told through a series of letters) first published in 1782, seven years before the start of the French Revolution, by Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos. The story revolves around the scheming and manipulative activities of two aristocrats, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. They take pleasure in seducing and ruining the reputations of others, using their wit and charm to manipulate those around them... Read Dangerous Liaisons Summary

Publication year 1867

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Power & Greed, Social Class, Wins & Losses, Colonialism

Tags Philosophy, Business & Economics, Politics & Government, Poverty, German Literature

Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (also popularly known in the English-speaking world by its original German title, Das Kapital) by Karl Marx is an influential critique of capitalism that sought to define the economic system’s functions. The first volume—which is the only volume fully written by Karl Marx himself—was published in 1867. Two further volumes were written by Marx’s long-time collaborator, Friedrich Engels, based on Marx’s notes, and were published in 1885 and 1894... Read Das Kapital Summary