When Herman Melville died in 1891, he could hardly have imagined that Billy Budd would become one of his most widely read prose fictions; after some five years of working on it, he left the story in a manuscript not to be published until 1924. More than three quarters of a century after its appearance it remains rich for serious general readers, literary critics, legal and military historians, and, of course, college and university students, especially in literature courses (Billy Budd is one of the most anthologized of Melville's writings). Others intrigued by this prose fiction are engaged in the ongoing dialogue about the prerogatives and responsibilities of civilized institutions and those in charge of maintaining and preserving their authority and power.

The story Melville was developing evolved into a tale deceptively straightforward in its outlines: Billy Budd, a cheery, popular, and young English merchant sailor – a literal bastard – is impressed into the English Navy to serve aboard a man-of-war, a “ponderously cannoned” and “majestic” battleship. This all takes place “In the time before steamships,” as Melville opens his tale, during a 1790s naval battle between the French and English. Once aboard, the “handsome” and enormously popular young sailor immediately arouses the darkest passions of the vessel's chief police officer, John Claggart, the battleship Bellipotent's Master-at-Arms. Billy has left his merchant vessel, the Rights of Man, and as millions who have served in the military, he is caught in the grinding gears of institutional procedures and justice.