Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 29th novel – 6th City Watch story
Outline
Characters:	Ankh-Morpork City Watch Samuel Vimes and Lu Tze.
Locations:	Ankh-Morpork
Motifs:	Time travel, cop novels, Revolutions
Publication details
Year of release:	2002
Original publisher:	Doubleday
Hardback ISBN:	ISBN 0-385-60264-2
Paperback ISBN:	ISBN 0-06-001312-5
Other details
Awards:	Prometheus Award, 2003
Notes:	Came 73rd in the Big Read.

Night Watch is the 29th novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, published in 2002. The protagonist of the novel is Sir Samuel Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... Image File history File links Night_watch_discworld. ... Coat of arms of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. ... Sam Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Lu-Tze is a character in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... Time travel is a concept that has long fascinated humanity—whether it is Merlin experiencing time backwards, or religious traditions like Mohammeds trip to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, returning before a glass knocked over had spilt its contents. ... The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ... The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Big Read was a 2003 survey carried out by the BBC, with the goal of finding the Nations Best-loved Book by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS and telephone. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Sam Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... Coat of arms of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. ...

The cover illustration of the British edition, by Paul Kidby, is a parody of Rembrandt's painting Night Watch. This is the first main-sequence Discworld novel not to have a cover by Josh Kirby. Kidby pays tribute to the late artist by placing him in the picture, in the position where Rembrandt painted himself. The actual painting by Rembrandt is used as the back cover illustration. Paul Kidby is an English artist. ... Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669) is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Ronald William Josh Kirby (27 November 1928–23 October 2001), was a British commercial artist born in Waterloo, Lancashire and educated at the Liverpool City School of Art, where he acquired the nickname Josh. ...

Night Watch features a secret police force (the "Unmentionables") that terrorizes the city's populace. A great deal of the plot is inspired by civil uprisings like the Revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune of 1871, the Swing Riots and comparable ones as depicted in Les Miserables, for example [1]. Another parallel with Les Miserables is that the main villain, Carcer Dun, claims that his crime was to have stolen a loaf of bread, as had Jean Valjean. The use of cavalry in city riots echoes the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, where volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry attacked a crowd of protesters in Manchester. The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations or the Year of Revolution, were a revolutionary wave which erupted in Sicily and then, further triggered by the revolutions of 1848 in France, soon spread to the rest of Europe and as far afield as... Le Père Duchesne looking at the statue of Napoleon I on top of the Vendome column: Eh ben ! bougre de canaille, on va donc te foutre en bas comme ta crapule de neveu !… (Well now! buggering rascal, we will knock you the fuck off just like your crook of... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising by the rural workers of the arable south and east of England in 1830. ... Les Misérables is an 1862 novel by the famous French novelist Victor Hugo, set in the Parisian underworld. ... This article details minor Discworld characters; characters from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett who only appear in the background, or who have only had a brief starring role. ... Jean Valjean - illustration from original publication of Les Misèrables, after a painting by Gustave Brion (1824-1877) Jean Valjean is a fictional character and the protagnost of Victor Hugos classic novel Les Misèrables. ... Print of the Peterloo Massacre published by Richard Carlile Peterloo Massacre of August 16, 1819 was the result of a cavalry charge into the crowd at a public meeting at St Peters Fields, Manchester, England. ... Manchester (pronounced ) is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. ...

Plot summary

On the morning of the 30th anniversary of the Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May (and as such the anniversary of the death of John Keel, Vimes' hero and former mentor), Vimes is caught in a magical storm while pursuing Carcer Dun, a notorious criminal. He awakens to find that he has been rescued by Miss Palm (whom Vimes knows as Mrs Palm, Head of the Guild of Seamstresses). He determines that he has somehow been sent back in time. This article details minor Discworld characters; characters from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett who only appear in the background, or who have only had a brief starring role. ...

Vimes attempts to employ the wizards at Unseen University to send him home, but is arrested for breaking curfew by a younger version of himself. Incarcerated in a cell beside his, he finds Carcer, who after being released joins the Unmentionables, the secret police carrying out the paranoid whims of the Patrician of the time, Lord Winder. Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ... This article details minor Discworld characters; characters from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett who only appear in the background, or who have only had a brief starring role. ...

When he is taken to be interrogated by the captain, time is frozen by Lu-Tze, who tells Vimes what has happened and that he must assume the identity of his mentor Sergeant John Keel (who was to have arrived that day but was murdered by Carcer). It is stated that the event which caused Vimes and Carcer to be sent into the past was a major temporal shattering. Vimes then returns to the office, time restarts and he convinces the captain that he is Keel. Lu-Tze is a character in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...

Young Vimes believes Vimes to be Keel, allowing Vimes to teach Young Vimes the lessons for which Vimes idolised Keel. Essentially this means that Vimes taught and idolised himself, not Keel, although alternate histories and the "Trousers of Time" mean this may not be the case ("You were indeed taken under the wing of one John Keel, a watchman from Pseudopolis," says Lu Tze. "He was a real person. He was not you").

The novel climaxes in the Revolution, hinted at since the start of the book. Vimes, taking command of the watchmen, successfully avoids the major bloodshed erupting all over the city and manages to keep his part of it relatively peaceful. After dealing with the Unmentionables' headquarters he has his haphazard forces barricade a few streets to keep people safe from the fighting between rebels and soldiers. However, the barricades are gradually pushed forward during the night to encompass the surrounding streets until Vimes finds himself in control of a significant part of the city.

The ruler, Lord Winder, is assassinated by Havelock Vetinari and the new Patrician Lord Snapcase calls for a complete amnesty. However, he sees Keel as a threat and sends Carcer and the palace guard to murder the Night Watch. Several policemen are killed in the battle; Vimes manages to fight off the attack until he can grab Carcer, at which point they are returned to the future and Keel's body is placed in the timeline Vimes has just left, to tie things up, as in the "real" history, Keel died in that fight. Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... This article details minor Discworld characters; characters from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett who only appear in the background, or who have only had a brief starring role. ...

Vimes' son is born, with the help of Doctor 'Mossy' Lawn (who Vimes met while in the past), and Vimes finally arrests Carcer, promising him a fair trial before he's hanged. A subsequent conversation with Lord Vetinari reveals that the Patrician knows Vimes took Keel's place. He proposes that the old Watch House at Treacle Mine Road (where Keel was sergeant, and which was destroyed by the dragon in Guards! Guards!) be rebuilt.

Fan reaction

Some fans of Terry Pratchett, notably those involved in internet communities, have adopted the Glorious 25th of May as an unofficial holiday celebrating Pratchett's work, much like Towel Day. Towel Day 2005, Innsbruck, Austria, where, by his own accounts, Adams got the inspiration to write the Guide. ...

Translations

• Нощна стража (Bulgarian)
• Noční hlídka (Czech)
• Ronde de nuit (French)
• Die Nachtwächter (German)
• De Nachtwacht (Dutch)

External links

• Annotations for Night Watch
• Quotes from Night Watch

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