I was introduced to George Alfred Henty’s historical fiction when I was about 10 years old and they enthralled me in a world of adventure ever since. They tell stories of young men between the ages of 15 to 22 mixed up with the famous or infamous historical invents of the time from as far back as the ancient history of the Bible to the Civil War. Our young adventurer(s) always display impeccable integrity and honest straightforwardness that reflects a Godly worldview. Having lived during the Victorian period, his sentences are long and verbose, but when I read the books I always learned long, interesting words.
It is apparent that Henty was writing for young boys. In The Dragon and the Raven, he tells the story of a Saxon lad fighting against the Danes or the Viking invaders during the reign of Alfred the Great. The usually boring and mundane historical facts are carefully and articulately incorporated into a thrilling struggle for freedom. In less than a week, I completed The Dragon and the Raven, and discovered that Henty had written no less that 80 books of historical fiction. Rapidly, I engrossed myself in dozens more, and realized that they do not correlate, and can be read in any order. I recommend that boys and girls age 10 and up who crave a touch of escapade can indulge themselves in Henty’s books. However, readers should be aware of Henty’s typical Victorian racism and prejudges of the time. Some of the characters drink alcohol in the books, but the author always discourages drunkenness and shows it for what it really is.
The Knight of the White Cross tells the tale of a young English noble in the service of the Knights of Saint John during the time of the War of the Rose. He fights the Saracens and Moors by hunting enemy ships of war or marauding pirates. In the cities, he fights in breaches alongside his brother in arms, the Hospitallers. His is sworn to celibacy, but he wins the favor of a young countess when he destroys an immense corsair fleet. He is courteous as a knight should be, innovative in the time of battle and courageous when confronted with overwhelming odds. But when Rhodes is besieged will the fortress fall and the Saracens conquer? To find out read the exciting adventure The Knight of the White Cross.
In the Dragon and the Raven a young Saxon, Edmund, fights against the Norman invasion from 870 AD to 901 AD. The young man organizes a lethal band of defenders who fight in a novel formation of the time. He also builds a ship of war, which excides the largest Viking vessel of the time to hunt down and destroy pillaging Vikings and take back their Saxon property. Edmund love England and the King. He will die to protect his country and king, but will he die in the seemingly hopeless cause?
In Freedom’s Cause is a story of a young ousted Scottish noble who struggles with Sir William Wallace and Sir Robert de Bruce against the might of England. He accompanies these great men in daring attack and hair razing escapes, but do these small attacks help to release Scotland from the grip of England power during the 13th century?
George Alfred Henty was born on December 8, 1832 at Trumpington, near Cambridge, England. Being a sickly boy, he was confined to bed often spent his time in ardent reading. This many have led to his enthusiastic interest in the world and his future passion for writing. He went to several colleges, but he joined the Army Hospital Commissariat at the commencement of the Crimean War, before he completed his education. He resigned the army in 1859 and began writing short papers as a journalist. He wrote about the Austroitalian War, the 1868 expedition to Abyssinia, the Franco-Prussian War, the Ashanti War, the Carlist Rebellion and Turco-Serbian War. He wrote Out on the Pampas in 1868 and began writing many articles and stories for kids, publishing 122 books. He also edited a magazine called the Union Jack, and he wrote some adult novels. Having lived most of his younger days in turmoil and war, Henty’s stories usual have a young hero embroiled in the predicaments of history. He died on November 16, 1902 at a ripe old age of 70 leaving and unfinished book that was later completed by his son.
Sources of Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga_henty
http://www.reformation.org/hentybio.html
Bibliography
A Search for a Secret
The March to Magdala
All But Lost, Volumes I, II and III
Out on the Pampas: The Young Settlers
The Young Franc-Tireurs and Their Adventure in the Franco-Prussian War
The March to Coomassie
The Young Buglers, A Tale of the Peninsular War
The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars
In Times of Peril: A Tale of India
Facing Death, The Hero of the Vaughan Pit – A Tale of the Coal Mines
Winning His Spurs: A Tale of the Crusades (aka Boy Knight)
Friends Though Divided: A Tale of the Civil War
Jack Archer: A Tale of the Crimea
Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main
By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War
With Clive in India: The Beginnings of an Empire
In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce
St. George For England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers
True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence
The Young Colonists: A Tale of the Zulu and Boer Wars
The Dragon and the Raven, or The Days of King Alfred
For Name and Fame: To Cabul with Roberts
The Lion of the North: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of Religion
Through the Fray: A Tale of the Luddite Riots
Yarns on the Beach: A Bundle of Tales
The Bravest of the Brave, or, With Peterborough in Spain
A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia
The Sovereign Reader: Scenes from the Life and Reign of Queen Victoria
The Young Carthaginian, A Story of the Time of Hannibal
With Wolfe in Canada: The Winning of a Continent
Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden
For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem
Gabriel Allen M.P.
In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy
Orange and Green: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick
Sturdy and Strong: How George Andrews Made His Way
Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt
The Curse of Carne's Hold: A Tale of Adventure, Volumes I and II
The Lion of St. Mark: A Story of Venice in the Fourteenth Century
The Plague Ship
Tales of Daring and Danger, Five Short Stories
By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic
One of the 28th: A Tale of Waterloo
With Lee in Virginia, A Story of the American Civil War
The Boy Knight: A tale of the Crusades
By England's Aid: The Freeing of the Netherlands, 1585–1604
By Right of Conquest: With Cortez in Mexico
Chapter of Adventures: Through the Bombardment of Alexandria (aka The Young Midshipman (USA)
A Hidden Foe, Volumes I and II
Maori and Settler: A Tale of the New Zealand War
Those Other Animals
The Dash For Khartoum: A Tale of the Nile Expedition
Held Fast for England: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar (1779–83)
The Ranch in the Valley
Redskin and Cowboy: A Tale of the Western Plains
Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invasion
Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from Siberia
In Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence (1821–1827)
Rujub, the Juggler, Volumes I, II and III
Dorothy's Double: The Story of a Great Deception, Volumes I, II and III
A Jacobite Exile: Being the Adventures of a Young Englishman in the Service of Charles XII of Sweden
Saint Bartholomew's Eve: A Tale of the Huguenot Wars
Through the Sikh War: A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjab
In the Heart of the Rockies: A Story of Adventure in Colorado
When London Burned: A Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire
Woman of the Commune: A Tale of Two Sieges of Paris (aka Cuthbert Hartington, A Girl of the Commune,Two Sieges and Two Sieges of Paris
Wulf The Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest
A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes
Through Russian Snows: A Story of Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow
The Tiger of Mysore: A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib
At Agincourt: A Tale of the White Hoods of Paris
On the Irrawaddy: A Story of the First Burmese War
The Queen's Cup, A Novel, Volumes I, II and III
With Cochrane the Dauntless: A Tale of the Exploits of Lord Cochrane
Colonel Thorndyke's Secret (aka The Brahmin's Treasure (USA))
A March on London: Being a Story of Wat Tyler's Insurrection
With Frederick the Great: A Tale of the Seven Years War
With Moore at Corunna: A Tale of the Peninsular War
On the Spanish Main: A Tale of Cuba and the Buccaneers
At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt
Both Sides the Border: A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower
The Golden Cañon and The Stone Chest, or The Secret of Cedar Island (2-in-1 book)
The Lost Heir
Under Wellington's Command: A Tale of the Peninsular War
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
No Surrender! A Tale of the Rising in La Vendée
A Roving Commission, or, Through the Black Insurrection at Hayti
Won by the Sword: A Story of the Thirty Years War
In the Irish Brigade: A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain
John Hawke's Fortune: A Story of Monmouth's Rebellion
Out With Garibaldi: A Story of the Liberation of Italy
Queen Victoria: Scenes from her Life and Reign
With Buller in Natal: A Born Leader
At the Point of the Bayonet: A Tale of the Mahratta War
To Herat and Cabul, A Story of the First Afghan War
With Roberts to Pretoria: A Tale of the South African War
The Treasure of the Incas: A Tale of Adventure in Peru
With Kitchener in the Soudan, A Story of Atbara and Omdurman
With the British Legion: A Story of the Carlist Wars
Through Three Campaigns: A Story of Chitral, Tirah, and Ashantee
With the Allies to Pekin: A Story of the Relief of the Legations
Gallant Deeds
By Conduct and Courage: A Story of Nelson's Days
In the Hands of the Malays
Among the Bushrangers from A Final Reckoning
Indian Raid, An from Redskin and Cowboy
Cast Ashore from With Clive in India
Charlie Marryat from With Clive in India
Cornet Walter from Orange and Green
A Highland Chief from In Freedom's Cause
The Two Prisoners from A Soldier's Daughter
The Young Captain from With Clive in India