JIM WEISS on "A WORD ABOUT G.A. HENTY"

George Alfred Henty lived in the late 1800's, was the author of more than seventy novels and countless short stories. Although his life included stints as an army officer at the height of the British Empire, a war journalist and an explorer, his worldwide fame rests on his superb, historically accurate novels.

These novels cover 28 centuries of the most exciting events in human history, starting in ancient egypt and ending in Henty's own time with events and famous individuals he personally knew. His love of adventure, coupled with a stunning capacity to accurately portray historical detail, allowed him to place a fictional young person to interact with the true, main characters of the pivotal points in history. Thus, the reader experiences the true events, the leading figures, and the customs and conditions of each era, all couched in exciting adventure stories.

Because of the sheer amount of detail in the books, we have thoughtfully, gently abridged them for our recordings but you will never feel that they are abridged. Both as adventures and as portraits of how people lived, the recordings are complete, accurate and exciting and I read them with distinct characterization and fine-tuned narration.

Here are a few important considerations:
Having experienced battle first hand, Henty wrote battle scenes more graphic than those that you will find in our Greathall line of storytelling recordings. This, plus the amount of historical detail leads us to suggest that Henty's books are best experienced by those who are at least 7 or 8 years old. They are very appropriate for older children and even adults. Accurate, exciting and with a strong ethical, undercurrent, Henty's works are a splendid way to bring history to life.

Frontier Girl
In this story, we meet Mary Mitford, a remarkable fifteen year old girl who risks her life and the things she holds dear to save the lives of her parents from a cunning and intentional Indian attack.

Date: Late 1700's
Setting: American Frontier

Surly Joe
This is the story of a crusty old sea captain called Surly Joe who finds himself in the perilous situation of having to choose between saving the lives of his two sons or a young girl placed in his charge. The pain from such a decision becomes eased when two small girls enter his life.

Date: 1890's
Setting: Victorian England