The Lion of the North A tale of the times of Gustavus Adolphus

by G.A. Henty

In this novel about the Thirty Years' War, 16-year-old Malcolm Graheme is a Scot who volunteered to fight with the military forces conducted by the celebrated Gustavus Adolphus. When the Emperor of Austria sought to eliminate Protestantism from Germany, the Swedish King fought the terrorism endured throughout villages whose population was mercilessly decreased by the Hun invasion. The Scots displayed the fortitude of Gustavus's army by fighting their way across a Germany that was tormented by religious persecution. Malcolm underwent enterprises whose possible outcome was dangerous, but his quick thinking and insolent resolve won him the struggle against a pitiless opponent.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Historical, War, Young Adult, Literature

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

George Alfred Henty, better known as G.A. Henty, began his storytelling career with his own children. After dinner, he would spend and hour or two in telling them a story that would continue the next day. Some stories took weeks! A friend was present one day and watched the spell-bound reaction of his children suggesting Henty write down his stories so others could enjoy them. He did. Henty wrote approximately 144 books in addition to stories for magazines and was known as "The Prince of Story-Tellers" and "The Boy's Own Historian." One of Mr. Henty's secretaries reported that he would quickly pace back and forth in his study dictating stories as fast as the secretary could record them.

Henty's stories revolve around fictional boy heroes during fascinating periods of history. His heroes are diligent, intelligent, and dedicated to their country and cause in the face, at times, of great peril... Henty's heroes fight wars, sail the seas, discover land, conquer evil empires, prospect for gold, and a host of other exciting adventures. Along the way, they meet famous personages... In short, Henty's heroes live through tumultuous historic eras meeting leaders of that time. Understanding the culture of the time period becomes second nature as well as comparing/contrasting the society of various cultures.

Reviews

[Gary Inbinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a biography of Gustavus Adolphus, the great Swedish warrior king, although he does play a prominent role in the novel. “The Lion of the North” is set during the Thirty Years’ War as experienced by Malcolm Graheme, a young officer serving in one of the volunteer Scottish regiments that were attached to the Swedish army fighting for the Protestant cause.

G.A. Henty was a war correspondent and popular late Victorian novelist specializing in adventure and historical fiction. His books primarily appealed to boys and young men of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and “The Lion of the North”, first published in 1886, is his most significant contribution to the genre.

Henty had first-hand experience as a front-line correspondent in several wars including the Crimea. His descriptions of warfare are detailed, accurate and believable; his knowledge of the strategies, tactics and the politics of the Thirty Years’ War considerable. His style was typical of the period: old-fashioned to contemporary eyes, but in my opinion, still quite readable.

The reader’s interest in this novel mainly depends upon his or her reaction to the protagonist. Malcolm is a model of the Victorian hero, an ideal example of Mens sana in corpore sano, the “muscular Christian.” Malcolm is physically fit, handsome, intelligent, brave, resourceful, highly principled, gallant and modest, with a sense of humor. He is a born leader, cool under pressure, an inspiration to his men, a valuable asset to his superiors. Kipling’s “If” could have been written with Malcolm in mind, especially the final stanza:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
⁠And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!

There is a love interest in the story, a teenaged German countess. Needless to say, the maid is virtuous, and Malcolm is chivalrous to a fault.

The bottom line: If you like an old-fashioned adventure story featuring a gallant young hero and a virtuous maiden—and I’ll admit I do—then I believe you’ll enjoy “The Lion of the North”. On the other hand, if a paean to traditional manly and womanly virtues makes you gag, retch and reach for your copy of Lytton Strachey’s “Eminent Victorians” you ought to avoid Henty at all costs.

[Abigail Hartman]

For a kid's book, this seemed like it would never end. I didn't read much Henty growing up, but was curious about his take on the Thirty Years War and decided to pick up LION OF THE NORTH this summer. I'm not sure what my thoughts would have been had I read this at a younger age, but reading it now, I was actually rather bored. Henty's novels were written in the nineteenth century as adventure stories, but at least LION is far less exciting and fast-paced than the adventure stories of, say, Robert Louis Stevenson (my idol). His main character, Scottish soldier of fortune Malcolm Graeme, is an absolutely upstanding and pure-hearted youth who just happens to get into a bunch of different historical and extra-historical adventures, from fighting alongside Gustavus Adolphus at the Swedish king's last battle to witnessing the murder of Wallenstein; yet between 'exciting' moments, the narrative is basically a recapitulation of the history of a portion of the war, with lots of troop movements and politicking. The story thus shifts back and forth from a fairly immersive style when following Malcolm, to a nineteenth-century-retrospective-historical tone when the bigger picture is being conveyed. It's probably not too bad as an introduction to the history of the war, despite how Henty's own era colors his story. On the other hand, Malcolm has very little personality beyond being wholesome, and I was between yawning and laughing at his miraculous ability to fight or scheme his way through any obstacle and the surrounding characters' starry-eyed praise of his boldness and good luck. Maybe I would have overlooked these foibles if I'd read it when I was actually within its intended age range, but somehow I think I'd still have been pretty meh about it.

[Dan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not about Gustavus Adolpus but set in the wars he led and centers on a young Scottish recruit. Very good read and is a fine example of the interesting novels that were written for boys back in the day. Still very readable, very well written, and very well paced.

[Jay Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is misleading, there is very little about Adolphus. Instead, it is a fictional story of a young Scot and his exploits in the Thirty Years War who just happens to be a soldier of fortune. The Thirty Years War was a messy affair and it lead to widespread extermination of both Catholics and Protestants. This is a children’s book? So in the end it’s just a piece of historical fiction and not very good.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Lion of the North?

More like The Delivery Guy of the North.

It was ok at times, too simplistic and obvious at others, and too old-timey for my taste. And by that I don't mean that because it has to do with the Thirty Years War and I don't like that, no, by all means, I love history books fiction and non fiction alike. I don't like the old timey simplistic writing feeling, like it reeks of "saw that coming"'s.

Anyway, I got bored halfway through and the end was cliche as hell.

[L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how this book ended up on my Kindle but there it is and here I go.

G. A. Henty wrote what I would call stories for boys. Here we follow young Scottish lad Malcom Graheme as he rampages through Europe during the Thirty Year War in employ of Gustavus Adolphus, the king of Sweden. Henty's war is a clean war. There's barely any blood or atrocities. It comes down to Protestants good, Catholics bad, and locals defending their homes from invaders the absolute worst.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated dairy of a Scottish soldier fighting in the service of Gustavus Adolphus in the 30 Years' War. When the author focuses on his own story it is surprisingly still entertaining - even 400 years later. But in other sections the author just seems to catalog various troop movements and battles without much detail or context for why they were important.

[Franco Luciano · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Thirty Year's War from an outsiders (Scottish) perspective. It moves a little abruptly in parts and the ending leaves a little to be desired, however I still largely enjoyed it.

[Mr Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good blend of history and fiction

I normally don’t read historical fiction but as a student of the Thirty Years War the subject attracted me. The story is written from the point of view of the Protestant cause but the author weaves fact and fiction well into a very readable yarn

[Joshua Moseley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Before reading, I had very little to no knowledge of the Thirty Years war. The book was a little confusing in the first half (mostly due to my lack of geography) but came together quite nicely at the end.

[Grax · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exceedingly dry, not much to it, uninteresting characters.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was nothing about Gustavus Adolphus, but rather about the first part of the Thirty Years War, and it was rather predictable and not too interesting. At least it was short.

[Ceira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually my second time through this one; this time I read it to my sister. She liked it enough that when we had come to the end, she requested that we start again... at the beginning.
I don't think this was one of Henty's best, though not one of his lesser ones either. I've noted some things that I didn't see when I was younger. The story was choppy, comprised of battle records interspersed with feats of daring-do, and very little character development. Luck and fate are presented as the driving forces of life, supplemented by and individual's bravery and achievements. He has astrologers in this book, which I believe was historical in this instance instead of merely literary interest as it was in "At Agincourt". But still, some of it got left out in the read-aloud to a 5-year-old.

[William Shep · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few adventure stories set during the Thirty Years War in Germany. The hero, Malcolm Graham, is a young officer in one of the Scottish regiments of the King of Sweden fighting for the Protestant cause against the Catholic Emperor and his generals Wallenstein and Tilly. Malcolm follows the usual Henty pattern of being very smart, tough, and of good character, qualities that enable him to surmount all difficulties. This particular paperback edition is cheaply made and falls apart easily, so anyone how enjoys Henty should pay a little more to get the PrestonSpeed hardback editions on acid free paper.

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too simplistic

A very black and white fairy tale set in the 30 years war. The hero is good and very good. The villain is evil, and (spoiler alert) killed shortly after his devious turn to the "right" side. The princess (daughter of a count, in this case) is beautiful, young, and virtuously silent, as is expected of her. The history surrounding the fairy tale is a somewhat dry, fast run through of the first 15 years of the war from the POV of a Scottish mercenary for the Swedish military.

[Abigail Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 14 years old. Henty books are rather on the "boyish book" side but many girls I know (including myself) enjoy them as well.

You can find many G. A. Henty books on LibriVox: https://catalog.librivox.org/search.p...

A friend of ours, Jim Hodges, has recorded many G. A. Henty books and we own them all and my brothers have listened to everyone of them. http://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/

[Angelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another G A Henty. I like his books because they are so much history even though the fictional characters start sounding alike and he's not the best writer. This one is about Gustavus from Sweden who saves the Protestant cause in Germany. During this 30 year period, Protestant Germany lost 1/3 of it's population. Entire villages disappeared.

[Tony Almquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad tale of the adventures of a lucky plucky youth named Malcolm Graehme who is a Scot fighting in King Gustavus Adolphus' Swedish army in the Thirty Years War in Germany. Some historical detail is interspersed among Malcolm's daring deeds.

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a wonderful book it's full of drama . But it is mainly adveture. If you are going to read this book, do not read the chapter names, it gives the chapter away.

[Nai Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most amazing book I have read in a while!

[Steve Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this as a child when I discovered my Granddad's old copy.
It is a great boy's own style adventure and also provides a good overview of the Swedish involvement in the Thirty Years War.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fun historical fiction about the Thirty Years War. I read the Project Gutenberg version.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

i liked it

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it

[Roula Yasin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many military and battlefield details. Didn't finish

[Bill Cosgrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books by Henty