All But Lost Vol. III

by G.A. Henty

Unedited, unabridged, original format editions with original colored cover art, these Henty books reproduce the original in careful detail. True to its title, only three copies of this three-volume work are known to exist. In recent years, reproductions were permitted of one of these copies, which makes this printing possible. Frank Maynard and Alice go through many adventures in this absorbing tale of British society.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1869

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

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally! I can say that I have read a Victorian three-volume novel!

G.A Henty is known for his historical adventure stories that he wrote for boys. This, however, is a novel for adults that I found when I poked around in my kindle version of his complete works. I actually enjoyed it immensely, and even stayed up later than I should have a couple of times while reading it. But I will also honestly tell you that there are good reasons this isn’t a celebrated or remembered classic.

It’s kind of like a mash-up of Sense and Sensibility and a Wilkie Collins novel. You have some of the basic plot elements from Sense and Sensibility—the rascal who seduces a vulnerable girl and then abandons her; the people in “reduced circumstances” that we’re supposed to feel really sorry for as they’re living in their delightful little country cottage with “only” two servants—but with the mistaken identities, preposterous coincidences, ludicrous miscommunications, and just general melodrama that I associate with Collins’ writing. (Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell might have considered it “a three-volume novel of more than usually revolting sentimentality.”)

I always enjoy the way that old books describe characters with baffling phrases like “a coarse, sensual mouth.” I also derived great amusement from the amount of physical violence that is casually described as if totally normal—and maybe in that time period, it was normal. One of my favorite scenes involves a couple of the main characters (rich young Cambridge grads), feeling restless and bored, sneaking into a radical political meeting expressly to start a fistfight! (And here I was thinking that Wodehouse’s Psmith was the only one…)

The faults of the book aside, “All But Lost” really draws the reader in with compelling characters and—surprisingly for its time period—quick pacing. There were even some plot twists that I didn’t see coming. It was fun to see all the different story elements coming together over the course of the book. And, as Miss Prism says, “The good ends happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”

(In fact, in keeping with the general theme of violence, the villain not only gets disinherited and disgraced; he also gets some teeth knocked out and cuts all over his face, only barely escapes getting “thrashed” and “horsewhipped” to death, then has to go to America [horrors] and get shot in a grungy saloon.)

[Richard Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one as well! Like Volume 2 it was full of surprises and plot twists. It wasnt quiet as exciting as Volume 2. But it was still really exciting. I really enjoyed this series and wish Henty had done more series than just this one.