Danny

by Alfred Ollivant

Excerpt from Danny
Busily through the crack there came a knight ly babe in tabard of clouded silver; halted on a lion's skin; and stood there with uplifted head and the shy delightful dignity of one gentleman doubtful of his welcome at the hands of another.

462 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

Alfred Ollivant (1874–1927) was an English novelist best known for his children's classic Bob, Son of Battle. Ollivant also wrote about a dozen other novels ranging from small-scale cautionary tales to grand historical epics.

Alfred Ollivant was born in Nuthurst, Sussex, in 1874 and became an author after a horse-riding injury ending his brief military career. Bob, Son of Battle, his first novel, was published in 1898. Set in rural Cumbria, in northern England, the novel centers on a suspected sheepkilling collie Bob.

Even though most of the book's dialogue is written in the Cumbrian dialect, it gained a popular following in the United States. Ollivant even published a sequel, Danny, in 1902. He was also a short story contributor to The Atlantic Monthly and the Boston Evening Transcript. Alfred Ollivant died in London on January 19, 1927.