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A Service Of Danger
""A Service of Danger"" is a thrilling adventure novel written by Amelia B. Edwards. The story follows the journey of a young woman named Miss Morley, who is hired as a governess for the children of a wealthy family in Egypt. However, she soon discovers that her employer is involved in a dangerous conspiracy to overthrow the Egyptian government.As Miss Morley becomes more and more entangled in the dangerous plot, she must use all of her wit and courage to protect herself and the children she has been hired to care for. Along the way, she encounters a cast of intriguing characters, including a dashing British officer and a mysterious Egyptian prince.Full of suspense, action, and romance, ""A Service of Danger"" is a gripping tale of intrigue and adventure in the exotic land of Egypt. Edwards' vivid descriptions of the ancient ruins, bustling markets, and treacherous desert landscapes bring the setting to life, while her dynamic characters and fast-paced plot keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.The snow was now some fourteen inches deep upon the ground, and still falling in such thick flakes as made it impossible to see twenty yards ahead. The gloomy pine-trees closed round our steps in every direction, thick-set, uniform, endless. Except the broad chauss�����e, down which the artillery was lumbering slowly and noiselessly, no paths or side-tracks were distinguishable. Below, all was white and dazzling; above, where the wide-spreading pine-branches roofed out the leaden sky, all was dark and oppressive.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
5 people want to read
About the author
Amelia B. Edwards
309 books69 followersAmelia Ann Blandford Edwards (1831-1892) was an English novelist, journalist, lady traveller and Egyptologist, born to an Irish mother and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker. Edwards was educated at home by her mother, showing considerable promise as a writer at a young age. She published her first poem at the age of 7, her first story at age 12. Edwards thereafter proceeded to publish a variety of poetry, stories and articles in a large number of magazines.
Edwards' first full-length novel was My Brother's Wife (1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was Barbara's History (1864), a novel of bigamy, that solidly established her reputation as a novelist. She spent considerable time and effort on their settings and backgrounds, estimating that it took her about two years to complete the researching and writing of each. This painstaking work paid off, her last novel, Lord Brackenbury (1880), emerged as a run-away success which went to 15 editions.
In the winter of 1873–1874, accompanied by several friends, Edwards toured Egypt, discovering a fascination with the land and its cultures, both ancient and modern. Journeying southwards from Cairo in a hired dahabiyeh (manned houseboat), the companions visited Philae and ultimately reached Abu Simbel where they remained for six weeks. During this last period, a member of Edwards' party, the English painter Andrew McCallum, discovered a previously-unknown sanctuary which bore her name for some time afterwards. Having once returned to the UK, Edwards proceeded to write a vivid description of her Nile voyage, publishing the resulting book in 1876 under the title of A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Enhanced with her own hand-drawn illustrations, the travelogue became an immediate bestseller.
Edwards' travels in Egypt had made her aware of the increasing threat directed towards the ancient monuments by tourism and modern development. Determined to stem these threats by the force of public awareness and scientific endeavour, Edwards became a tireless public advocate for the research and preservation of the ancient monuments and, in 1882, co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society) with Reginald Stuart Poole, curator of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. Edwards was to serve as joint Honorary Secretary of the Fund until her death some 14 years later.
With the aims of advancing the Fund's work, Edwards largely abandoned her other literary work to concentrate solely on Egyptology. In this field she contributed to the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, to the American supplement of that work, and to the Standard Dictionary. As part of her efforts Edwards embarked on an ambitious lecture tour of the United States in the period 1889–1890. The content of these lectures was later published under the title Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorer (1891).
Amelia Edwards died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on the 15 April 1892, bequeathing her collection of Egyptian antiquities and her library to University College London, together with a sum of £2,500 to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology. She was buried in St Mary's Church Henbury, Bristol,
Wikipedia: Amelia B. Edwards
Edwards' first full-length novel was My Brother's Wife (1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was Barbara's History (1864), a novel of bigamy, that solidly established her reputation as a novelist. She spent considerable time and effort on their settings and backgrounds, estimating that it took her about two years to complete the researching and writing of each. This painstaking work paid off, her last novel, Lord Brackenbury (1880), emerged as a run-away success which went to 15 editions.
In the winter of 1873–1874, accompanied by several friends, Edwards toured Egypt, discovering a fascination with the land and its cultures, both ancient and modern. Journeying southwards from Cairo in a hired dahabiyeh (manned houseboat), the companions visited Philae and ultimately reached Abu Simbel where they remained for six weeks. During this last period, a member of Edwards' party, the English painter Andrew McCallum, discovered a previously-unknown sanctuary which bore her name for some time afterwards. Having once returned to the UK, Edwards proceeded to write a vivid description of her Nile voyage, publishing the resulting book in 1876 under the title of A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Enhanced with her own hand-drawn illustrations, the travelogue became an immediate bestseller.
Edwards' travels in Egypt had made her aware of the increasing threat directed towards the ancient monuments by tourism and modern development. Determined to stem these threats by the force of public awareness and scientific endeavour, Edwards became a tireless public advocate for the research and preservation of the ancient monuments and, in 1882, co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society) with Reginald Stuart Poole, curator of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. Edwards was to serve as joint Honorary Secretary of the Fund until her death some 14 years later.
With the aims of advancing the Fund's work, Edwards largely abandoned her other literary work to concentrate solely on Egyptology. In this field she contributed to the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, to the American supplement of that work, and to the Standard Dictionary. As part of her efforts Edwards embarked on an ambitious lecture tour of the United States in the period 1889–1890. The content of these lectures was later published under the title Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorer (1891).
Amelia Edwards died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on the 15 April 1892, bequeathing her collection of Egyptian antiquities and her library to University College London, together with a sum of £2,500 to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology. She was buried in St Mary's Church Henbury, Bristol,
Wikipedia: Amelia B. Edwards
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 16, 2023
This is not one of Edwards' best stories. In it, a gentleman of all gentleman thinks he shall die young. He is brave and daring, wishing foremost to be put into a "service of danger" to accredit to himself a noble deed before death. He joins the military with a friend (the narrator), and one day is allowed to go on such a dangerous mission, where he is wounded. All of the men that went with him return--as ghosts; our gentleman returns alive but soon dies of his wound.
We see in this story a certain sense of friendship, as well a delineation of a sort-of understanding between some men in this world and our military: it is a place to gain honor, and, as it were, death in service of it is a virtue. Even a rich gentleman, who has no need of money, and who is in some ways a gentleman precisely because he does not need to kowtow to wages or to society (for money is the only thing that frees us--nothing else matters, so long as we are materially deprived); yet, he is still socially responsible,so-called, in his own way, and this desire for accolades is what brings us our tragedy.
This is a sad story--one that has a great denouement, fully worthy of being called a ghost story--and one that seems to want to rip away our sense of military dignity. It is that our gentleman dies that makes it tragic, but it is that he dies by leaving all of his men behind for the sake of delivering battle documents to his superiors that is truly irksome; he, of course, sacrifices them all and himself for the military. His death is the same, for he leaves his intimate friend (once again: our narrator) to mourn and to feel the demise of this "first friend" the rest of his days. This is all encapsulated in failure--for the story begins with a description of how the first winning battle could have been continued to the point of routing the French completely.
We must also note that these things are built around many national prejudices. The French are the main antagonists, whereas the English and the Austrians are against them; they hate nationalities, not particulars. This may or may not add to the final summation of gloom.
We see in this story a certain sense of friendship, as well a delineation of a sort-of understanding between some men in this world and our military: it is a place to gain honor, and, as it were, death in service of it is a virtue. Even a rich gentleman, who has no need of money, and who is in some ways a gentleman precisely because he does not need to kowtow to wages or to society (for money is the only thing that frees us--nothing else matters, so long as we are materially deprived); yet, he is still socially responsible,so-called, in his own way, and this desire for accolades is what brings us our tragedy.
This is a sad story--one that has a great denouement, fully worthy of being called a ghost story--and one that seems to want to rip away our sense of military dignity. It is that our gentleman dies that makes it tragic, but it is that he dies by leaving all of his men behind for the sake of delivering battle documents to his superiors that is truly irksome; he, of course, sacrifices them all and himself for the military. His death is the same, for he leaves his intimate friend (once again: our narrator) to mourn and to feel the demise of this "first friend" the rest of his days. This is all encapsulated in failure--for the story begins with a description of how the first winning battle could have been continued to the point of routing the French completely.
We must also note that these things are built around many national prejudices. The French are the main antagonists, whereas the English and the Austrians are against them; they hate nationalities, not particulars. This may or may not add to the final summation of gloom.
June 13, 2024
4.5⭐
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews