A March On London

by G.A. Henty

George Alfred Henty (1832-1902), referred to as G. A. Henty, was a prolific English novelist, special correspondent, and Imperialist born in Trumpington, England. He is best known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century. His works include Out on the Pampas (1871), The Young Buglers (1880), With Clive in India (1884) and Wulf the Saxon (1895). He attended Westminster School, London and later Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he was a keen sportsman. Henty once related in an interview how his storytelling skills grew out of tales told after dinner to his children. He wrote his first children's book, Out on the Pampas in 1868, naming the book's main characters after his children. While most of the 122 books he wrote were for children, he also wrote adult novels, non-fiction such as The March to Magdala (1868) and Those Other Animals (1891), short stories for the likes of The Boy's Own Paper and edited the Union Jack, a weekly boys magazine.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure

Paperback

First published January 1, 1890

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

[Angie Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not my favorite Henty.

1) What action and excitement there was got a bit overpowered by all the commentary (of the "everyone who is anyone has the same wise and ridiculously insightful views despite different personalities, nationalities, backgrounds, etc., and it gets repeated ad infinitum" variety). I totally should be used to if with Henty; it just bothered me worse than usual in this story for some reason.

2) Although there was some sympathy shown for the plight of the laboring classes, there was a lot of emphasis, especially as the book went on, on class distinctions--what a terrible thing it would be if the common people stopped respecting the nobles, how the rebellion in Flanders was doomed because the craftspeople and shopkeepers were too proud and independent to submit to leadership, how "all men are created equal" is inherently flawed because everyone can see that people have differences--ugh! And these weren't just the attitudes of the times; this was the commentary by the most liberal and progressive characters.

3) I didn't like the way that Edgar's father used his (perfectly scientific and harmless) discoveries to scare the townspeople away and make them think he was really a magician. Scaring them to keep them from attacking the house is one thing, but the glowing skulls and skeletons--and the deliberate intention of preying on their superstitions--was a bit much. I also wasn't a fan of his early commentary on magic vs. science (which smacked a lot more of the naturalism of Henty's time than that of his characters). While I agree that many, if not most, "magicians" can be chalked up as charlatans and tricksters and that people tend to be afraid of what they don't understand, according to the Bible there are those who really do play around with the forces of darkness, and this shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. It also raised my eyebrows a little that the scientist was more open to the idea of signs and "portents" than to people actually practicing real magic. This wasn't a big part of the story, but it bothered me pretty significantly.

4) A minor point, but I really didn't like the way that Albert's father especially kept harping on Albert's previous weakness, even when he was praising him for having gotten so much better. Am I the only one who doesn't see "and to imagine, we thought you were a useless weakling fit only for the church" as that much of a compliment, especially after Albert had already proved himself several times? (Okay, he might not have said "useless," but he does talk about what a disgrace it would have been for the family name, etc.) Really rubbed me the wrong way.

Other content--mentions of beliefs, rituals, and abuses of the Catholic church; some blame for the peasant rebellion is put on church reformers; violence, bloodshed, and death (not graphic)

[Leslie Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Henty foray into the history around Wat's Revolt in England in 1381. The narrative is as predictable as all of his books, maybe even more so in this one if that's possible, but it was still enjoyable and still an opportunity to learn a bit about the history of the period. Things wouldn't have to line up quite so well for the protagonists, but at least there's always a happy ending.

[Lynn Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Knight's Tale

Another tale of young boys becoming brave knights through battles won and lost. I enjoy learning all the new vocabulary words as I read along, like "banneret" and "cresset" among others.

[Angelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat Tylers rebellion. Great history, great reads for young men.