To found a great Empire in the East was one of the designs of Napoleon Bonaparte, and he might possibly have carried it out, had not certain events happened, which are related in this story. Amongst these were the Battle of the Nile, and the discovery of Napoleon"s plans of campaign, in each of which incidents the hero, Mr. Thomas Nunn, Midshipman, was concerned. He was captured and taken to Paris, and it was here that the plans of campaign fell into his hands; what he did with them forms the material of an exciting story.
_Daily News_.--"It is a magnificent story, with not an error of phrase or thought in it.... This book is not only relatively good, but absolutely so."
The Lost Column
A Story of the Boxer Rebellion.
Ill.u.s.trated in Colour by CYRUS CUNEO. With Map. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 6s.
At the outbreak of the great Boxer Rebellion in China, Gerald Wood, the hero of this story, was living with his mother and brother at Milton Towers, just outside Tientsin. When the storm broke and Tientsin was cut off from the rest of the world, the occupants of Milton Towers made a gallant defence, but were compelled by force of numbers to retire into the town. Then Gerald determined to go in quest of the relief column under Admiral Seymour. He carried his life in his hands, and on more than one occasion came within an ace of losing it; but he managed to reach his goal in safety, and was warmly commended by the Admiral on his achievement. The author has found opportunity in this record of stirring events for some excellent characterisation, and, among others, the matter-of-fact James, Mr. w.a.n.g, and Mr. Midshipman t.i.te will be found diverting in the extreme.
_Outlook_.--"An excellent piece of craftsmanship."
_Ladies" Field_.--"All the sketches of Chinese character are excellent, and we read the book with delight from the first page to the last."
By WILLIAM J. MARX
For the Admiral.
Ill.u.s.trated. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 6s.
The brave Huguenot Admiral Coligny is one of the heroes of French history. Edmond le Blanc, the son of a Huguenot gentleman, undertakes to convey a secret letter of warning to Coligny, and the adventures he meets with on the way lead to his accepting service in the Huguenot army. He shares in the hard fighting that took place in the neighbourhood of La Roch.e.l.le, does excellent work in scouting for the Admiral, and is everywhere that danger calls. The story won the 100 prize offered by the Bookman for the best story for boys.
_Academy_.--"It is much the best book of its kind sent in for review this season, and stands head and shoulders above its rivals."
By DESMOND c.o.kE
The School Across the Road
Ill.u.s.trated in Colour by H. M. BROCK. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 5s.
The incidents of this story arise out of the uniting of two schools--"Warner"s" and "Corunna"--under the name of "Winton," a name which the head master fondly hopes will become known far and wide as a great seat of learning. Unfortunately for the head master"s ambition, however, the two sets of boys--hitherto rivals and enemies, now schoolfellows--do not take kindly to one another. Warner"s men of might are discredited in the new school; Henderson, lately head boy, finds himself a mere n.o.body; while the inoffensive Dove is exalted and made prefect. The feud drags on until the rival factions have an opportunity of uniting against a common enemy. Then, in the enthusiasm aroused by the overthrow of a neighbouring agricultural college, the bitterness between themselves dies away, and the future of Winton is a.s.sured.
_Sheffield Daily Telegraph_.--"Its literary style is above the average and the various characters are thoroughly well drawn."
The Bending of a Twig
Ill.u.s.trated in Colour by H. M. BROCK. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 5s.
When "The Bending of a Twig" was first published it was hailed by competent critics as the finest school story that had appeared since "Tom Brown." Then, however, it was purely a story about boys; now Mr.
c.o.ke has enlarged and partly rewritten it, and made it more attractive to schoolboy readers. It is a vivid picture of life in a modern public school. The hero, Lycidas Marsh, enters Shrewsbury without having previously been to a preparatory school, drawing his ideas of school life from his fertile imagination and a number of school stories he has read. Needless to say, he experiences a rude awakening on commencing his new career, for the life differs vastly from what he had been led to expect. How Lycidas finds his true level in this new world and worthily maintains the Salopian tradition is the theme of this entrancing book.
_Outlook_.--"Mr. Desmond c.o.ke has given us one of the best accounts of public school life that we possess.... Among books of its kind "The Bending of a Twig" deserves to become a cla.s.sic."
The House Prefect
By DESMOND c.o.kE, author of "The Bending of a Twig," etc. Ill.u.s.trated in Colour by H. M. BROCK. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 5s.
This story of the life at Sefton, a great English public school, mainly revolves around the trouble in which Bob Manders, new-made house prefect, finds himself, owing to a former alliance with the two wild spirits whom, in the interests of the house, it is now his chief task to suppress. In particular does the spirited exploit with which it opens--the whitewashing by night of a town statue and the smashing of certain school property--raise itself against him, next term, when he has been set in authority. His two former friends persist in still regarding him as an ally, bound to them by their common secret; and, in a sense, he is attracted to their enterprises, for in becoming prefect he does not cease to be a boy. It is a great duel this, fought in the studies, the dormitories and upon the field.
_World_.--"Quite one of the books of the season. Mr. Desmond c.o.ke has proved himself a master."
By A. C. CURTIS
The Voyage of the "Sesame"
A Story of the Arctic.
Ill.u.s.trated in Colour by W. HERBERT HOLLOWAY. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 5s.
The three Trevelyan brothers receive from a dying sailor a rough chart indicating the whereabouts of a rich gold-bearing region in the Arctic.
They forthwith build a craft, specially adapted to work in the Polar Seas, and set out in quest of the gold. They do not have things all their own way, however, for a rival party of treasure seekers have got wind of the old sailor"s El Dorado, and are also on the trail. In the race and fighting that ensue, the brothers come off victorious; and after a voyage fraught with many dangers, the Sesame returns home with the gold on board.
_Educational News_.--"The building of the stout ship Sesame at Dundee is one of the best things of the kind we have read for many a day."
The Good Sword Belgarde
or, How De Burgh held Dover
Coloured Ill.u.s.trations by W. H. C. GROOME. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, 5s.
This is the story of Arnold Gyffard and John Wottos, pages to Sir Philip Daubeney, in the days when Prince Lewis the Lion invaded England and strove to win it from King John. It tells of their journey to Dover through a country swarming with foreign troops, and of many desperate fights by the way. In one of these Arnold wins from a French knight the good sword Belgarde, which he uses to such good purpose as to make his name feared. Then follows the great siege of Dover, full of exciting incident, when by his gallant defence Hubert de Burgh keeps the key to England out of the Frenchman"s grasp.
_Birmingham Post_.--"Evidently Mr. Curtis is a force to be reckoned with. He writes blithely of gallant deeds; he does not make his heroes preposterously wise or formidable; he has a sense of humour; in fine, he has produced a book of sterling quality."
By GEORGE SURREY
A Northumbrian in Arms