Adventure Stories
This is the largest group of books usually described as "for boys," although girls often read them too with hardly less interest. The first place in this class will probably always be held by Defoe's
Robinson Crusoe,
and it is likely that most votes for second place would go to
The Swiss Family Robinson.
After these we come to modern authors whose books have been written especially for boys, first among whom is the late Mr. R. M. Ballantyne, the author of, among numerous other books,
The Coral Island.
The Gorilla Hunters.
The Dog Crusoe.
The Pirate City.
Ungava.
The Wild Man of the West.
The Iron Horse.
Fighting the Flames.
Erling the Bold.
Martin Rattler.
The Fur Traders.
The Red Man's Revenge.
Many of Ballantyne's readers make a point of going through the whole series of his books. The other titles can be collected from the advertisement pages at the end of these volumes. With R. M. Ballantyne is usually associated the name of the late W. H. G. Kingston ("Kingston and Ballantyne the brave," Stevenson called them in the verses at the beginning of Treasure Island, another book which comes high in this section). Kingston's stories were also very numerous, but it will serve our purpose here to mention only the following six:—
Peter the Whaler.
The Three Midshipmen.
The Three Lieutenants.
The Three Commanders.
The Three Admirals.
From Powder-Monkey to Admiral.
Several authors have carried on Ballantyne and Kingston's work. Chief among these are Mr. G. A. Henty and Mr. G. Manville Fenn. Here are six of Mr. G. A. Henty's stories:—
Out on the Pampas.
The Young Colonists.
The Young Franc-Tireurs.
In the Heart of the Rockies.
Maori and Settler.
Redskin and Cowboy.
And here are eight of Mr. G. Manville Fenn's:—
Brownsmith's Boy.
Bunyip Land.
Bevon Boys.
Dick o' the Fens.
The Golden Magnet.
Fix Bay'nets.
Jungle and Stream.
Menhardoc.
Mr. Max Pemberton, author of
The Iron Pirate.
The Impregnable City.
"Q." (Mr. Quiller Couch), author of
Dead Man's Rock.
The Silver Spur.
and Mr. David Kerr, author of
The Boy Slave in Bokhara.
Lost Among the White Africans.
The Wild Horseman of the Pampas.
Cossack and Czar.
Old Tartar Deserts.
Prisoner among Pirates.
Jules Verne is a French writer, but his stories have always quickly been translated into English, many of them by Mr. Henry Frith. Their titles are a good guide to their subject, for Jules Verne goes to science for some wonderful invention, such as a submarine boat or a flying machine, and then surrounds it with extraordinary adventures. Among his best books are—
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.
Round the World in Eighty Days.
Five Weeks in a Balloon.
The English at the North Pole.
The Clipper of the Clouds.
From the Earth to the Moon.
The Mysterious Island.
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
First of English inventors of fantastic stories of adventure is Mr. Rider Haggard. His three most popular books are—
King Solomon's Mines.
She.
Allan Quatermain.
The books already named, with the exception of Robinson Crusoe, were written especially for boys. Other books which were not so intended, but have come to be read more by boys than any one else, include Fenimore Cooper's Indian stories, of which these are four:—
The Last of the Mohicans.
The Pathfinder.
The Deerslayer.
The Bee Hunters.
Other Indian stories are those of Gustave Aimard, translated from the French, among which are these:—
The Last of the Incas.
The Trail Hunter.
The Indian Scout.
The Gold-Seekers.
The Red River Half-Speed.
The Border Rifles.
The Trappers of Arkansas.
These are, of course, North American tales. Other North American tales are those of Captain Mayne Reid, which include—
The Boy Hunters.
The Boy Slaves.
Bruin, or The Grand Bear Hunter.
The Bush Boys.
The Castaways.
The White Chief.
The Desert Home.
The Forest Exiles.
The Giraffe Hunters.
The Headless Horseman.
The Rifle Rangers.
The Scalp Hunters.
In this section belong the books of Mr. George Bird Grinnell, author of
Jack in the Rockies.
Jack, the Young Ranchman.
Jack Among the Indians.
Jack, the Young Canoeman.
Jack, the Young Trapper.
Also Harold Bindloss'
The Young Traders.
And to this section belong also stories of the sea, several of which have already been mentioned. High among these are Captain Marryat's
Poor Jack,
Masterman Ready,
together with many of his tales intended originally for older readers, such as
Jacob Faithful.
Mr. Midshipman Easy.
Peter Simple.
Snarleyyow.
The Wreck of the "Grosvenor."
The Golden Hope.
An Ocean Free-Lance.
The Frozen Pirate.
Here also belong Mr. Kipling's
Captains Courageous,
and an old sea favorite—
| Two Years Before the Mast | By | R. H. Dana. |
Other good sea books, not fiction:—
| My First Voyage | By | W. Stones. |
| The Voyage of the "Sunbeam" | " | Lady Brassey. |
| The Cruise of the "Cachalot" | " | F. T. Bullen. |
| The Cruise of the "Falcon" | " | E. F. Knight. |