The Dash For Khartoum, G.A. Henty
Author, G.A. Henty
Publisher, Gutenberg, Free eBook
1892. Written to entertain young boys and educate them at the same time. It tells the true story of the failed attempt to rescue General Gordon, besieged at Khartoum, through the fictional adventures of the two Clinton Boys.
There is a lot of repetition within each chapter. I wasn’t sure if this was to pad the text to achieve the correct word count for publication, or payment, or if it was to show the value of factual, accurate reporting. For example, something interesting would happen in the story, the characters would discuss it among themselves, report it to an authority of some sort, then that authority would discuss it. Word padding? Or, a lesson on accuracy?
Goodness knows just how wrong things can go if you don’t pass data along correctly, which is the beginning event of this book. Two baby boys get confused and suddenly no one knows which boy belongs to which family, so the rich family takes both boys. The boys grow up as brothers, get separated, both end up in the army marching to Khartoum to rescue Gordon. They get separated again, one gets kidnapped into slavery, the other goes to rescue him.
That’s the plot line, but the far more interesting stuff, the same stuff that little boys may enjoy, is the background; warfare, weapons, camels, dog carts, pyramids, barter trade, Arab Tribes, Arab Social structure, slavery. It seemed so well researched, so factual that despite the repetition, it held my attention and imagination.
G.A. Henty wrote many books along this line, fictional characters blended into factual accounts. I’m going to download his Wild West one next, or India, or the Civil War one, or…
Link to Author Information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._A._Henty
Link to Publisher, Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
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This article is an opinion of the Author’s.
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