George Alfred Henty was an English newspaper correspondent who became a prolific author of, predominantly, adventure stories for boys. Most were based on true historical events. In this volume, published posthumously, we are presented with thirteen signature stories taken from within his novels...

Set in the late twelfth century during the Third Crusade, the Norman Conquest having occured not much more than a hundred years ago, Winning His Spurs is a tale of Christian heroism. Cuthbert, a fifteen-year-old village boy whose life is rather dull, is given his life's dream when, after showing...

Intrigue, murder, highwaymen... A British soldier serving in India has stolen a diamond bracelet from a Hindu idol. The bracelet comes into the possession of Colonel Thorndyke, who is subsequently sent home to England, where he dies of wounds received and bequeaths the bracelet to his relatives...

In perhaps the most audacious military enterprise in the history of human conquest, Cortez, with only a few hundred men, conquered a civilization of tens of thousands. This is the story of an Englishman who boards a merchant ship destined for the New World, but a shipwreck strands him in Pre-...