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David Stuart Davies looks at a classic tale of American history. ‘The Last of the Mohicans’. American author James Fenimore Cooper (1789 – 1851) penned five novels about frontier life across north-eastern America in the eighteenth century. Each novel features the rather oddly named character Natty Bumppo, a frontier scout known to European-American settlers as… Read More

Ben Hur. David Stuart Davies looks at the book behind the famous film. While the novel, Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ, has been called ‘the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century’, it is now mainly remembered by modern readers because of the celebrated 1959 movie starring Charlton Heston. However, by contrast, the author,… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at a classic children’s story set in the time of the English Civil War. Frederick Marryat (1792 – 1848) wrote novels for both adults and children. He ran away to sea as a young boy and had a notable naval career, distinguishing himself by a number of heroic deeds and inventing… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at the work of the author of some of the most popular children’s books ever written. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to animals or even inanimate objects. As a form of literary device, it has been around for aeons. Examples can be found in the Bible for example and,… Read More

‘His hair… hanging in disorder about his face, gave his restless looks an expression quite unearthly.’ In Barnaby Rudge, first published in 1841, Charles Dickens gave his readers an historical novel, basing his scenario around the Gordon Riots of 1780. These took place in London and were motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. The Papists Act of 1778,… Read More

Five prisoners of war from the American Civil War escape in an observation balloon and crash-land on an unknown volcanic island. David Stuart Davies takes up the story of The Mysterious Island. The greatest of all science fiction writers in the nineteenth century was Jules Verne (1828 – 1905). In fact, he was regarded as… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at three collections by a master storyteller. Here are three books which have the power to transport you well away from a world in turmoil to the realm of fairy tales, legendary adventures and charming folklore. I refer to the Tales of Troy and Greece, Tales of King Arthur, and Tales… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at the fourth and final complete novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. ‘I don’t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside of me, there’ll always be the person I am tonight’. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life was as exotic, dramatic and eventually as tragic… Read More

‘This is not the republic I came to see; this is not the republic of my imagination. Charles Dickens’ visit to America in 1842 did not go well, and his disillusionment showed in his next novel, Martin Chuzzlewit. Mia Forbes takes up the story. “The curse of our house”, said the old man, looking kindly… Read More