"The Children of the New Forest is a children's novel published in 1847 by Frederick Marryat. It is set in the time of the English Civil War and the Commonwealth. The story follows the fortunes of the four Beverley children who are orphaned during the war and hide from their Roundhead oppressors in the shelter of the New Forest where they learn to live off the land."
"Young Jack Easy, full of his wealthy philosopher father's impractical notions of the rights of man and perfect equality - and failing to find much sympathy for them on land - resolves to join the navy, reasoning that 'although the whole earth has been so nefariously divided among the few, that the waters at least are the property of all.' He soon finds, though, that life in the Royal Navy is not quite the egalitarian ideal that he had expected, and is a good deal more eventful..."
"One day Krantz comes home to witness his wife being unfaithful to him. In a fit of anger he kills both his wife and her lover, who is also Krantz’s lord. Krantz fears the punishment he will surely receive, so he flees with his three children. His safe haven is the Hartz Mountains. There he meets a beautiful young lady who he marries shortly after. Their marriage however does not go as expected. The bride’s night-outs raise Krantz’s suspicions. Will the story repeat itself or will be taken by surprise this time round? Find out the answers in Frederick Marryat’s mysterious and thrilling short story 'The White Wolf'.
B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories. He masterfully plays with a wide array of voices and accents and has since then produced over 500 audiobooks. Now in collaboration with SAGA Egmont, his engaging narration of these famous classics is available to readers everywhere.
Frederick Marryat was a Navy officer and a novelist who lived in the period 1792-1848. His personal experience of long sea voyages inspired him to write sea stories. He is therefore considered to be an early pioneer of those stories, which combine sea adventures, humor and incidents. He wrote many children’s novels as well. Some of his best known works are 'The Children of the New Forest', 'The King’s Own' and 'The White Wolf'."
"This is a quite amusing nautical tale of the British Navy of the around the year 1700. While, as with much early 'humor', it is somewhat heavy-handed, the sympathies of the author are clear and good, and cruelty is often averted by good fortune or background characters. First published under the title 'The Dog Fiend', the primary characters are an evil captain of a cutter and his dog. The dog seems indestructible, as is the poor cabin boy who is the butt of the captain's ill humor, and who often is chewed on by the dog. The cutter is sent against smugglers, transporting ' Alamodes and lute strings' - a term for foreign silks. But, the smugglers really are Jacobites plotting against King William, and much of the action relates to politics of that time. ( Arnold Banner)"
"One of the first novel-length pieces of nautical fiction, MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY (1836) is a funny and easygoing account of the adventures of Jack Easy, a son of privilege who joins the Royal Navy. The work begins as a satire on Jack's attachment to "the rights of man" that may try the listener's patience. But despair not, for the story soon settles down as the philosophical midshipman begins his many triumphs over bullies, foul weather, and various damned foreigners of murderous intent.
Caveat audiens: This novel employs racial/ethnic epithets and religious stereotypes, as well as taking a rather sunny view of supply-side economics. In short, there's something here to offend almost everyone.
Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) entered the Royal Navy as a 14-year-old midshipman. He resigned his commission at the rank of captain after 24 years of service to devote his time to writing. (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)"
"Rebelling against the career chosen for him by his wealthy family, Frederic Marryat joined the Royal Navy in 1806 at the age of 14. He first served as a midshipman in the 38-gun frigate "HMS Imperieuse" commanded by Lord Cochran, 10th Earl of Dundonald whose real life exploits were used by Marryat in his fiction and which formed the basis for other famous fictional characters like Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey. Having survived more than 50 sea battles and attained the rank of Post Captain, he resigned from the Navy and devoted the rest of his life to writing, drawing a good deal on his distinguished career in the Navy and is now considered the Father of Modern Nautical Fiction. He is also noted as the inventor of an effective lifeboat and a widely used system of communicating at sea by the use of flags.
Jacob Faithful is a tale centred on the lives of the Thames watermen who made their living along the tidal reaches of that river and in the Port of London. Particularly it deals with the story of young Jacob literally born and raised on the river. He is orphaned in bizarre circumstances, gets an education, is apprenticed to a bargeman and then to a wherryman before being "pressed" into the Royal Navy. The book gives an interesting insight into the life of London and it's great river at the beginning of the 19th Century. (Summary by Noel Badrian)"
"Marryat was a midshipman under Captain Cochrane and this, his first naval adventure, is considered to be a highly autobiographical telling of his adventures with one of Britain's most famous and daring naval captains. (Summary by Paul Klipp)"
"At fourteen the unworldly, idealistic Jack Easy leaves the luxury of his father's estate in England and sails into a world of action and adventure aboard the sloop of war HMS Harpy. At first Jack finds it hard to stomach the discipline of naval life and, with his mischievous sense of humor, is always getting himself into scrapes. But soon he is bravely taming a band of mutinous seamen, outwitting a wily and murderous Sicilian nobleman, and breathing the smell of gunpowder and raw steel as the Harpy chases Spanish ships on the Mediterranean.
This neglected 1836 classic is both a rousing adventure story and a profound coming-of-age tale written with great skill and humor."
"The children of Colonel Beverley, a Cavalier officer killed at the Battle of Naseby are believed to have died in the flames when their house, Arnwood, is burned by Roundhead soldiers. However, they escape and are raised by Joseph Armitage, a gamekeeper in his cottage in the New Forest. The story describes how the children adapt from anaristocratic lifestyle to that of simple cottagers."
"The Children of the New Forest is Captain Marryat's classic children's adventure story. The four Beverley children find themselves orphaned when their father is killed by Cromwell's army at the outset of the English Civil War. The book follows their experiences as they are forced to abandon their aristocratic title and go into hiding in the New Forest. Read superbly by Glen McCready, this new abridgement is aimed at 7-12 year olds."
"In this seminal story of naval life during the Napoleonic wars, Frederick Marryat's young hero embarks upon a life at sea and finds it to be a rough school indeed. Simple's trials and triumphs, alongside his faithful mentor, Terence O'Brien, mirror Marryat's personal experience, from the hand-to-hand combat of cutting-out missions to the devastating hurricane off St. Pierre and the mutiny aboard the Rattlesnake.
Peter Simple is a towering tale from the great age of sail, filled with keen wit, vivid characters, and gripping adventure."
"Captain Frederick Marryat of the Royal Navy knew well both the thunder of the broadside and the laughter of the gun room. In Percival Keene, he takes us on a thrilling and authentic ride through the naval world of the Napoleonic wars.
This is the gripping tale of the mischievous young midshipman Percival Keene, whose adventures begin when he learns that the demanding Captain Delmar, a member of the wealthy and titled De Versely family, is actually his natural father. Stung by his father's refusal to acknowledge him, Keene sets about to win his love and the family fortune. To do so, he must survive a shipwreck and capture by murderous pirates, fight duels of honor with his fellow officers, and battle against the French."
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