JIM WEISS on "A WORD ABOUT G.A. HENTY"

George Alfred Henty lived in the late 1800's, was the author of more than seventy novels and countless short stories. Although his life included stints as an army officer at the height of the British Empire, a war journalist and an explorer, his worldwide fame rests on his superb, historically accurate novels.

These novels cover 28 centuries of the most exciting events in human history, starting in ancient egypt and ending in Henty's own time with events and famous individuals he personally knew. His love of adventure, coupled with a stunning capacity to accurately portray historical detail, allowed him to place a fictional young person to interact with the true, main characters of the pivotal points in history. Thus, the reader experiences the true events, the leading figures, and the customs and conditions of each era, all couched in exciting adventure stories.

Because of the sheer amount of detail in the books, we have thoughtfully, gently abridged them for our recordings but you will never feel that they are abridged. Both as adventures and as portraits of how people lived, the recordings are complete, accurate and exciting and I read them with distinct characterization and fine-tuned narration.

Here are a few important considerations:
Having experienced battle first hand, Henty wrote battle scenes more graphic than those that you will find in our Greathall line of storytelling recordings. This, plus the amount of historical detail leads us to suggest that Henty's books are best experienced by those who are at least 7 or 8 years old. They are very appropriate for older children and even adults. Accurate, exciting and with a strong ethical, undercurrent, Henty's works are a splendid way to bring history to life.

In The Cat of Bubastes, Mr. Henty gives his readers a fascinating picture of one of the greatest of the ancient peoples at the height of their civilization. Chebron, son of the Egyptian high priest Ameres, and Amuba, a Rebu slave in Ameres' household are companions.

Their lives are changed irrevocably when Chebron accidentally kills his sister's cat, an animal sacred to the Egyptians-an offense punishable by death. The boys and their companion decide to make a long and dangerous journey to the land of the Rebus, where they will be out of reach of their enemies.

Date: 1350 B.C.
Setting: Ancient Egypt
6 hours on 6 CD's