In Freedom's Cause

 G. A. Henty is, in my opinion, one of the best historical fiction authors out there. "In Freedom's Cause" is a prime example, and one of my favorites of his that I have read so far. As soon as I finish reading the book I'm currently reading to the cousins I babysit each week, I plan to read this one.

The main character of this particular story is Archibald Forbes. Like all of Henty's main characters (at least in the books I have read so far), he is skilled with weapons, and interacts with and gains approval from many historical characters. In this case, the most obvious are William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Archie, as he often is called, gets into many scrapes and adventures, and how he gets out of them is sometimes hilarious.

Now, when you read this, don't get discouraged at the slow start. Almost as soon as the story starts, Archie's mother gives him a history lesson on exactly how they got into the situation that Scotland was in. Indeed, I would say that at least a third of this book is a record of actual historical events. However, there is plenty of adventure, and even a bit of romance (like all of Henty's mains that I have read, and my sister says that all of the ones that she has read are the same, Archie is married by the end of the book).

Henty wrote in the same style as most of the classics. It sometimes takes him a while before he gets to the actual plot and adventure. This one is actually one of the ones that got there quicker. This was written in the days that one got to know the characters they read about before they actually went on an adventure with them. Also, it was written before television, back when children enjoyed reading and listening to long descriptions.

This is an amazing book, and I highly recommend it. I hope that, when I start writing Historical Fiction, which I plan to do eventually, I can make it half as good as this.