Gambia

Melville, Frederick John, 1882-1940Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.2

Word count: 52K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Gambia by Frederick John MelvilleAuthor: Melville, Frederick John, 1882-1940,Language: English, Class: HE: Social sciences: Transportation and communications, Release Date: Sep 12, 2008

Editor's review

This is an English-language work on Gambia by Frederick John Melville (1882–1940), released by Project Gutenberg as a free ebook and classified under Social Sciences in the Transportation and Communication category. As an early topical work, its value lies not in offering practical information like a contemporary travel guide but in presenting a pre-independence Western author's perspective on Gambia's geography, society, and transportation, allowing readers to see how Gambia was written about in early English literature. The book is in the original English and serves as supplementary material for area studies or reading colonial-era documents. Because it was written early, the data, place-name changes, and social conditions it covers are outdated; readers should approach it with a critical historical awareness, treating it as a primary text rather than a reference on current conditions. The electronic edition is easy to search and excerpt, making it suitable for verifying early expressions in academic writing and for extended reading by those interested in West African historical geography.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University faculty and researchers studying colonial-era West African documents
In-depth readers interested in Gambia's historical geography
Writers needing English primary sources for area studies material
Readers accustomed to public-domain ebooks who can accept older English expressions

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking current practical travel and living information about Gambia
General readers who struggle with English and prefer Chinese translations
Business or policy researchers expecting contemporary data and maps

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and chapter titles first to build a framework, then select sections relevant to your own research for close reading.
Note outdated statements and questionable data as you read, and verify them against modern sources.
Read alongside other works on Gambia or West African area studies for comparative perspective.
Use the electronic edition's search function to find place names and keywords for academic citation and excerpting.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this book be used as a travel guide to Gambia?

Not recommended. The book was written in the early twentieth century, and transportation, accommodation, and social conditions differ greatly from today; it lacks the practical information needed for contemporary travel. It is better read as a historical document; for trip planning, choose a recently published travel guide instead.

What English level is needed to read this book?

The book uses early English written expression, with somewhat old-fashioned sentence structures and vocabulary; university-level English reading ability is advisable. If it proves difficult, first learn basic background about Gambia, then work through it chapter by chapter with a dictionary, or prioritize chapters of interest.

What are the conveniences of the electronic edition?

As a free ebook released by Project Gutenberg, it is easy to download, search in full text, and excerpt, making it suitable for verifying early English expressions in academic writing. Readers can highlight keywords and place names on their devices to build their own reference index.

Comments

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About the author

Melville, Frederick John, 1882-1940 Author

Frederick John Melville (1882–1940) was a writer on stamps and stamp collecting; details of his life are limited in publicly available sources, and his dates and nationality are known mainly from his name entry. Three of his works are held here, all centred on postal history and philately. Chats on Postage Stamps introduces the appreciation and collecting of stamps in an informal, essay-like manner, while The Postage Stamp in War examines wartime stamp issues and usage against the background of armed conflict; Gambia points to a regional subject beyond his philatelic writing. Overall, his work addresses ordinary collectors, with concrete material and a plain style, placing stamps in their historical and everyday contexts. He contributed to popular philatelic literature in the early English-speaking world, though limited sources make his personal and academic background difficult to describe in detail.