In the Wilds of Florida: A Tale of Warfare and Hunting

William Henry Giles KingstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
523K words
Chapters
53

Tags

English Originals MilitaryChildren's Literature War and HuntingWilderness SurvivalBush AdventureTest of CourageNature ExplorationAdventure TaleFloridaExotic CultureEthnic ConflictYouth Reading

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. In the Wilds of Florida: A Tale of Warfare and Hunting by Kingston. Author: Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814–1880. Language: English. Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres. Release Date: February 8, 2008

Editor's review

This is an English adventure story by the prolific British writer of juvenile literature William Henry Giles Kingston (1814–1880), literally titled In the Wilds of Florida: A Tale of Warfare and Hunting. Kingston was known for historical adventure and sea stories written for young readers, and this book follows the same vein: set in the Florida wilderness, it weaves war and hunting into the coming-of-age arc of a young protagonist. For today's readers its value is twofold: first, as a representative sample of Victorian juvenile adventure fiction, it shows how that era told young people about colonization, war, and nature; second, as a popular text set in Florida, it presents the English-speaking world's imagination of the region at the time. A caveat: the depictions of war and hunting carry clear period attitudes and assumptions, so modern readers should read critically and distinguish literary-historical value from value judgments. Suitable as extensive reading material in the English original, and for readers interested in the history of adventure fiction and juvenile literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Start with the chapter titles and opening chapters to gauge the narrative pace before deciding whether to read closely or extensively.
  2. While reading, note the depictions of war, Indigenous peoples, and nature, then discuss their period attitudes afterward.
  3. English learners can use it as graded extensive reading material, reading a fixed number of chapters daily and building vocabulary common to adventure fiction.
  4. Read alongside background material on Florida history to distinguish literary imagination from historical fact.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53

FAQ

Is this book suitable for children? The original is an adventure story for young readers, but it was written in the 19th century, and its depictions of war, hunting, and Indigenous peoples carry clear period prejudices. Adults should skim it first, then decide whether to give it to older children, and discuss the attitudes involved.
What is the story mainly about? Judging by the title and the author's usual style, it tells of a boy's adventures amid war and hunting in the Florida wilderness. The exact plot needs to be confirmed by reading the original; overall it follows the common Victorian juvenile adventure pattern: a difficult environment tests the protagonist's courage and character.
How difficult is the English? As a 19th-century English work, its sentence structures and vocabulary are older than those of modern young-adult fiction, but it is not known for being abstruse. Readers with intermediate English can manage extensive reading with notes or a dictionary; beginners should start with a bilingual edition or a simplified retelling.
Why read this kind of old adventure story today? Its significance is not purely entertainment but as material for literary and social-intellectual history: it shows how an era told young people about colonization, war, and nature. Reading it with a critical eye is more rewarding than treating it as mere pastime.

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About the author

William Henry Giles Kingston Author · British · 1814–1880

William Henry Giles Kingston (1814–1880) was a British author of adventure stories for young readers. Born in London, he spent part of his youth with his father in Porto, Portugal. He rose to fame in 1851 with Peter the Whaler and thereafter devoted himself to tales of the sea and exploration, writing more than a hundred books over his lifetime and also translating works by Jules Verne. His notable works include The Three Midshipmen, Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages, and Discoveries, and Great African Travellers: From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley, most of them drawing on seafaring, exotic adventure, and the deeds of the British Navy. He excelled at linking the adventures of young protagonists with informative and moral content, in briskly paced stories rich in maritime atmosphere that were widely popular with young readers in the Victorian era. The collection here contains 133 of his works. Public information on his early education and specific experiences is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.