King of the Air Or, To Morocco on an Aeroplane

Herbert StrangProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8
Word count
305K words
Chapters
31

Tags

English Originals TransportationForeign ExplorationTravel WritingEarly FlightAdventure JourneyAviation AdventureExotic CultureMoroccoSocial ObservationCross-Cultural View

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.King of the Air; Or, To Morocco on an Aeroplane by Herbert StrangAuthor: Strang, Herbert,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jun 16, 2011

Editor's review

King of the Air; Or, To Morocco on an Aeroplane is a juvenile adventure novel by Herbert Strang, combining early aviation themes with exotic exploration narrative. Using an aeroplane as the means of travel, the story carries readers to Morocco and blends imaginative flight technology, geographical adventure, and tests of a young protagonist's courage. Its value lies in presenting the popular literary imagination of the early twentieth century, when aviation was emerging: aircraft were not yet widespread, yet were invested with symbolic meaning as tools for exploring the world and crossing boundaries. For readers studying juvenile literature, colonial-era adventure narrative, or the early cultural dissemination of aviation, the book offers a meaningful sample. It is best read in historical context, with attention to the period perspective carried by its exotic descriptions. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, the English text is easy to search and cite, making it suitable as supplementary material for courses on genre literature or research on adolescent reading rather than a first choice for those seeking literary depth.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. First learn about the background of early twentieth-century aviation, then read the flight passages, to better understand the era's imagination.
  2. While reading, note how the narrator describes Morocco and its people; critical reading notes can be useful.
  3. As English reading material, read through the plot first, then revisit unfamiliar words and sentence patterns, combining language learning with reading.
  4. If used for research, compare it with other early aviation adventure novels to observe the formation of genre conventions.

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

FAQ

What age of young readers is this book suitable for? This is an early juvenile adventure novel with relatively brisk language and plot, but it carries early twentieth-century narrative habits and exotic descriptions. It is recommended for young readers with some English reading ability, and discussion of its period perspective with adult or teacher guidance is advisable.
Are the aviation descriptions in the book accurate? The book was written in the early days of aviation, and its flight descriptions serve adventure imagination more than technical-manual precision. Readers should not treat it as aviation technical material, but as a popular literary text reflecting contemporary public imagination about flight.
Is this part of a series? Herbert Strang wrote many juvenile adventure novels, and this is one of them, with an aeroplane and Morocco as its subject. The materials do not indicate that it is a sequel in a series with the same protagonist, so it can be read as a standalone story.
What is the reading experience of the Project Gutenberg edition like? This edition is a public-domain eBook presented as English plain text, easy to search and copy, but with plain formatting, and illustrations may be missing or minimal. Using a reader with adjustable fonts and paying attention to chapter markers is recommended for a smoother reading experience.

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About the author

Herbert Strang Author · British

Herbert Strang is a shared pen name used by British writers of adventure stories for young readers, referring to George Herbert Ely (1866–1958) and Charles James Lestrange (1867–1947). Public information about their personal lives is limited. Both long worked at Oxford University Press, and together they wrote numerous adventure tales set against historical and science-fictional backgrounds, with thirteen works held in this collection. Their subjects range widely: colonial adventures in India and the African highlands, and military and naval narratives built around figures such as Clive, Drake and Marlborough, as in In Clive's Command and With Drake on the Spanish Main, alongside science-fiction adventures such as Round the World in Seven Days. Their stories are marked by tense plotting and lively factual detail, combining historical education with youthful inspiration, and stand as notable examples of early twentieth-century British reading for boys.