Mufti

Herman Cyril McNeileProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 442K words
Chapters: 45

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. Mufti by H. C. McNeile. Author: McNeile, H. C. (Herman Cyril), 1888-1937. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Mar 29, 2008

Editor's review

Mufti is a work by the British author H. C. McNeile, brought back into circulation through Project Gutenberg's public-domain electronic edition. McNeile is known for adventure and military fiction, and his narratives are typically brisk and vividly staged, skillfully portraying the choices people make under pressure as the plot advances. This book serves as a sample for understanding the character of early twentieth-century English popular fiction: readers can both enjoy the storytelling appeal of that era and observe how writers of the time handled themes such as conflict, loyalty, and identity. The electronic edition is in the original English with no Chinese translation, so reading it requires some foundation in English. As a public-domain book, it is better suited as extended reading for literature enthusiasts, extensive reading material for English learners, or reference material for those studying popular literature and its historical context, rather than for readers seeking strong plot twists or modern narrative techniques.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy early twentieth-century English adventure and military fiction
English learners who wish to practice extensive reading with public-domain English originals
Literature enthusiasts studying popular literature and its historical context

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer modern narrative pacing and strong plot twists

Reading tips

Start by learning about the author McNeile's background before entering the text, which makes it easier to grasp the era's tone.
When using it for extensive reading in English, set a fixed pace of one chapter per day, marking unfamiliar words first and looking them up afterward.
After finishing, compare it with English popular fiction of the same period to observe similarities and differences in subject matter and character portrayal.

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

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is a public-domain English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, with the original English text and no Chinese translation. It suits readers with some foundation in English reading, or those who wish to study the language by comparing with the original.

I haven't read any of the author's other works. Can I start with this one?

Yes. This is a standalone work that does not depend on prior books. However, McNeile's writing style carries clear marks of its era; if you are new to it, read the opening chapters first, and continue once you have adjusted to the narrative pace and language style.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It can serve as extensive reading material, but it is not recommended as an introductory textbook. The text is an early twentieth-century English novel, and some word choices and sentence patterns differ from modern English. It is advisable to have intermediate or higher reading proficiency and to focus on understanding the plot, using vocabulary lookup as a supplement.

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About the author

Herman Cyril McNeile Author · British · 1888–1937

Herman Cyril McNeile, better known by the pen name "Sapper," was a British soldier and writer, born in Bodmin, Cornwall, in 1888 and died in 1937. He served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, and after the war drew on his trench experiences in his writing. In 1920 he published Bull-dog Drummond, launching a famous series of popular adventure novels and becoming one of Britain's best-selling popular authors between the two world wars. The library holds three of his works—No Man's Land, Men, Women and Guns, and Mufti—whose subjects are largely related to war experience and military life. His plain, fast-paced style combines suspenseful plotting with popular appeal. His writing had some influence on the development of British popular adventure fiction, and the tough-guy image he created offered a reference point for later works of the same kind.