Rob Nixon, the Old White Trader: A Tale of Central British North America

William Henry Giles KingstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 135K words
Chapters: 14

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. Rob Nixon, the Old White Trader: A Tale of Central British North America. Author: Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880. Language: English. Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres. Release Date: Nov 30, 2010

Editor's review

This is a boys' adventure novel by William Henry Giles Kingston, whose subtitle places the story in central British North America and centers on the experiences of an old white trader. Kingston was an important nineteenth-century British author of reading matter for the young; his works most often take seafaring, colonial pioneering, and distant adventure as their subjects and stress qualities such as courage, loyalty, and endurance. The book is classed as juvenile literature and its narrative bears clear marks of its era: descriptions of the geography, trade, and pioneering life of the North American interior form the core of its readability, while its treatment of indigenous peoples and colonists reflects a nineteenth-century British perspective that today's reader must examine critically. Its value lies in being a sample for understanding Victorian boys' adventure literature and colonial narrative, not in providing objective historical fact. It suits parallel reading as a public-domain English text; thinking about the narrative stance as you read will yield more than simply following the plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century boys' adventure literature and colonial themes
Enthusiasts studying narratives of British North American pioneering and the history of children's literature
Advanced learners who want public-domain English texts for long-form reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting objective, modern-perspective accounts of North American history
Readers sensitive to colonial-era narrative stances who do not wish to analyze them

Reading tips

Distinguish 'adventure story' from 'historical fact' while reading; mark descriptions of indigenous peoples and colonists before evaluating them.
Consult sources on North American geography and trade history to verify scenes and routes in the book.
As long-form reading practice, proceed chapter by chapter and write a short note each week reflecting on the narrative stance.

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 authentic pioneering history?

It is not a strictly factual historical record but a boys' adventure novel written by a nineteenth-century author. The geographical and trade background has some basis, but the characters and plot are largely fictional and the narrative carries the colonial perspective of its time; it should be distinguished from historical sources when reading.

Why should the book's depictions of indigenous peoples be examined critically?

The work arose in the colonial context of nineteenth-century Britain, and its narrative stance inevitably carries the biases of the era. Today's readers should treat such depictions as objects of study and understand their historical limitations rather than taking them as true portrayals of indigenous peoples.

Is it suitable for children to read?

With caution. As a boys' adventure novel it is appealing in plot, but its colonial perspective and depictions of ethnic groups require adult-guided discussion. Parent-child reading, or a teacher providing background explanation before giving it to older children, is recommended.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.