A Dash for a Throne

Marchmont, Arthur W., 1852-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 518K words
Chapters: 52

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. A Dash for a Throne by Arthur W. Marchmont. Author: Marchmont, Arthur W., 1852–1923. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Oct 1, 2012

Editor's review

A Dash for a Throne is an English popular novel by Arthur W. Marchmont, available as a free public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg. Its classification number PR (English language and literature) places it within the English literary tradition, and its subject is a struggle for the throne, with elements of adventure and suspense. Marchmont was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his works are known for tight plotting and frequent reversals, making this book a useful sample of the popular English narrative style of that era. Its main value for readers lies in language learning and in tracing genre fiction: English-language readers can experience the narrative pacing and word usage of late Victorian to Edwardian popular fiction, while researchers will find it light material for observing how the motif of a "throne conspiracy" is organized and consumed in popular literature. As a public-domain ebook, the text is presented as originally published, without modern notes, so reading with a dictionary or a bilingual edition is recommended. Overall, this is not a classic that demands close reading but a plot-driven book suited to fragmented reading time such as commutes or travel.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who want to improve reading fluency through popular English fiction
Readers of genre fiction interested in throne struggles and conspiracy adventures
Casual readers studying late 19th- to early 20th-century English popular literature
Readers accustomed to public-domain ebooks who can accept unannotated original text

Not a good fit for

Beginner English readers who want modern notes and an introduction
Researchers who prefer in-depth analysis and scholarly study of literary classics
Readers impatient with plot-driven popular fiction who seek a purely literary experience

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to grasp the character relationships and core conflict before deciding on your pace.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first and look them up after finishing the chapter, so as to keep reading momentum.
Pair the text with an audiobook or text-to-speech tool to help adjust to the original sentence patterns and rhythm.
After finishing, retell the main twists in a few sentences to check whether you have grasped the narrative structure.

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 the original English text from a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, with no Chinese translation. Reading it requires some English proficiency; a dictionary or bilingual reference tool is recommended.

Will it be hard to read without notes or an introduction?

It will indeed be somewhat harder than an annotated edition. Read through each chapter first to grasp the plot rather than struggling over every word; deal with unfamiliar words in batches, prioritize understanding character relationships and the direction of events, and then return to the language details.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It is suitable as extensive reading material, especially for readers already able to read long English stories. Its value lies in its complete length and plot-driven nature, which makes it easy to stay motivated; however, it is not suitable as the sole textbook for close reading or grammar study.

Comments

Find this book

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

Marchmont, Arthur W., 1852-1923 Author

Arthur W. Marchmont (1852–1923) was a British writer of popular fiction active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; public information about his life and education is limited. Four of his works are held here: By Right of Sword, The Man Without a Memory, A Dash for a Throne, and By Wit of Woman. Judging from these titles and subjects, his fiction centers on adventure, mysteries of identity, contests for power and position, and clever maneuvering, with strong plotting and the suspense and action typical of popular novels. The Man Without a Memory involves amnesia, while By Wit of Woman highlights a woman's resourcefulness, showing the author's habit of driving stories through extraordinary circumstances. Today his works serve mainly as samples of late Victorian and Edwardian popular reading for students of genre fiction.