Kings in Exile

Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir, 1860-1943Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 335K words
Chapters: 34

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.Kings in Exile by Sir Charles G. D. RobertsAuthor: Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir, 1860-1943,Language: English, Class: QL: Science: Zoology, Release Date: Apr 7, 2009

Editor's review

This work is one of the representative animal stories by Canadian author Charles G. D. Roberts and is a free public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg. With keen observation and a literary touch, Roberts portrays wild animals' struggle to survive in nature. The “kings in exile” of the title are animals driven from their territory or caught in hardship, and the writing combines natural-history accuracy with novelistic tension. Unlike a straightforward popular-science book, it places animal behavior within concrete scenes and conflicts; readers encounter the logic of life behind predation, migration, and territorial disputes and sense the author's respect for the wild. It suits beginners in nature writing or English-language learners reading extensively. Since this is a public-domain e-edition, a reading tool with annotation is recommended, so learners can look up unfamiliar words and animal names as they read and both practice the language and broaden their knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy nature writing and animal stories
Learners who want to improve their reading with English originals
Readers interested in natural history and wild animal behavior
English teachers and reading promoters in need of short selections

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer plot-driven, fast-paced fiction
Readers seeking a systematic textbook of zoology
Beginners unused to the layout and diction of English public-domain books

Reading tips

Read a chapter first to feel the rhythm of the language, then go back for animal names and new words.
Treat each piece as a stand-alone story and retell the main plot in your own words afterward.
Read alongside animal documentaries or natural-history material for deeper understanding.
Use the e-book's search function to collect animal names and make vocabulary cards.

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 a popular-science book or a literary work?

It is closer to animal literature: wild animals are the protagonists, and their circumstances and behavior are described in narrative form, with strong literary quality and the author's careful observation of nature, but it is not a textbook that systematically explains zoology.

How difficult is the English?

As an early twentieth-century English work, it has long sentences and formal diction and involves animal names and nature-scene vocabulary, so it is harder than contemporary popular writing. A middle-level or higher reading ability in English is advisable, or read with a dictionary and annotations.

What should I watch for when reading a public-domain e-book?

Public-domain books are free, and editions vary in layout and proofreading quality; scanned errors may remain. Choose a clearly formatted edition, judge obvious typos from context, and do not let isolated errors spoil the reading.

Comments

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About the author

Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir, 1860-1943 Author

Sir Charles G. D. Roberts (1860–1943) was a Canadian writer known for his animal stories and nature writing. The library holds twenty-nine of his works, including The Kindred of the Wild: A Book of Animal Life, Red Fox, Hoof and Claw, Neighbors Unknown, The Heart of the Ancient Wood, and Kings in Exile. His writing focuses largely on wild animals and life in the wilderness, blending close observation of nature with narrative tension; the animals he portrays are both wild and individual in character, and such works have had a certain influence within the English-language tradition of animal literature. Beyond fiction, he also wrote poetry, as shown by Songs of the Common Day, and, Ave!: An Ode for the Shelley Centenary, indicating that his writing spans both prose and verse. Public information on the details of his life is limited, and none is conjectured here.