The Lost Million cover

The Lost Million

Rating 2.8
Word count
423K words
Chapters
43

Tags

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.The Lost Million by William Le QueuxAuthor: Le Queux, William, 1864-1927,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 23, 2012

Editor's review

"The Lost Million" is an English novel by British author William Le Queux, part of the Project Gutenberg free eBook collection. Le Queux was known for his twist-filled suspense and adventure stories; this book revolves around a missing fortune and has the typical feel of early twentieth-century popular fiction: brisk pacing, dense suspense, and frequent scene changes. For readers who want to encounter English popular literature in the original and understand the popular narrative style of a hundred years ago, this book is a light and enjoyable choice. Its value lies not in classic status in literary history but in offering a window onto the social imagination and reading tastes of its time. There is no need to look for deep symbolic meaning; it works better as casual reading, taken in sections on the commute or before bed, enjoying the pursuit of the mystery while picking up English narrative vocabulary along the way.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • English learners who want to practice reading with original English books
  • Readers of popular fiction who enjoy suspense, adventure, and treasure-hunting themes
  • Readers interested in early twentieth-century British popular literature
  • People who need light English reading material for spare moments

Not a good fit for

  • Readers expecting serious literary depth and complex character development
  • Readers who are not used to reading English originals and need a Chinese translation
  • Readers with little patience for the pacing and language style of older narratives

Reading tips

  1. Read one chapter first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide whether to read intensively or extensively.
  2. Prepare a character relationship chart and update it as you read to avoid confusing the clues.
  3. Skip unfamiliar words at first and look up key terms after finishing a section.
  4. Listen along with an audiobook to improve your feel for English.

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
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?
This is an English original from the Project Gutenberg free eBook project. The text is in English, with no Chinese translation included, so it suits readers with some foundation in English reading.
Can I read this book without any English foundation?
Not really. This is an early twentieth-century English novel whose sentence patterns and vocabulary carry period features, so beginners may struggle with long sentences and old-fashioned expressions. If you want to try, read a Chinese translation first to understand the plot, then read passages alongside the original.
Is this book suitable as English learning material?
It can serve as extensive reading material. Its strong storytelling and plot-driven nature make it easy to stay motivated, but the language is not simplified for learners. Focus on understanding the general meaning rather than checking every word, and concentrate on accumulating recurring narrative vocabulary.

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About the author

William Le Queux (1864–1927) was a British writer of popular fiction, with 74 of his works held in this collection. He is best known for invasion-scare and spy-adventure stories; The Invasion of 1910, which depicts a German invasion of Britain and the siege of London, drew considerable attention in its day, and The Great War in England in 1897 belongs to the same vein. His other works centre on mystery, intrigue and international espionage, such as The Zeppelin Destroyer, The Secrets of Potsdam, The Closed Book: Concerning the Secret of the Borgias and The Golden Face: A Great ‘Crook’ Romance, all marked by tight plotting and dense suspense. Le Queux often set fictional crises against real places to create a sense of urgency, and his work had some influence on the development of early spy fiction and thrillers. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here.

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