R M Ballantyne: 313 books

     My mother was old and frail, and her voice very gentle; she was the most trustful, uncomplaining woman I ever knew.     I looked up quickly into her face as she spoke. “All the money gone, mother?”     “Ay, all. It will be hard for you to go without your dinner, Robert, dear.”   ...

(Excerpt): "Dear Periwinkle,—Since that memorable, not to say miserable, day, when you and I parted at Saint Katherine’s Docks, (see note 1), with the rain streaming from our respective noses—rendering tears superfluous, if not impossible—and the noise of preparation for departure damaging...

A tale of adventure among the black slaver of West Africa.

(Excerpt): "Old Ravenshaw, as his familiars styled him, was a settler, if we may use such a term in reference to one who was, perhaps, among the most unsettled of men. He had settled with his family on the banks of the Red River. The colony on that river is now one of the frontier towns of Canada....

This book throws you back in time to a world where balloons are the future. The most eventful flights of the day are recounted, complete with the science that was being explored or the fame that was being chased. It gives great insight into the world that was, and the author's scepticism about any future flight makes you wonder at what the future holds. (Goodreads)

(Excerpt): "Baby Will’s mother was a gentle and loving, but weak woman. His father, William Horace Osten by name, was a large, hearty, affectionate, but coarse man. He appreciated his wife’s gentle, loving nature, but could not understand her weakness. She admired her husband’s manly, energetic...

Excerpt: "Fred Temple was a tall, handsome young fellow of about five-and-twenty. He had a romantic spirit, a quiet gentlemanly manner, a pleasant smile, and a passionate desire for violent exercise. To look at him you would have supposed that he was rather a lazy man, for all his motions were...

Excerpt: "On a certain summer morning, about the middle of the present century, a big bluff man, of seafaring aspect, found himself sauntering in a certain street near London Bridge. He was a man of above fifty, but looked under forty in consequence of the healthful vigour of his frame, the freshness of his saltwater face, and the blackness of his shaggy hair."