Herbert Strang

Herbert Strang was the pseudonym of two English authors, George Herbert Ely (1866–1958) and Charles James L'Estrange (1867–1947). They specialized in writing adventure stories for boys.

Both men were staff members of Oxford University Press, which published their books, giving them a patina of social status and approval for the parents of their intended audience.^[1] Their work showed a broad general debt to that of Jules Verne;^[2] Round the World in Seven Days was one of their most popular books. Ely and L'Estrange have been classified as "popular writers of imperial fiction" and "successors of G. A. Henty...."^[3]

The pseudonym was also employed for several series of anthologies, works "edited by Herbert Strang" that included The Big Book of School Stories for Boys and The Oxford Annual for Scouts. There was even a series for girls by "Mrs. Herbert Strang".

Selected works by "Herbert Strang"

• The Iron Pirate (1893)
• Kobo (1905)
• Brown of Moukden: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War (1906)
• Fighting on the Congo (1907)
• On the Trail of the Arabs (1907)
• King of the Air (1908)
• Barclay of the Guides (1909)
• Humphrey Bold (1909)
• Round the World in Seven Days (1910)
• Swift and Sure (1910)
• The Air Scout (1912)
• The Motor Scout (1914)
• A Hero of Liege (1915)
• The Old Man of the Mountain (1916)
• Little Stories of Great Lives" (1916)
• Tom Willoughby's Scouts (1919)
• The Blue Raider (1920)
• No Man's Island (1921)
• Winning his Name (1922)
• Fighting with French (1929)

Little Stories of Great Lives

Very little is known about the series of books titled Little Stories of Great Lives that were edited by Herbert Strang and written for young children. The format of the books are printed with large type with wide margins on good paper. The cover of each book contains a colored frontispiece of the subject, and numerous black-and-white illustrations inside. The known stories of the series include:^[4]

• The Story of Lord Kitchener, by Arthur O. Cooke.
• The Story of Lord Roberts, by Arthur O. Cooke.
• The Story of Francis Drake, by H. Russell Ford.
• The Story of Napoleon, by Arthur O. Cooke.
• The Story of Joan of Arc, by Evelyn Ward.

References

1. ^ John J. Gross, A Double Thread: Childhood in Mile End, London, Chatto and Windus, 2001; p. 93.
2. ^ Robert Holdstock, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, London, Octopus Books, 1978; p. 21.
3. ^ Laurence Kitzan, Victorian Writers and the Image of Empire: The Rose-Colored Vision, Westport, CT, Greenwood, 2001; p. 70.
4. ^ Internet Archive, Oxford University Press. General Catalogue, November, 1916. Accessed November 9, 2010. [1]

External links

• Herbert Strang - pseudonym
• Works by Herbert Strang at Project Gutenberg