Talbot Mundy

Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon) (April 23, 1879 – August 5, 1940) was an English writer. He also wrote under the pseudonym Walter Galt.

Born in London, at age 16 he ran away from home and began an odyssey in India, Africa, and other parts of the Near and Far East. By age 29, he had begun using the name Talbot Mundy, and a year later arrived in the United States, starting his writing career in 1911.

His first published work was the short story "Pig-Sticking in India", which describes a popular, though now outlawed sport practiced by British forces.

Most of his novels, including his first novel "Rung Ho!", and his most famous work "King of the Khyber Rifles", are set in India under British Occupation in which the loyal British officers encounter ancient Indian mysticism. The novels portray the citizens of Imperial India as enegmatic, romantic and powerful. His British characters have many encounters with the mysterious Thugee Cults. The long buildup to the introduction of his Indian Princess Yasmini and the scenes among the outlaws in the Khinjan Caves clearly influenced fantasy writers Robert E. Howard and Leigh Brackett.

His related Jim Grim series, which has mystical overtones and part of which is available over the web from theosophical sites, ran in "Adventure" magazine before book publication. Mundy was associated with Theosophy's movement and helped popularize the legend of the Nine Unknown Men in the West.

Beginning in the late 1920's Mundy wrote a number of stories about "Tros of Samothrace", a Greek freedom fighter who aided Britons and Druids in their fight against Julius Caesar.

Biography

* Donald M. Grant (compiler), "" (Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc., 1983)
* Brian Taves, "Talbot Mundy, Philosopher of Adventure" (McFarland, 2005)
* Brian Taves (editor) "Talbot Mundy, Winds From the East" (Ariel Press, 2006) (an anthology of Mundy short stories and articles)

Bibliography

Jimgrim/Ramsden

* "Guns of the Gods" (1921)
* "The Winds of the World" (1917)
* "Hira Singh's Tale" (1918)
* "King — of the Khyber Rifles" (1916)
* "Jimgrim and Allah's Peace" (1936)
* "The Seventeen Thieves of El-Kalil"
* "The Lion of Petra" (1932)
* "The Woman Ayisha" (1924)
* "The Lost Trooper"
* "The King in Check" (1933)
* "The Mystery of Khufu's Tomb" (1935)
* "The Caves of Terror" (variant title "The Gray Mahatma", 1924)
* "Jungle Jest" (1932)
* "The Marriage of Meldrum Strange
* "Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley (1924)
* "The Hundred Days" (1931)
* "The Nine Unknown" (1923)
* "The Devil's Guard" (variant title "Ramsden", 1926)
* "Jimgrim" (1931)
* "The Gunga Sahib" (1934)
* "C.I.D." (1932)
* "The Red Flame of Erinpura"

Tros

* "Tros of Samothrace" (1925)
* "Queen Cleopatra" (1929)
* "Purple Pirate" (1935)
* "Liafail" (1925)
* "Helma" (1925)

Non-series

* "Rung Ho!" (1914)
* "The Ivory Trail" (1917)
* "Black Light" (1930)
* "All Four Winds: Four Novels of India" (omnibus, 1932)
* "Full Moon" (variant title, "There Was a Door", 1935)
* "The Thunder Dragon Gate" (1937)
* "Old Ugly Face" (1940)

References

*cite book | last=Bleiler | first=Everett F. | authorlink=Everett F. Bleiler | title=The Checklist of Fantastic Literature | location=Chicago | publisher=Shasta Publishers| pages=205-206 | date=1948
*cite book | last=Clute | first=John | authorlink=John Clute | coauthors = John Grant | title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy | location=New York | publisher=St. Martin's Press| pages=669 | date=1997 | id=ISBN 0-88184-708-9
*cite book | last=Tuck | first=Donald H. | authorlink=Donald H. Tuck | title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy | location=Chicago | publisher=Advent | pages=323-324 | date=1978|id=ISBN 0-911682-22-8
* [http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/cgi-bin/auth.pl?G004167 "Author and Book Info.com"]

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7656/mundybio.html Dustfall]
*
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#mundy Works by Talbot Mundy] at [http://gutenberg.net.au Project Gutenberg Australia]
*
* [http://www.talbotmundy.com Talbot Mundy - Master of Mystical Adventure]