In this book about the Thirty Years’ War, a 16-year-old named Malcolm Graheme is a Scottish boy who volunteered to fight with the military forces controlled by Gustavus Adolphus. When the Emperor of Austria decided to get rid of Protesters from Germany, the Swedish King fought the terrorism that they had to suffer through throughout villages whose population was unforgivingly lowered by the Hun invasion. The Scottish displayed the courage of Gustavus’ army by fighting their way across a Germany that was tormented by religious persecution. Malcolm went through tasks where the possible outcome was dangerous, but his quick thinking and bad manners gave him the struggle against a cruel opponent.
My favorite part was when Duke Franz Albert faked a conversion to the Protestant Faith and was warmly received by the king. He sought for an opportunity to assassinate the king before the battle, but was unsuccessful. During the battle he rode behind the king and at a convenient moment shot him twice in the back. Then he rode off to tell Wallenstein of the death of the king. I liked this part because he failed but he kept trying. This may be a strange reason for why I like this part but it does not change the fact that I like it. Another reason why I like this part is because when he failed he didn’t get caught trying to kill him, he just kept going with his life then when he did succeed in killing him, he pretended like he didn’t kill him.
My least favorite part was when King Gustavus had a hunch that he would not return from the battle with the Roman Catholic imperialists. he is showing his 5 year old daughter, Christiana, to the Diet that the queen must eat and scolding everyone to respect her as queen in the event that he did not return. His wife (the queen) is crying because she is now very worried that her 5 year old daughter will have to become the queen if king Gustavus dies in the war. This is sad because he does die and now the 5 year old has to be the queen. I did not like this because he has to explain that he might die and in a 5 year olds shoes that may be hard to understand and accept. I feel another reason why I don’t like it is because I don’t tend to like sad stuff. This is sad because he thinks he is going to die and he wants the best for his child but he either has to get rid of the throne or give it to his daughter and even though it’s hard he had to give it to her if he died and to me this is really glum. Upsettingly he did die and he was killed by Duke Franz Albert. I like that he didn’t give up on killing the king but I don’t like that he killed the king and gave the king’s daughter no choice but to take the throne!
This is my book report about The Lion of the north thank you for watching and come back to Learning In Pajamas for more from me! Also, don’t forget to read all about the author.
About the author:
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._A._Henty “G. A. Henty was born in Trumpington, near Cambridge. He was a sickly child who had to spend long periods in bed. During his frequent illnesses he became an avid reader and developed a wide range of interests which he carried into adulthood. He attended Westminster School, London, and later Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he was a keen sportsman. He left the university early without completing his degree to volunteer for the Army Hospital Commissariat when the Crimean War began. He was sent to the Crimea and while there he witnessed the appalling conditions under which the British soldier had to fight. His letters home were filled with vivid descriptions of what he saw. His father was impressed by his letters and sent them to The Morning Advertiser newspaper which printed them. This initial writing success was a factor in Henty’s later decision to accept the offer to become a special correspondent, the early name for journalists now better known as war correspondents.
Shortly before resigning from the army as a captain in 1859 he married Elizabeth Finucane. The couple had four children. Elizabeth died in 1865 after a long illness and shortly after her death Henty began writing articles for the Standard newspaper. In 1866 the newspaper sent him as their special correspondent to report on the Austro-Italian War where he met Giuseppe Garibaldi. He went on to cover the 1868 British punitive expedition to Abyssinia, the Franco-Prussian War, the Ashanti War, the Carlist Rebellion in Spain and the Turco-Serbian War. He also witnessed the opening of the Suez Canal and travelled to Palestine, Russia and India.
Henty was a strong supporter of the British Empire all his life; according to literary critic Kathryn Castle: “Henty…exemplified the ethos of the new imperialism, and glorified in its successes”. Henty’s ideas about politics were influenced by writers such as Sir Charles Dilke and Thomas Carlyle
Henty once related in an interview how his storytelling skills grew out of tales told after dinner to his children. He wrote his first children’s book, Out on the Pampas in 1868, naming the book’s main characters after his children. The book was published by Griffith and Farran in November 1870 with a title page date of 1871. While most of the 122 books he wrote were for children, he also wrote adult novels, non-fiction such as The March to Magdala and Those Other Animals, short stories for the likes of The Boy’s Own Paper and edited the Union Jack, a weekly boy’s magazine.
His children’s novels typically revolved around a boy or young man living in troubled times. These ranged from the Punic War to more recent conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars or the American Civil War. Henty’s heroes – which occasionally included young ladies – are uniformly intelligent, courageous, honest and resourceful with plenty of ‘pluck’ yet are also modest These virtues have made Henty’s novels popular today among many Christians and Homeschoolers.
Henty usually researched his novels by ordering several books on the subject he was writing on from libraries, and consulting them before beginning writing. Some of his books were written about events (such as the Crimean War) that he witnessed himself. Hence these books are thus written with greater detail as Henty drew upon his first-hand experiences of people, places, and events.
On 16 November 1902, Henty died aboard his yacht in Weymouth Harbour, Dorset, leaving unfinished his last novel, By Conduct and Courage, which was completed by his son Captain C.G. Henty.
Henty is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.”
Learning in Pajamas 