This 1899 book is the third in Edward Stratemeyer's "Old Glory Series," which follow the three Russell brothers—Walter, Larry and Ben—as they participate in a variety of naval and land battles. In this volume, which, like the others in the series, stands alone perfectly, Walter joins the U.S. Navy, in order to participate in the Spanish-American War on the warship, the "Brooklyn." Fast-paced action, tight dialogue, and superb character development, all noteworthy components or Stratemeyer's writing, are in full display in this volume.
This edition of the book contains the nine original illustrations, rejuvenated.
Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930) was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was an American publisher and writer of books for children. He wrote 150 books himself, and created the most famous of the series books for juveniles, including the Rover Boys (1899 and after), Bobbsey Twins (1904), Tom Swift (1910), Hardy Boys (1927), and Nancy Drew (1930) series, among others. Stratemeyer pioneered the technique of producing long-running, consistent series of books using a team of freelance authors to write standardised novels, which were published under a pen name owned by his company. Through his Stratemeyer Syndicate, founded in 1906, Stratemeyer produced short plot summaries for the novels in each series, which he sent to other writers who completed the story. Stratemeyer's series were also innovative in that they were intended purely as entertainment, with little of the moral lessons or educational intent found in most other popular fiction of the early twentieth century. Stratemeyer's series included, besides the famous ones, many that are now forgotten except by collectors: The Motor Boys (1906), Honey Bunch (1923), The Blythe Girls (1925) and Bomba the Jungle Boy (1926).