Sunday, January 17, 2021

Men of Iron (Children's Classic)

 "...that special providence which guards reckless lads befriended them, as it has thousands of their kind before and since..."

It's the year 1400 in England and King Henry IV has just taken over from Richard II. It was not a peaceful transition and the blind Baron Falworth lost his estates as an outcome early in Henry's reign. The Falworths are living quietly in poverty.

Our hero is Myles Falworth, the only child of the blind baron, and he's eight that year. He's our reckless lad. 

Myles is sent to squire for the powerful Earl of Mackworth, an old friend of his father, but one who has managed to stay on the right side of Henry IV. The novel has three main adventures for Myles: the castle has a fagging system where the older apprentice knights demand service of the younger ones; Myles resents this and resists it. Later, chasing a ball into a forbidden garden, he meets the Earl's daughter and niece.

The third adventure is the especially suspenseful one, and you'll just have to read it! But it does involve the future Henry V.

Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author of children's 
books who died youngish in 1911. Men of Iron came out in 1891. He also did a version of Robin Hood and various volumes of Arthuriana. He drew the illustrations for the volume I have.

The copy I have was my Dad's when he was a child and it was one of his favorites. He got it as a Christmas gift in 1939. And I read it more than once myself as a kid... It still holds up pretty well, I think.


My Dad (around the age he got this book) with my Grandfather and Tam.




14 comments:

  1. Howard Pyle wrote some great books... Men of Iron got me started on my King Arthur kick, i think, when i was about 12... i love the jaundiced look your grampa was giving your dad...

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    1. He had Robin Hood, too, & I read that back when I was a kid, but it's in a bit more fragile shape now, so I've got the Gutenberg of that for reading. I only read the King Arthur ones as an adult & while they're good, they don't give me quite the same warm feeling...

      I didn't know that grandfather, but I get the impression he might have been a bit arch fairly often...

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  2. Gotta love those reckless lads! :D

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  3. Oh, I have this book but I haven't read it yet. I loved his Otto of the Silver Hand. I've read Shakespeare's Richard II so I have a good background for it. This year I hope!

    Please read more children's books so I can discover new ones (or remind myself to read those I have, lol!)

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    1. It's fun--I do recommend it. I read Otto of the Silver Hand, but only as an adult. The other one of his I had as a kid was Robin Hood.

      But otherwise I can't say I'm very knowledgeable about children's classics. I read Dr. Seuss as a kid, moving on to Nancy Drew & Trixie Belden...

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    2. I think you're really enjoy Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazon's series. And Tove Jansson's Moomin books are fabulous. Just in case you want to read more! 😁

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    3. I saw a bunch of Moomin stuff in a museum when we were in Sweden several years ago--it's definitely fun--but I've never read any of her books.

      And I've heard of Arthur Ransome but never read anything. I'll have to check them out!

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  4. Going to have to put this on the list. I love the premise.

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  5. Really good illustrations are key for me in any children's book.

    Thanks for bringing this author to my attention. I would have totally eaten anything up (figuratively) that was about Robin Hood and/or King Arthur as a child.

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    1. His version of Robin Hood is the one so deep in my system that everything else seems wrong.

      He did several King Arthur books & I've only read one and that was only a few years ago. It didn't have the same magic for me.

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  6. I read aloud a couple of Howard Pyle's books when my kids were younger - Otto of the Silver Hand & Robin Hood. Love his language. All my kids read men of iron but it isn't one I've ever got around to reading. Found your blog on Reading Europe Challenge.

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    1. I only got around to reading Otto later, but I absorbed Men of Iron & Robin Hood when I was a kid.

      Isn't the European Reading Challenge fun?

      Thanks for stopping by!

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