The Dangerous Book of Heroes

by Conn Iggulden, David Iggulden

Overview

Conn Iggulden, co-author of the phenomenally successful The Dangerous Book for Boys, and David Iggulden now bring us The Dangerous Book of Heroes—featuring great stories of courage and adventure to thrill and inspire any reader. From George Washington to Sitting Bull to Martin Luther King to the passengers on Flight 93, here are amazing stories of heroism that parents can share with their children, or enjoy all by themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061995408
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/20/2010
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Born in London, Conn Iggulden read English at London University and worked as a teacher for seven years before becoming a full-time writer. Married with three children, he lives in Hertfordshire. Since publication of 'The Gates of Rome', Conn has written a further thirteen books including the wildly successful 'The Dangerous Book for Boys'.

 

Editorial Reviews

In this off-key collection of biographical sketches, the authors of the bestselling Dangerous Book for Boys series stumble over the limitations of retro puerility as a worldview. A few Americans, like George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr., and heroines, including Florence Nightingale and Helen Keller, appear in their pantheon, but the Igguldens embrace the sensibilities of a daydreaming Edwardian lad by focusing on soldiers and explorers of the British Empire. Some of these—Horatio Nelson, Antarctic martyr Robert Scott—seem wholly admirable, but in others the boisterous lust for adventure is accompanied by brutality and perversity. The authors dutifully note Sir Richard Burton's mind-expanding encounters with Indian prostitutes. They balance Oliver Cromwell's massacres of Irish Catholics with his achievement in decapitating royal absolutism, and offset 17th-century buccaneer Henry Morgan's town burning and church pillaging against his role in building the British Empire. As they struggle to explain their protagonists' misdeeds, the Igguldens' commitment to historical complexity undercuts their celebration of boyish dangerousness. This awkward mix of genuine uplift, moral ambiguity, and imperial nostalgia will confuse as much as it inspires. B&w line drawings. (Apr. 20)

Publishers Weekly