Other editions of book Captains Courageous

Born in India, Rudyard Kipling is renowned for his varied exciting tales of the sub-continent. Less well-known is the Nobel laureate’s attachment to the United States and especially to Vermont, where he lived (in Brattleboro) for over four years. Here he made the acquaintance of Dr. James Conland who had fished with the Grand Banks fleet as a youth. Dr. Conland’s nautical reminiscences sparked Kipling’s creative mind and, “rejoicing to escape from the dread respectability of our little town” the two men ran off to “the shore front, and to the old T-wharf of Boston Harbour, and to queer meals in sailors’ eating-houses… we boarded every craft that looked as if she might be useful, and we delighted ourselves to the limit of delight.” Captains Courageous is the fruit of Kipling’s Boston escapade. It charts the tale of Harvey Cheyne, a rich, spoilt 15 year-old, who falls from an ocean-going liner, is rescued by the fishing boat We’re Here - and is forced to spend the next three months with the crew, earning his living as a deck-hand among the huge waves and treacherous currents of the Grand Banks. The experience is the making of Harvey, transforming the pampered, boastful boy into a self-reliant young man who knows the value - and the responsibilities - of friendship and honest work. A unique book of American adventure from the archetypal Indian writer.

As everybody knows, a writer is by no means always the best judge of his own writing. But when Rudyard Kipling called "Captains Courageous" a favorite of his among all his books, he was only sharing the opinion of a majority of his readers down through the years.From its original publication in 1897 to this very day, from generation to generation, its appeal has been unfaltering-and for good reasons. It tells a lively story that invites us to turn the pages swiftly. In a broad sense it is a romantic adventure: that of a lad moving from one world to another literally in a matter of minutes. Within that romantic framework it is also an absorbingly realistic picture of a dangerous, highly skilled way of life: that of the Gloucester fishermen who once sailed their sturdy little craft from the New England coast to the Grand Banks and brought them home packed with cod and halibut.For the men of Gloucester it was a job to be done, all in the day's work. But it was more than that, as ouAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at

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