Other editions of book At Aboukir and Acre: a story of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt

With the general knowledge of geography now possessed we maywell wonder at the wild notion entertained both by Bonaparte andthe French authorities that it would be possible, after conqueringEgypt, to march an army through Syria, Persia, and the wildcountries of the northern borders of India, and to drive the Britishaltogether from that country. The march, even if unopposed, wouldhave been a stupendous one, and the warlike chiefs of NorthernIndia, who, as yet, were not even threatened by a British advance,would have united against an invading army from the north, andwould, had it not been of prodigious strength, have annihilated it.The French had enormously exaggerated the power of Tippoo Sahib,with whom they had opened negotiations, and even had theirfantastic designs succeeded, it is certain that the Tiger of Mysorewould, in a very short time, have felt as deep a hatred for them as hedid for the British.

Two lads were standing in one of the bastions of a fort looking over the sea. There were neither guards nor sentinels there. The guns stood on their carriages, looking clean and ready for action, but this was not the result of care and attention, but simply because in so dry a climate iron rusts but little. A close examination would have shown that the wooden carriages on which they stood were so cracked and warped by heat that they would have fallen to pieces at the first discharge of the guns they upheld. Piles of cannon-balls stood between the guns, half-covered with the drifting sand, which formed slopes half-way up the walls of the range of barracks behind, and filled up the rooms on the lower floor. Behind rose the city of Alexandria, with its minarets and mosques, its palaces and its low mud-built huts. Seaward lay a fleet of noble ships with their long lines of port-holes, their lofty masts, and network of rigging.

Excerpt from At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of EgyptWith the general knowledge of geography now possessed we may well wonder at the wild notion entertained both by Bonaparte and the French authorities that it would be possible, after conquering Egypt, to march an army through Syria, Persia, and the wild countries of the northern bor ders of India, and to drive the British altogether from that country. The march, even if unopposed, would have been a stupendous one, and the warlike chiefs of Northern India, who, as yet, were not even threatened by a British advance, would have united against an invading army from the north, and would, had it not been of prodigious strength, have an nihilated it. The French had enormously exaggerated the power of Tippoo Sahib, with whom they had opened nego tiations, and even had their fantastic designs succeeded, it is certain that the Tiger of Mysore would, in a very short time, have felt as deep a hatred for them as he did for the British.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Two lads were standing in one of the bastions of a fort looking over the sea. There were neither guards nor sentinels there. The guns stood on their carriages, looking clean and ready for action, but this was not the result of care and attention, but simply because in so dry a climate iron rusts but little. A close examination would have shown that the wooden carriages on which they stood were so cracked and warped by heat that they would have fallen to pieces at the first discharge of the guns they upheld. Piles of cannon-balls stood between the guns, half-covered with the drifting sand, which formed slopes half-way up the walls of the range of barracks behind, and filled up the rooms on the lower floor. Behind rose the city of Alexandria, with its minarets and mosques, its palaces and its low mud-built huts. Seaward lay a fleet of noble ships with their long lines of port-holes, their lofty masts, and network of rigging.

With 73 pages of additional articles, references, and bibliographies of recommended reading. In 1798, Napoleon surprised the world by invading Egypt. His goal was to conquer the eastern Mediterranean and, from there, either invade India, or invade Europe through the backdoor―from the east. His initial battles, for example at the Pyramids, were spectacular victories. But Horatio Nelson soon destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of Aboukir Bay; and a British naval officer, Sir Sidney Smith, was the first person to defeat him on land at the Battle of Acre. As a result of those two losses, Napoleon was trapped. At Aboukir and Acre is the story of Edgar Blagrove, a young man whose father was an English merchant in Alexandria. When Napoleon arrives, he is separated from his father, attaches himself to a Bedouin tribe, and fights the French. After witnessing the French defeat at Aboukir Bay, he joins the British Navy as a midshipman, and participates in Napoleon's defeat at Acre by serving as an interpreter to Sir Sidney Smith. Henty’s History Series - Learning History Through Fiction The Henty series is a unique way of learning about history. It consists of over 80 novels, each written by George A. Henty, and each featuring a significant historical person, period or event. * Perfect for busy people who have never lost their desire to learn. * An ideal way for homeschool students to learn history. * Organized by time period. * With additional nonfiction articles and a bibliography of recommended reading. “If you want to fall in love with history, there is simply no better way to do it than this.”

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George Alfred Henty (1832-1902), referred to as G. A. Henty, was a prolific English novelist, special correspondent, and Imperialist born in Trumpington, England. He is best known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century. His works include Out on the Pampas (1871), The Young Buglers (1880), With Clive in India (1884) and Wulf the Saxon (1895). He attended Westminster School, London and later Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he was a keen sportsman. 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. While most of the 122 books he wrote were for children, he also wrote adult novels, non-fiction such as The March to Magdala (1868) and Those Other Animals (1891), short stories for the likes of The Boy's Own Paper and edited the Union Jack, a weekly boys magazine.