The Valley of the Giants

Three strong men battle for possession of a section of country as big as a principality—one used to getting what he wanted, unscrupulously if he could not get it fairly, and the others held steadfast to their purpose by their good American grit.

Peter B. Kyne, California writer, endeared himself to the American public with his 1918 book “ The Valley of the Giants.” The man who wrote “The Valley of the Giants" knows the big trees of California. Before Kyne was a writer he was a lumberman. He has put the adventure of that business, with his love of the forest and the outdoors, into many of his stories.

The plot hinges on the possession of a grove of great redwoods the burial place of John Cardigan's wife and called by him the Valley of the Giants. The grove is wanted as an outlet for some back-country timber holdings by Colonel Seth Pennington a fishy hearted lumber operator from Michigan.

A succession of bad years and an error in Judgment put old John Cardigan financially at Pennington’s mercy. At this point young Bryce Cardigan comes home, takes over his father's burdens, and starts to buck the colonel. Shirley Sumner, the colonel's feminine tenderfoot niece, and Bryce Cardigan are mutually attracted. Mr. Kyne has created a set of very human, very real characters, and a fine love story runs through the book, taking a most unexpected turn toward the last.

Peter B. Kyne (1880 –1957) was an American novelist who published between 1904 and 1940. He was born and died in San Francisco, California. Many of his works were adapted into screenplays starting during the silent film era, particularly his first novel, The Three Godfathers, which was published in 1913 and proved to be a huge success. More than 100 films were adapted from his works between 1914 and 1952, many of the earliest without consent or compensation. Kyne also created the character of Cappy Ricks in a series of novels.

Other books by Kyne include:

The Parson of Panamint and Other Stories
Webster Man's Man
Comrades of the Storm
The Lord of Lonely Valley
The Understanding Heart
Tide Of Empire
The Land Just Over Yonder
A Motion To Adjourn
Silver Threads Among The Gold
Salt Of The Earth
Bread Upon The Waters
The Sheriff Of Panamint
Cornflower Cassie's Concert
The Handshake Agreement
Captain Scraggs
The Valley of the Giants
Kindred of the Dust
Outlaws Of Eden
Ballarat Bob's Romance
The Long Chance
Cappy Ricks or the Subjugation of Matt Peasley
The Three Godfathers
Cappy Ricks Retires
The Pride of Palomar
They Also Serve
Never the Twain Shall Meet
El Jarron Azul
Money to burn
Two make a world
The enchanted hill
The Green-pea pirates
Soldiers, sailors and dogs
Dude woman
Jim the conqueror
The golden West
The book I never wrote
The Tie That Binds is listed
The Tie That Binds
The Go-getter