Away O'er The Waves: The Transatlantic Life And Literature Of Captain Mayne Reid

Abstract

Although largely forgotten today, adventure novelist Mayne Reid, an Irish-born veteran of the United States' war with Mexico, was a household name on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. A prolific writer, Reid authored more than fifty "romances"; some of which were reportedly based on his own experiences while traveling and working in the southwestern United States during the early 1840s. Approximately half his works were aimed at the juvenile market. This study builds on previous biographies of Reid, both published and unpublished, to form a more complete picture of the author's life than has heretofore been available. Several hitherto unknown or forgotten facts have been included. This study also looks at Reid's impact on the generation that formed his legion of "boy readers," his contribution to the myth of America's "Wild West,"and his enduring popularity in the former Soviet Union.