Children Of The New Forest

Children of the New Forest (1994)
by Captain Marryat (Bloomsbury Books)
ISBN: 9781854712523
Condition: Good
As sold by Crappy Old Books

Here it is: the classic Victorian adventure in which the English countryside is not merely a place of mild picnics and politely disapproving squirrels, but a fully operational wilderness where children become woodland operatives, horses develop emotional intelligence, and history marches past in heavy boots.

Children of the New Forest begins with the kind of historical inconvenience that really puts a dampener on family life: the English Civil War. One moment you’re living the country-house dream, the next your entire social arrangement is being redecorated by Parliament, and you’re forced into the New Forest with little more than pluck, siblings, and an alarming lack of adult supervision. It’s part survival story, part secret-identity drama, part moral education, and part long, affectionate love letter to trees.

Captain Marryat, a naval man with a keen sense for peril and pacing, takes the “children’s classic” and quietly makes it… quite exciting. There are loyalist loyalties, suspicious strangers, narrow escapes, and the sort of plot turns that remind you Victorian authors had no problem putting children in genuine jeopardy for the sake of character development. The New Forest itself becomes a character: ancient, shadowy, and full of hiding places — the ideal setting for small humans attempting to outwit an entire country’s political upheaval.

And then there’s the horse. If you’re the kind of reader who believes horses deserve more respect and considerably more narrative responsibility, you’re in luck. This book features a horse that isn’t just “present” but essentially part of the team, like a four-legged co-conspirator with a strong work ethic and excellent PR.

It’s also one of those stories that manages to smuggle in questions about loyalty, class, identity, and what happens when “the world as you know it” collapses — all while keeping the tone accessible and the pages turning. In other words: a book that does that old-fashioned thing where it entertains you first, and only later do you realise you’ve accidentally absorbed some history.

This 1994 Bloomsbury edition is in good condition, and it has that reassuring “proper book” feel — the kind you can hand to a young reader without fear it will crumble into Victorian dust, or you can keep for yourself as a nostalgic reminder that children’s literature once contained genuine danger, moral dilemmas, and at least one heroic animal.

Perfect for:

• Readers who like their classics with plot

• Civil War curious people who prefer their learning disguised as adventure

• Anyone who suspects the countryside is more interesting when it’s slightly threatening

• Horse enthusiasts, woodland enthusiasts, and small-band-of-siblings enthusiasts

Not recommended for:

• People who want their forests tidy and fully risk-assessed

• Anyone who thinks historical fiction should come with a warning label and a counselling session

A stirring, slightly feral classic: children, politics, and woodland survival — with the quiet reassurance that in the end, decency and determination still count for something, even if everyone is wearing boots and carrying muskets.

Keep browsing: See more Kids books Other books by Captain Marryat