Adventure Books Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature
...The empire over which Queen Victoria reigned in 1897 was four times greater than at her accession sixty years earlier. Improvements in communications and cheaper newspapers made the public more aware of such dramatic events as the Charge of the Light Brigade and the Indian Mutiny, and the explorations of such men as Dr. Livingstone and Sir Richard Burton intensified the interest in adventures overseas. About this time, too, hundred of thousands of Britons began to emigrate to America, Australia, Canada, and parts of Africa. Many children shared their...
