A Couple of Recent Emails

Lately I have received some very good emails. I am very thankful for all the encouragement and comments that came in during the Scotland Tour. A couple of my favorite emails from the last two weeks are here.

Joshua, Thank you for such an informative site. Our family discovered The Coral Island while on a trip to New Zealand some years back but I regret to say we haven't read near the volume of Ballantyne books as he had written.

I was wondering if you have ever read Captain Marryat's book Children of the New Forest ? Set in England during the Reformation, it is an adventure story of children left parentless, of brothers defending sisters, of valor and honor. We have loved it so much, I have bought each child their own copy. I'd have to say it's in my top five. -Blessings, Mrs. Fletcher

Dear Mrs. Fletcher, Yes, I have read the book Children of The New Forest. His writing style is really fabulous. I do think that the noble way the sisters are guarded by their brothers is worthy of praise. The author also sets a very good example of sibling attitude towards each other for the reader. Sadly, it is an anti-reformation story. The children (the main characters) are actually the children of a royalist at the time of Charles I and Cromwell. Unfortunately, I felt that they presented an unfair view of Cromwell and the Parliamentarians to the reader. When reading books like this it is important to understand historical prejudice (good or bad) and to see the wonderful way the hand of the lord can be on an author like Marryat or Henty. -Joshua Titus

Joshua, I have read almost four Ballantyne books, and are enjoying them so much, especially because the stories are, like you said, "Explicitly Christian." Your website, is great! And I love to look at your Blog with the pictures from the Scotland faith and freedom tour. This is not a very important question, but was Ballantyne ever in the army? He new a lot about subjects that somewhat relate to the military. -James

James, Thank you for your question. No, Ballantyne was never in the army as far as I know. He did join the Edinburgh Volunteers at one point, but was never part of a standing army. A lot of his information comes from hist vast knowledge of the times in which he lived and the people he knew. -Joshua Titus

Hello J. Titus and Greetings, I wrote to you once before indicating that we would take your advice and purchase the Coral Islands to give Mr. Ballantyne a try. I am please to report that we have done so and my 3 oldest sons and I agree that it is a smashing success. We look forward to finishing this work and moving on to others. Keep strong in the faith and thank you for your guidance! - The Thisse Family

That is tremendous! I hope y'all enjoy the rest of the Ballantyne books as much.

Hello, I have been enjoying looking through your website and think that my brother and I would enjoy reading some of the Ballantyne books, however, is there any particular order that they should be read in? Or is there any particular book that you would suggest to a first time Ballantyne reader? Thank you so much, God bless, Elizabeth

Elizabeth, No, there is not any particular order to read the books in. Mr. Ballantyne has one set of books that go together (The Coral Islands and the Gorilla Hunters, with The Coral Islands coming first.) Other than that you can read the books in any order. -Alba Gu Bra, Joshua Titus