Publisher's Synopsis
Captains Courageous is an 1897 novel, by Rudyard Kipling, that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese fisherman in the north Atlantic. The novel originally appeared as a serialisation in McClure's, beginning with the November 1896 edition. Captains Courageous comes from the ballad "Mary Ambree," which starts, "When captains courageous, whom death could not daunt." Kipling had previously used the same title for an article on businessmen as the new adventurers, published in The Times of 23 November 1892.. At the start of Captains Courageous, one of literature's most beloved stories of the sea, a spoiled rich boy is literally swept away-dashed overboard from an ocean liner. Luckily, young Harvey Cheyne is rescued by a passing fishing vessel. As it turns out, Harvey's apparent misfortune in tumbling from a life of pampered luxury into the humble company of a fishing schooner becomes a blessing in disguise. Compelled by the captain to earn his keep, Harvey loses his affectations as he learns the rewards of an honest day's labor amid the gruff and hearty companionship of the crewmen, who teach him to be worth his salt as they fish the waters off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Readers of all ages have delighted in Kipling's engaging maritime yarn since its initial appearance in 1897. The author's only novel to unfold in an American setting, this lively tale resounds with Kipling's customary blend of adventure and humor. This attractive new edition, unabridged and inexpensive, offers an irresistible invitation to a master storyteller's enduring tale of a boy's initiation into adulthood. Captains Courageous is a book highly recommended to read.
