George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 - 16 November 1902), referred to as G. A. Henty, was a prolific English novelist, special correspondent, and Imperialist. He is best known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century.

G.A. Henty was born in Trumpington, near Cambridge. As a sickly child, he spent long periods in bed. During these illnesses he became an avid reader and developed a wide range of interests which he carried into adulthood. He volunteered for the Army Hospital when the Crimean War began. He was sent to the Crimea where he witnessed the appalling conditions under which the British soldier had to fight. His letters home were filled with vivid descriptions of what he saw. His father was impressed by his letters and sent them to The Morning Advertiser newspaper which printed them.

This initial writing success was a factor in Henty's later decision to accept the offer to become a Special Correspondent, then the name for writers now better known as War Correspondents. He went on to cover the Austro-Italian War, the 1868 British punitive expedition to Abyssinia, the Franco-Prussian War, the Ashanti War, the Carlist Rebellion in Spain and the Turco-Serbian War. He also witnessed the opening of the Suez Canal and travelled to Palestine, Russia and India.

Henty once related in an interview how his storytelling skills grew out of tales told after dinner to his children. He wrote his first children's book, Out on the Pampas, in 1868. While most of the 120+ books he wrote were for children, he also wrote adult novels, non-fiction such as The March to Magdala and Those Other Animals, short stories for the likes of The Boy's Own Paper. He edited the Union Jack, a weekly boy's magazine.

His novels typically revolved around a boy or young man living in troubled times. These ranged from the Punic War to the more recent conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars or the American Civil War. Henty's heroes -- which occasionally did include young ladies -- are uniformly intelligent, courageous, honest and resourceful with plenty of 'pluck'. Yet they are modest. These virtues make Henty's novels popular today among many Christians and homeschoolers. [Source: Wikipedia]

More: The Henty Society