By Conduct and Courage

This story begins with a young boy who, typical of Henty, displays all the virtues and none of the vices, and who advances in rank at an unbelievable pace with all humility. It is an enjoyable way to learn about life in the British navy, ships, fighting, and pirates. The only time it goes into great historical detail is towards the end of the book, in contrast to many other Henty books that weave a little bit of a personal story between historical narrations. I was glad I read it, and would recommend it to others. All the books by this author I read along with the historical period I am teaching my kids in our homeschool, finding them to be an enjoyable way to delve deeper into the topic. Most of them take me 8 hours to read, I think.