My grandparents bought several of Henty's story books for my father, who passed them on to me as a child. I thought they were excellent at the time but haven't read them for over 50 years.

A precursor of Henty's - in that he wrote "ripping yarns" for children - was Captain Frederick Marryat (July 10, 1792 – August 9, 1848), whose books I also read. For those of a Norfolk persuasion, he's buried in Langham Churchyard, and there's a plaque about him in the church itself.