Bevis (Wordsworth Children's Library)

Very good book; one of my favorites. The author goes into great detail on all sorts of interesting subjects as the boys discover their secrets for themselves through trial and error: building a sailboat and learning to tack, building a working matchlock musket, an accurate sundial using the positions of the stars and the sun, etc. At the same time, it is definitely not lacking in action. The boys live in the wild for eleven days on their own, they recreate one of Caesar's battles which has an unexpected ending, and get into all sorts of trouble as a result. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes they could go back their youth.

Shortly before Richard Jefferies first became ill he wrote two children's books, Wood Magic and Bevis, published in 1881 and 1882. The latter has been widely regarded as a classic boys' book and, based on Jefferies' own childhood at Coate, it follows the adventures of two boys, Bevis and Mark. They first 'discover' a large lake close to their home which they imagine to be a vast inland sea surrounded by a jungle inhabited by savages and wild beasts. After re-fighting the Battle of Pharsalia (between Julius Caesar and Pompey) with their friends, Bevis and Mark build a raft and cross to an island in the lake. Equipped with a few provisions and their own home-made shotgun, they live among nature for several days, learning the arts of survival and much about themselves in the process. Bevis is a celebration of the vigour and freedom of a childhood spent in the countryside, 'where there was magic in everything, blades of grass and stars, the sun and the stones upon the ground'.