W. Dingwall Fordyce’s The Gun-Runners is an old-fashioned adventure story for younger readers, driven by the danger and intrigue of illicit arms dealing.
Fordyce also wrote Our Secret Society, In Search of Gold and The Jewelled Lizard, and his books belong to the lively tradition of early twentieth-century boys’ adventure fiction.
Readers may choose this one for its fast-moving, vintage storytelling, or as a glimpse into the adventures and ideas that captivated young readers of its time; its subject also gives the story a striking modern resonance, since the trade in weapons continues to shape conflicts around the world.
W. Dingwall Fordyce is credited with a group of children’s adventure books, including The Gun-Runners, Our Secret Society, In Search of Gold and The Jewelled Lizard. He also adapted classics such as Gulliver’s Travels and Little Women for younger readers.
Nelson’s Library for Boys, which is the publisher, was a Thomas Nelson series for young readers, part of the firm’s broader publishing of children’s stories and adventure books. Specialist bibliographical research dates the series’ first editions to around 1910, with a general reissue in the 1920s.
This book was published circa 1920. There is no publication date on the book. This is a hardback with a red cover and a black and yellow illustration on cover featuring heroes from different cultures. The book is in good condition with the binding intact.
