 | |
| Author | Gilbert Parker |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
Publication date | 1898 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 466 pp |
The Battle of the Strong is an 1898 novel by Gilbert Parker. It was first published in serial format in The Atlantic Monthly starting in January 1898,[1] and as a single volume late in the same year. It was ranked as the tenth-highest best selling book overall in the United States for 1898,[2] and appeared as high as Number 2 on the monthly bestseller list published in The Bookman in early 1899.[3] The book is set in the Channel Islands, primarily during the period 1781-95, and opens with attempted invasion of Jersey by France in the Battle of Jersey.[4][5][6]
The title is derived from Ecclesiastes 9:11, "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."[7]
Willis Steell and Edward Everett Rose adapted the novel into a play in 1900, which starred Maurice Barrymore and Marie Burroughs.[8] Of the play, Parker later remarked that "the adaption, however, was lacking much, and though Miss Marie Burroughs and Maurice Barrymore played in it, success did not attend its dramatic life."[9]
- ^ The Battle of the Strong (first part), The Atlantic Monthly (Vol. 81, Issue 483, pp. 29-41) (January 1898)
- ^ Hackett, Alice Payne. Fifty years of best sellers, 1895-1945, p. 14 (1945)
- ^ The Best Selling Books, The Bookman (New York) (February 1899), p.600 (listing the book at Number 2, after The Day's Work by Rudyard Kipling)
- ^ (3 December 1898). "The Battle of the Strong": Latest and Most Brilliant Efforts by the Canadian Novelist, Quebec Saturday Budget
- ^ (5 November 1898). Gilbert Parker's "The Battle of the Strong" (book review), The New York Times
- ^ Nield, Jonathan. A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales, p. 180 (1929)
- ^ Springfield City Library Bulletin, September 1916, p. 168 (1916) (also, Parker includes the quote at the outset of the book, making the derivation clear)
- ^ (28 November 1900). Various Dramatic Topics, The New York Times
- ^ The Works of Gilbert Parker: The battle of the strong, p. ix (introduction to 1913 reprint)