Stalky & Co: with Introduction and Glossary by John Rouse by KIPLING, Rudyard - 1968

New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc, 1968. Book. Illus. by Cover art by Owen Wood. Very Good. Soft cover. Laurel Leaf Library. Dell B237. Second Printing (1968). 253pp, Introduction, Glossary. 12mo/18cm. Paper, light wear, light browning of text, otherwise clean, tight and very good. Originally published in serial form in 1897-98, this is a rollicking story of three untamed teenagers in a 19th century school meant to prepare future officers for the British Army. Beetle, Stalky and Turkey are the three unruly characters at a school named Westward Ho! patterned after the United Services College which Kipling himself attended and parts of him can be seen in the character Beetle. Stalky is clearly patterned after Lionel Charles Dunsterville, later a Major General, whose most famous exploit was leading an elite force named "Dunsterforce" across Iran in 1917 to prevent a feared Turko-German attack on India. The Introduction by an experienced secondary school teacher and administrator gives an informed view on the generational conflict that is portrayed in this work. British-born Owen Wood (1929-2003), illustrator and teacher, illustrated many books in both England and America and is said to have been much admired by his peers..