Robert Michael Ballantyne, Blown to Bits

John Miller (University of Sheffield)

Ed. by J. Derrick McClure, University of Aberdeen
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1889

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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The Scottish children's writer R. M. Ballantyne's 1889 tale

Blown to Bits

was the first fictional account of the spectacular and catastrophic Krakatoa eruption of 1883, which obliterated an island in what is now Indonesia and produced striking meteorological effects around the globe. Drawing heavily on the Royal Society of London's extensive 1888 report on

The Eruption Of Krakatoa and Subsequent Phenomena

and the previous writings of British natural historians A. R. Wallace, H. O. Forbes and Charles Darwin, Ballantyne sets out to weave a boys' adventure around these dramatic events, inserting his customary pro-imperial and evangelical Christian agenda into a narrative he intended for “that portion of the juvenile world which accords me a hearing”.

The story follows the adventures of

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859 words

Citation: Miller, John . "Blown to Bits". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21091, accessed 03 December 2024.]

Robert Michael Ballantyne, Blown to Bits

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