Yussuf the Guide or The Mountain Bandits: Being the Strange Story of the Travels in Asia Minor of Burne the Lawyer, Preston the Professor, and Lawrence the Sick

by George Manville Fenn, John Sch (Illustrator)

Young Lawrence, an invalid, is lovingly cared for by his old nurse, Mrs. Dunn, yet he dreads the cold and fog of the coming English winter. When he learns that one of his guardians, Preston the Professor, is planning an archaeological expedition to Turkey, he begs to be taken along. Lawrence's other guardian, Burne the Lawyer, declares that he will accompany them and that they will bring Lawrence back a man! Traveling by boat and overland they reach Smyrna in Turkey where they engage Yussuf as their guide. Through the months that follow, they travel deeper and deeper into the remote regions of central Turkey on their trusty horses in search of ancient ruins. There, with constant fresh air and exercise, Lawrence begins to regain his strength and Yussuf proves his worth time and time again as they face adventure and danger from a murderous ship captain, poisonous snakes, sheer precipices, bands of robbers and more.

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

George Manville Fenn (January 3, 1831, Pimlico - August 26, 1909, Isleworth) was an English novelist, journalist, editor and educationalist.

Fenn, the third child and eldest son of a butler, Charles Fenn, was largely self-educated, teaching himself French, German and Italian. After studying at Battersea Training College for Teachers (1851-4), he became the master of a national school at Alford, Lincolnshire. He later became a printer, editor and publisher of short-lived periodicals, before attracting the attention of Charles Dickens and others with a sketch for All the Year Round in 1864. He contributed to Chambers's Journal and Once a Week. In 1866, he wrote a series of articles on working-class life for the newspaper The Star. These were collected and republished in four volumes. They were followed by a similar series in the Weekly Times.

Meanwhile he was married in 1855 to Susanna Leak, daughter of John Leak of Alford. They had two sons and six daughters.

Fenn's first story for boys, Hollowdell Grange, appeared in 1867. It was followed by countless other novels for juveniles and adults. Over 170 of them are thought to have been published in book form. Having become editor of Cassell's Magazine in 1870, he purchased Once a Week and edited it until it closed in 1879. He also wrote for the theatre.

Fenn and his family lived at Syon Lodge, Isleworth, Middlesex, where he built up a library of 25,000 volumes and took up telescope making. His last book was a biography of a great fellow writer of boys' stories, George Alfred Henty. He died at home on 26 August 1909.