By Sheer Pluck

by G. A. Henty

First published 1884

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2.5(5)

Frank Hargate is a keen young naturalist whose calmness during a boating accident brings him to the attention of people able to advance his ambitions. He becomes assistant to the experienced naturalist Mr Goodenough and travels to West Africa on an expedition that takes them far beyond the relative security of the coast.

Scientific travel turns into a struggle for survival as Frank encounters hostile communities, slavery and warfare and is eventually caught up in the conflict with the Ashanti Empire. The later stages of the novel bring his personal adventures into the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, including the British advance towards Kumasi, so that exploration and natural history give way to a campaign shaped by disease, difficult terrain and colonial warfare.