About this project

Heroes coming of age... and changing history.

Tom Durwood is the real thing.
-- Joe Weber, Honorable Enemies, Rules of Engagement

The Illustrated USG in China is a Collection of Young Adult Historical Adventures  

Heroes coming of age... and changing history.

Poison and pistols, thieves and treachery, bandits and naval battles, opium addicts and mysterious Caliphs and love triangles — readers will find it all in this richly illustrated collection of short stories.

 

Will the daughter of the first farmer save her mother from the clan’s hunters? Can young Ning Po save “Uriah Ess Grant” from assassination and pull China back from the brink of war?

 

President Grant’s little-heralded trip around the world is the setting for the title story in Tom Durwood’s collection of old-fashioned adventure fiction.

Young protagonists take on overwhelming obstacles in a wide range of historical eras. Spectacular full-color artwork by an international cast of rising artists brings these characters and their perils to life.

 

A most unusual take on history, these stories reminiscent of Louis L’Amour and Robert W. Howard introduce teen heroes, each standing at crucial moments in history. Will they survive adversity, swordplay, and heartbreak to save to hour?

 

In these pages, you will take part in a violent battle over succession in the Benin kingdoms, meet a young clerk who gets pulled into a murderous plot in 17th century Amsterdam, witness revenge in a cowboy saloon, and much more.  

 

Multicultural characters. Global history with clear links to world history classrooms. Enter a world of history’s most treasured settings, from the Golden Age of Sail to the cowboy west.

A book on a mission

The substantive and colorful treatment of history in “Ulysses S. Grant inChina” fills a timely and gaping need: our schools are facing a crisis in teaching history.

 

 More and more,” warns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “our students graduate from an American college without a basic grasp of our history. A national study of more than 1,000 colleges and universities found that 80 percent of our colleges do not require students to take a foundational course in American history. One out of four students cannot find the Pacific Ocean on a map.

 

Tom taught most recently at Valley Forge Military College, where he was named Teacher of the Year five times. He has seen first-hand the need for our students to connect to the rich narratives of history. Tom’s writing in “The Boatman’s Daughter” and subsequent adventures represent an extension of his mission to connect the stories we tell to underlying social and economic dynamics.

 

The Illustrated ‘USG in China’ and Other Stories

Heroes coming of age... and changing history.

Author: Tom Durwood
Illustrators: Boell Oyino, Zelda Devon, Timothee Mathon, Dominik Mayer, Sigurd Fernstrom

ISBN: 978-1-952520-00-6 (ebook) 978-1-952520-02-0 (Paperback)

Formats: Print-on-demand, ebook
Release Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Trim Size: 7 x 10
Pages: 147

Categories:
Young adult
Historical fiction
Adventure fiction
Illustrated fiction