author

Ralph Henry Barbour

1870–1944

Best known for lively school and college stories, this prolific American writer helped shape early 20th-century boys’ fiction with tales of sports, friendship, and campus life. He also wrote under the name Oliver Horn and left behind a large body of popular juvenile novels.

66 Audiobooks

The mystery of the Sea-Lark

by Ralph Henry Barbour, H. P. Holt

Left Half Harmon

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Center Rush Rowland

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Left End Edwards

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Around the End

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Turner Twins

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Winning his game

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Left Guard Gilbert

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Half-Back: A Story of School, Football, and Golf

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Captain Chub

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Arrival of Jimpson, and Other Stories for Boys about Boys

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Nid and Nod

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Tom, Dick and Harriet

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Lucky Seventh

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Crimson Sweater

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Captain of the Crew

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Adventure Club Afloat

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Quarter-Back Bates

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Lilac Girl

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Kitty of the Roses

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Crofton Chums

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Double Play: A Story of School and Baseball

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Holly: The Romance of a Southern Girl

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Benton's Venture

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Full-Back Foster

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Danforth Plays the Game: Stories for Boys Little and Big

by Ralph Henry Barbour

For the Honor of the School: A Story of School Life and Interscholastic Sport

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Secret Play

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Partners Three

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Kingsford, Quarter

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Four Afloat: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Water

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Left Tackle Thayer

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Land of Joy

by Ralph Henry Barbour

On Your Mark! A Story of College Life and Athletics

by Ralph Henry Barbour

For the freedom of the seas

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Hitting the line

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Brother of a Hero

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Harry's Island

by Ralph Henry Barbour

For the good of the team

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The play that won

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Guarding His Goal

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Keeping His Course

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Change Signals: A Story of the New Football

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Junior Trophy

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Story My Doggie Told to Me

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Right Half Hollins

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Four in Camp: A Story of Summer Adventures in the New Hampshire Woods

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Finkler's Field: A Story of School and Baseball

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Rivals for the Team: A Story of School Life and Football

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Purple Pennant

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The New Boy at Hilltop, and Other Stories

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Fourth Down!

by Ralph Henry Barbour

A Maid in Arcady

by Ralph Henry Barbour

For Yardley: A Story of Track and Field

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Four Afoot: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Highway

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Behind the Line: A Story of College Life and Football

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Winning His "Y": A Story of School Athletics

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Forward Pass: A Story of the "New Football"

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Follow the Ball

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Right Tackle Todd

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Right Guard Grant

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Right End Emerson

by Ralph Henry Barbour

Team-Mates

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Spirit of the School

by Ralph Henry Barbour

The Fighting Scrub

by Ralph Henry Barbour

About the author

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1870, Ralph Henry Barbour became one of the most recognizable writers of boys’ fiction in the United States. His books often centered on school, college, and athletic life, especially football and baseball, and were written in a clear, energetic style that made them popular with young readers.

Over a long career, he produced a remarkably large number of novels and stories. Alongside his better-known books for younger audiences, he also published work under the pen name Oliver Horn. Listings of his work show just how wide and steady his output was across the first decades of the 20th century.

Barbour died in 1944. Today he is remembered as a prolific storyteller of school and sports adventures, part of a generation of authors who helped define classic American juvenile fiction.