author
Willis Boyd Allen
1855–1938
A Harvard-trained lawyer who also became a prolific writer for young readers, this late 19th- and early 20th-century author filled his books with adventure, history, and a strong sense of character. His stories range from school tales and travel to war and holiday fiction, offering a lively glimpse of the reading world of his time.
6 Audiobooks
Around the Yule Log
by Willis Boyd Allen
Silver Rags
by Willis Boyd Allen
The North Pacific: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War
by Willis Boyd Allen
In the Morning
by Willis Boyd Allen
Christmas on Wheels
by Willis Boyd Allen
Gulf and Glacier; or, The Percivals in Alaska
by Willis Boyd Allen
About the author
Born in Kittery Point, Maine, on July 9, 1855, he studied at Boston Latin School, graduated from Harvard in 1878, and later earned a law degree from Boston University in 1881. Though trained for the law and based in Boston, he built a parallel career as an author and editor.
He wrote widely for young people and published more than 30 books, along with many magazine pieces. His work often drew on history, travel, patriotism, and adventure, making him a familiar name to readers of juvenile fiction in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
He died in September 1938 while at Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. Today, his books are remembered as part of an era when stories for younger readers aimed not only to entertain, but also to spark curiosity about the wider world.