FOREWORD

"The Guns of Europe" is the first of three connected romances, of which "The Forest of Swords" and "The Hosts of the Air" are to be respectively the second and third, dealing with the world war in Europe.

It was the singular fortune of the author to be present at the beginning of this, the most gigantic struggle in the history of our globe. He was in Vienna the day Austria-Hungary declared war upon Servia, thus setting the torch that lighted the general conflagration. Returning westward, he reached Munich the day Germany declared war upon Russia. He remained in Germany nearly a month, having witnessed in turn the Austrian and German mobilizations, and then arrived in England in time to see the gathering of the British Empire's armed hosts.

He was also, upon his return, in Quebec when the greatest colony of the British was rallying to their support. Such an experience at such an extraordinary crisis makes ineffaceable impressions, and through his characters, the author has striven his best to reproduce them in these three romances.

From the book

This is a thrilling story of a young American—John Scott—who, while traveling in Germany in the opening days of World War I, suddenly finds himself a hunted man.

Suspected of being a British spy, he works his way to the German border and with the aid of a French pilot, pursued by German Taubes, possibly the best fighter planes of their day, and after a tense and exciting air battle, they reach friendly territory. Once in France, young Scott joins freedom's fighters and takes part in one of the toughest battles of World War I—the battle of Mons.

Every boy will enjoy this historically accurate and adventurous book by one of America's most popular writers.

From the A-Lot-A-Books paperback reprint