George MacDonald's great gifts as a teller of tales are at their peak in The Princess and Curdie and The Princess and the Goblin, which never fail to hold children in their spell. In The Princess and Curdie, Curdie, a miner's son, lives in a mountain cottage. The silver mines inside the mountain belong to the King, who needs the silver to help him rule the country and pay for the army which defends it from ill-disposed neighbours. The ever-watchful and devoted Curdie helps the King to frustrate his enemies' plans. Eventually Curdie and his Princess become rulers of the country, loved by all. Alas! the king who succeeds them after many years is not of their caliber. He exploits the mines greedily, forgetting his people in his feverish search for precious metal so that they long for the sunlit reign of Curdie and his Princess.

From the dust jacket of Dent and Dutton edition