Author: Duncan A. Bruce

1Captain Jim

By Mary Grant Bruce

This book is about Norah Linton, her brother Jim, her father David and Jim's chum Wally from Australia. They all move to England during WWI because Jim and Wally want to fight in the war.<br /><br />When a Irish friend of the family dies, Norah inherits a big house in Surrey: Homewood. To keep up the Irishman's memory they want to use the house to help the war effort. They turn it into a home for "Tired People"--soldiers recovering from injuries, or soldiers on leave that have no family to go home to, can come here to have a good time and enjoy the country-side, so that they can go back to their regiments fully rested and restored.<br /><br />Unfortunately Jim and Wally are soon called upon to fight, leaving Norah and her father to take care of the Tired People. (Summary by wendy)

2Little Bush Maid

By Mary Grant Bruce

An Australian children's classic about life on a ranch around the same time of A Little Florida Lady, with a similarly plucky tomboy heroine. Also, like the latter story, expect some racial stereotyping of Asian and Aboriginal characters. (Summary by BellonaTimes)

Mary Grant Bruce was an Australian children's writer who spent one year collecting Aboriginal stories in Gippsland - a part of Victoria which it is thought had a dense population of the early Australians. Sadly, now there are no tribal people living, though their descendants are still around. This book contains 13 stories of the Gunaikurnai people, as told by their elders to the author. From the preface:<br> <em>Year by year the old black tribes are dying out, and many of their legends and beliefs are dying with them. These legends deal with the world as the blacks knew it; with the Bush animals and birds; the powers of storm, flood, fire, thunder, and magic, and the beings who they thought controlled these powers; with the sun, moon and stars; and with the life and death of men and women. <br> The folktales of a people are the story of its soul, and it would be a pity if the native races of our country were to vanish altogether before we had collected enough of their legends to let their successors know what manner of people lived in Australia for thousands of years before the white man came.</em> (From the Preface by Mary Grant Bruce with a little help from annise)

4Assault on Mount Everest, 1922

By Charles Granville Bruce, George Ingle Finch, Tom Longstaff, George Mallory, T. Howard Somervell and Francis Edward Younghusband

Personal narratives of climbing Mount Everest in 1922-1923. The expeditions did not reach the summit. The northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading (and thus becoming the first European to set foot on Everest's flanks) they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7,005 metres (22,982 ft). From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended. The British returned for a 1922 expedition. George Finch climbed using oxygen for the first time. He ascended at a remarkable speed—290 metres (951 ft) per hour, and reached an altitude of 8,320 m (27,300 ft), the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 m. Mallory and Col. Felix Norton made a second unsuccessful attempt. Mallory was faulted for leading a group down from the North Col which got caught in an avalanche. Mallory was pulled down too but survived. Seven native porters were killed. - Summary by Wikipedia

5Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters

By Henry Addington Bruce

The author describes popular ghost occurrences from a skeptical point of view, providing explanations based on recent scientific research (early 20th century), primarily in the field of psychology, like suggestion and hallucinations, using also his beliefs on mesmerism and telepathy. He finishes his book with a brief mention of ghost hunters and researchers into psychic phenomena. - Summary by Rapunzelina

6Benjamin Franklin: Self-Revealed, Volume 1

By William Cabell Bruce

His life was like a full five-act play—prophetic prologue and stately epilogue, and swelling scene imposed upon swelling scene, until the tallow chandler's son, rising from the humblest levels of human fortune to the highest by uninterrupted gradations of invincible success, finally becomes the recipient of such a degree of impressive homage as has rarely been paid to anyone by the admiration and curiosity of mankind. (from Introduction)

7Benjamin Franklin: Self-Revealed, Volume 2

By William Cabell Bruce

His life was like a full five-act play—prophetic prologue and stately epilogue, and swelling scene imposed upon swelling scene, until the tallow chandler's son, rising from the humblest levels of human fortune to the highest by uninterrupted gradations of invincible success, finally becomes the recipient of such a degree of impressive homage as has rarely been paid to anyone by the admiration and curiosity of mankind. (from Introduction)

Stories of Confederate soldiers of the Civil War that share the vivid accounts of valor, resolve, loyalty, and endurance. Using historical records and firsthand testimonies, this book offers an account of men facing overwhelming odds while performing deeds of cunning, daring, courage, and heroism on the battlefield. - Summary by Barry Eads