Alfred Henry Miles



Alfred Henry Miles (26 February 1848 – 30 October 1929) was a prolific Victorian-age author, editor, anthologist, journalist, composer and lecturer who published hundreds of works on a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry (The Poets and the Poetry of the Century, 10 vols. (London: Hutchinson, 1891)), warfare (Wars of the Olden Times, Abraham to Cromwell) to household encyclopaedias with information for every conceivable contingency (The Household Oracle : A Popular Referee on Subjects of Household Enquiry), and even advice to the lovelorn (Wooing: Stories of the Course that Never Did Run Smooth by R. E. Francillon and others. Issued as a volume in The Idle Hour Series, London: Hutchinson, [1891]). He was Guardian of the Poor for six years and a member of the London Borough of Lewisham from 1904 to 1906.

He was editor of The Fifty-Two Library, a series of children's adventure stories published by Hutchinson & Co., London in the nineteenth century. He compiled some fifty volumes that appeared at five shillings apiece.

Selected books

 * The Fifty-Two Library [52v|1889–1907]
 * The Poets And Poetry Of The Century (ed.) [10v|p|1891-97]
 * The Universal Natural History, with Anecdotes Illustrating the Nature, Habits, Manners and Customs of Animals, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, etc., etc. edited by Alfred H. Miles, New York : Dodd, Mead and Co., 1895
 * Successful Recitations (ed.) [1902]
 * Log Leaves and Sailing Orders (ed.) [c|1902]
 * Edward Hayes Plumptre to Selwyn Image: The Sacred Poets Of The Nineteenth Century [b|1906]
 * Christina G. Rossetti to Katharine Tynan (ed.) [1907]
 * Drawing Room Entertainments [d|pub:1909]
 * Ballads Of Brave Women [1909]
 * A Book Of Brave Girls At Home And Abroad [n|1909]
 * A Book Of Brave Boys All The World Over [n|1909]
 * The First Favourite Reciter (ed.) [1909]
 * Original Poems, Ballads, And Tales In Verse [p|1910]
 * The Sweep Of The Sword [1910]
 * Twixt Life And Death On Sea And Shore [1910]
 * Heroines Of The Home And The World Of Duty [1910]
 * A Garland Of Verse For Young People [p|1911]
 * The Diner's-Out Vade Mecum [n|1912]
 * A Book Of Brave Boys [n|?/1915]
 * Heroes Of History [1916]

Poetry
Miles' poetry is unashamedly chauvinistic and strongly reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling.

John Bull and His Island (first verse)
 * There's a doughty little Island in the ocean,
 * The dainty little darling of the free;
 * That pulses with the patriots' emotion,
 * And the palpitating music of the sea:
 * She is first in her loyalty to duty;
 * She is first in the annals of the brave;
 * She is first in her chivalry and beauty,
 * And first in the succour of the slave!
 * Then here's to the pride of the ocean!
 * Here's to the pearl of the sea!
 * Here's to the land of the heart and the hand
 * That fight for the right of the free!
 * Here's to the spirit of duty,
 * Bearing her banners along--
 * Peacefully furled in the van of the world
 * Or waving and braving the wrong.