Background

Robert Geoffrey Trease was born on August 11, 1909 in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He was the third and youngest son of George Trease, a wine merchant, and Florence Dale, a doctor's daughter.

Education

Geoffrey Trease studied at Nottingham High School, where he wrote stories, poems, and a three-act play. Later, he was awarded a Classics scholarship to the University of Oxford but found his tutors dull and, after a year, left the university without a degree and moved to London.

Career

Early in his career, Trease was a social worker and journalist in England. He then tried his hand at teaching from 1932 to 1933 before turning to full-time writing. He later lectured on children's literature. His first novel for youngsters was Bows Against the Barons, which told the tale of Robin Hood but without the romanticism that many earlier writers attached to the title character. Trease followed with fictional works such as Comrades for the Charter, Red Comet, Mystery on the Moors, In the Land of the Mogul: A Story of the East India Company's First Venture in India, Army without Banners, The Fair Flower of Danger, and The Chocolate Boy.

Geoffrey also compiled nonfiction books, especially biographies on people such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Edward Elgar, Wolfgang Mozart, Lord Byron, and D. H. Lawrence. Trease composed books for young travelers on places such as England, Wales, India, Pakistan, and Greece. His novels for adults included Only Natural and Snared Nightingale, while his adult nonfiction included memoirs such as A Whiff of Burnt Boats: An Early Autobiography and Laughter at the Door: A Continued Autobiography. His writing talents did not end there, however. He was also the author of plays such as The Dragon Who Was Different, The Might Mandarin, Fairyland Limited, The Shadow of Spain, and Letters of Gold. Teleplays (Into Thin Air) and radio plays (Mr. Engles of Manchester 'Change and Lady Anne) were among his other notable works. His later books included Song for a Tattered Flag, Bring out the Banners, Fire on the Wind, No Horn at Midnight, Danger in the Wings, Cloak for a Spy, and Curse on the Sea.

Achievements

• Geoffrey Trease was a prolific writer, who published 113 books. His work has been translated into 20 languages for foreign markets, including those of Asia and Europe. Geoffrey is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. Trease was an acknowledged influence on numerous authors. Geoffrey also won the New York Herald Tribune Book Award for the Children's Spring Festival 1966 for This is Your Century.

Works

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  • Hidden Treasure

    (Hidden Treasure tells its readers the stories of some of ...)

    1989
  • Word to Caesar

    (Set in Imperial Rome at the time of Emperor Hadrian, a te...)

    1955
  • Bows Against the Barons

    (A rousing tale of the young boy from Nottingham, Dickon -...)

    1934
  • A Flight of Angels

    (Sheila and her friends solve a 400-year-old mystery while...)

    1989
  • The Seven Queens of England

    (This book is an unbiased introduction to the Seven Queens...)

    1953
  • Bring Out the Banners 1994
  • A Whiff of Burnt Boats 1971
  • No Horn at Midnight 1995
  • Cue for Treason 1940
  • This Is Your Century 1965
  • Horsemen on the Hills 1971
  • The Secret Fiord 1950
  • The Crown of Violet 1952
  • A Thousand for Sicily 1964
  • The White Nights of St Petersburg 1967
  • The Red Towers of Granada 1966
  • The Young Traveller in England and Wales 1953
  • The Hills of Varna 1948
  • Tales Out of School 1948

Views

Trease is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. His study Tales Out of School pioneered the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.

Membership

Geoffrey Trease was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Interests

• reading, theater

Connections

Robert Geoffrey Trease married Marian Haselden Boyer on August 11, 1933. The couple had one child - Jocelyn Heather.

Father:

George Albert Trease

(1873 - 1932)

George Albert Trease was a wine merchant.

Mother:

Florence (Dale) Trease

(1874 - 1955)

child:

Jocelyn Heather Trease

late spouse:

Marian Haselden Boyer

(1906 - 1989)