At the Back of the North Wind / The Princess and the Goblin / The Princess and Curdie

Find Out Why MacDonald is Considered a Master of Fantasies

These three most beloved classic Victorian-era fantasies of George MacDonald transport the reader to another time, real and imagined.

At the Back of the North Wind is the tale of a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the mysterious spirit force, the North Wind. This captivating story of Diamond's radiant spirit in the face of the poverty and fatal contagions of the Victorian Age has served as an inspiration for generations.

The Princess and the Goblin introduces us to Princess Irene, who lives in her father's castle near wild mountains-a land "full of hollow places underneath," where there lived a race of goblins banished by the King. Curdie, a local miner's son, is befriended by the Princess and, aided by Irene's magical great-great-grandmother, works to stop the plot by the goblins to take over the kingdom.

The Princess and Curdie is set two years later, when Curdie is sent by Irene's mysterious great-great-grandmother on a mission to disrupt the enemies of the King as they plot to kill him. Together the old Princess and Curdie rescue the King and Princess Irene, and Irene and Curdie marry, peacefully ruling the kingdom for another generation.

Author George MacDonald was a personal friend and mentor to Lewis Caroll, and also influenced the work of renowned fantasy authors C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkein, and Oz-creator Frank L. Baum. Although MacDonald explored a wide range of subjects in his varied writings, his children's classics remain the most popular, and are clearly written for the young at heart.

With 121 illustrations.

This book is also available from Echo Point Books in hardcover, ISBN 1635619173.

George MacDonald wrote over fifty books and collections of poems, and was a contemporary and friend of Lewis Carroll and other well-known writers of the second half of the 1800s. He is principally remembered for his children's books, the most famous of which are included in this volume. At the Back of the North Wind, and The Princess and the Goblin first appeared in the magazine Good Words for the Young, and were then published in 1870 and 1871, respectively. The Princess and Curdie did not appear in book form until 1882.