Reid, Thomas Mayne

Related Category: English Literature, 19th cent.: Biographies

(Mayne Reid), 1818–83, British novelist, b. Ireland. He emigrated to the United States in 1840 and after various adventures in the West served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War. He returned to England and began writing adventure stories that were especially popular with boys. The first of these was The Rifle Rangers (1850). Others include The Scalp Hunters (1851), The White Chief (1855), and The Headless Horseman (1866).