'The books known as the Leisure Hour Library have long been favourites with a large circle of readers. In process of time some of these have fallen out of date, and the dress in which they were sent forth has become old-fashioned. The Committee of the Religious Tract Society has therefore resolved to issue a new series of stories suited for readers of both sexes, and well adapted for circulation in Sunday school libraries, and as gift and prize books. Each volume extends to 384 pages, and is well illustrated. Some members of the series will contain stories never before reprinted; others will consist of popular volumes of the old library, reissued in the new and more attractive format.
The present volume, The Black Troopers and Other Stories, is the first of the new issue, and the following - Strange Stories of Peril and Adventure; Remarkable Adventures in Real Life; and Adventures Ashore and Afloat - are published at the same time. Of these the first two have never been printed in book form before; the others are popular members of the old library. It will be found that these volumes abound in adventure, exciting narratives, and stories of bravery and heroism.'
(Prefatory note, The Black Troopers and Other Stories).
