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What does courage look like when the enemy is on every road and even a neighbour may betray you?
In W. P. Shervill’s Two Daring Young Patriots, Belgium is under German occupation during the First World War. Towns and villages live under foreign control, and ordinary life changes. Young heroes face a world of secrets and danger, where loyalty to their country calls for more than brave words.
They cannot meet the enemy with force, so cleverness matters as much as courage. Disguise, careful timing and quick answers offer ways to resist. But knowing whom to trust is another challenge. A neighbour may offer help or betrayal, and the young patriots must judge people while finding ways to outwit the occupiers.
What you’ll discover
- Everyday life under occupation See how foreign control turns familiar towns and villages into places of uncertainty.
- Courage beyond the battlefield Follow young heroes whose resistance shows that bravery does not belong only to soldiers.
- Wits against force Discover the tension of disguise, careful timing and quick answers when the enemy asks questions.
- Trust with consequences Feel the weight of choosing whom to believe when neighbours may help or betray.
- A direct wartime adventure Enter a story driven by danger, secrets and the resolve to stand against an invader.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love schoolboy friendship, wartime adventure, daring raids and heroes who win by cleverness and loyalty. It is set in Belgium in the First World War.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Quiet determination meets a war
- Wait until the team is ready
- Loyalty begins on the foundry floor
- War makes friendship a commitment
- Schenk reveals where his loyalty lies
- Careful preparation makes resistance possible
- Max accepts the cost himself
- Protect people while striking back
- Determination needs thought and friendship
Who’s who
- Max DurendThe half-English son of a Belgian steel master, a strong oarsman and a determined planner who wants to keep his father's works from helping Germany.
- Jack DaleMax's cheerful school friend and former cox, who stays beside him in Liege and treats every raid as another race to win.
- Otto SchenkThe manager of the Durend works, a stern, heavy man who serves Germany in secret and wants to run the firm forever.
- Monsieur DubecA loyal workman whose life Max saves and who repays the debt again and again as a helper in every plan.
- Madame DubecDubec's brave wife, who promises Max her service and helps plan his rescue after he surrenders to save the imprisoned workmen.
- Corporal ShawA wounded British corporal who leads a hungry band of stranded soldiers and wants one more fight with the Germans.
- PeckA Cockney soldier in Shaw's band, always ready with a joke, a cigarette and a bayonet when the work needs doing.
- Madame DurendMax's English mother, who hopes to keep her son safe in Holland but lets him go back to guard his father's name.
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Two Daring Young Patriots
Max Durend, a rower turned saboteur, fights to keep his father's Belgian foundries from serving German guns.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would you do if your whole school called your plan foolish and you could not explain it? Max Durend, stroke of Benson's boat at Hawkesley school, keeps silent, holds his crew back for three races, and then drives them to the head of the river.
Two Daring Young Patriots at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 40 min2 h 55 min fast, 4 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 52,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stroke holds back his crew to win
The book opens on the river Suir at Hawkesley school, during Eights week. Max Durend rows at stroke for Benson's House, and the school respects him more than it likes him. He keeps his plans to himself and seldom explains why he does anything.
Just before the races, Max removes Montgomery, the best oarsman in the school, from the crew. Montgomery has sulked for weeks and rowed badly out of time. Max replaces him with Franklin, a reserve who has barely trained, and Dale, the cheerful cox, sees how risky this is.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Shervill, W. P. Two Daring Young Patriots. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/two-daring-young-patriots.
Shervill, W. P. (2026). Two daring young patriots. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/two-daring-young-patriots
Shervill, W. P. Two Daring Young Patriots. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/two-daring-young-patriots.
@book{shervill2026two,
author = {Shervill, W. P.},
title = {Two Daring Young Patriots},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/two-daring-young-patriots}
}
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What is Two Daring Young Patriots about?
It follows Max Durend, a half-English Belgian schoolboy, and his friend Jack Dale. When German troops take Liege in 1914, the two friends raid, disguise themselves and sabotage Max's father's foundries to keep them from serving the invaders.
Who are Max Durend and Jack Dale?
Max is the son of a Belgian steel master and the stroke of his school rowing crew. Dale is his friend and cox from the same English school. Together they carry out one daring plan after another in occupied Belgium.
Who is Schenk in Two Daring Young Patriots?
Otto Schenk is the manager of the Durend works. He appears trustworthy and runs the firm for the widow, but Max finds that he is a German agent who uses the works to help the invaders.
The author
W. P. Shervill
Writer
W. P. Shervill wrote adventure stories for young readers in the years around the First World War. The record gives no year of death, and little is certain about his life. The book shows the world of its author: schools with rowing crews, a strong faith in courage and fair play, and a clear loyalty to the Allied cause.
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