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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 108 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 108 pagesAbout this book
On the American rails, a robbery puts more than cargo at stake.
In The Great K. & A. Robbery, Paul Leicester Ford places a train robbery at the center of a short American adventure. The railroad is the stage: a place where fortunes and nerves are tested, and where railroad workers, passengers, and the law share an uneasy world.
Rival railroads and a race against time frame this mystery of the American West. Ford turns to the rails in an age when trains shape American life. The stakes reach beyond a single traveler: a robbery concerns the crew, the clerks guarding cargo, the passengers, and the company behind the line.
What you’ll discover
- The rails at the center Enter a world where the railroad is more than a way to travel.
- A robbery with wider stakes Consider how one crime touches workers, travelers, and the company that runs the trains.
- Rivals and urgent stakes Follow an adventure shaped by competing railroads and the pressure of time.
- Mystery meets Western adventure Explore the meeting of crime, the law, and life on the American rails.
- A short escape Step into a brief work of fiction with a train robbery at its heart.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy brisk Western adventure, railroad lore, clever telegraph tricks, and a comic romance told by a modest narrator will love this.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A protector becomes a pursuer
- Moonlight gives way to gunfire
- The evidence contradicts the witnesses
- The stolen letters explain the stakes
- A telegram turns duty into protection
- Gordon refuses an easy dishonest escape
- Honor rests on limits and courtesy
- Gordon makes himself part of the joke
- A railroad struggle becomes personal
Who’s who
- Dick GordonSuperintendent of the Kansas and Arizona Railroad and former Yale halfback, who tells the story and wants to do right by both his duty and Madge.
- Madge CullenA quick, clever young woman from Chicago who longs for an adventure and is willing to lie to protect her father.
- Mr. CullenA Missouri Western vice president and Kansas and Arizona director who has staked his fortune on winning the coming election.
- Frederic CullenThe sharp, quick younger son who explains the scheme and becomes Gordon's friend.
- Albert CullenThe elder Cullen son with an English drawl, ready to defend the family plan.
- Lord RallesA proud young English guest who sneers at American courage and wants Madge's attention.
- Mr. CampA director of both railroads who works for the Great Southern and wants the three letters at any cost.
- Sheriff GuntonA rough, good-hearted lawman who insists that a gentleman must be polite when a lady is near.
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The Great K. & A. Robbery in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Great K. & A. Robbery
by Paul Leicester Ford · 1897
A railroad man chases train robbers across Arizona, and their trail leads to the family of the girl he loves.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“The unexpected always happens.”
In short
What would you do if the train robbers you are hunting across the desert are the family you were told to look after? That is the puzzle facing Dick Gordon, superintendent of the Kansas and Arizona Railroad, in October 1890.
The Great K. & A. Robbery at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 10 min1 h 45 min fast, 2 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 31,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1897by Paul Leicester Ford
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 railroad man meets a private car
Dick Gordon tells the reader at once that he is no writer. He played halfback at Yale, worked his way up through the railroad shops, and now runs the Kansas and Arizona Railroad. He writes only because twenty false versions of the great train robbery are going around.
His railroad has a weak spot. At one end it meets the Missouri Western, and at the other the Great Southern, and the two lines are bitter enemies. Both have directors on his board, and sooner or later one will swallow his line. In October 1890 a letter tells him that Mr. Cullen, a Missouri Western vice president, is coming to the annual election at Ash Forks and must be looked after.
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A railroad man chases train robbers across Arizona, and their trail leads to the family of the girl he loves.
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Details
- First published
- 1897
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 2 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 108 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 108 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 170 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 170 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Wed 2 Dec to Tue 8 Decto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Ford, Paul Leicester. The Great K. & A. Robbery. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-k-a-robbery.
Ford, P. L. (2026). The great K. & A. robbery. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-k-a-robbery (Original work published 1897)
Ford, Paul Leicester. The Great K. & A. Robbery. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-k-a-robbery.
@book{ford2026great,
author = {Ford, Paul Leicester},
title = {The Great K. \& A. Robbery},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-k-a-robbery},
note = {First published 1897}
}
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What is The Great K. & A. Robbery about?
It follows railroad superintendent Dick Gordon, who hunts the robbers of a western train and finds that they are connected to a director's family. Before the robbery occurs, he falls in love with the director's daughter, Madge.
Who are Madge Cullen and Lord Ralles?
Madge is the bright, blue-eyed daughter of Mr. Cullen, a railroad director, and the girl Gordon loves. Lord Ralles is an English guest in the Cullen party who sneers at American courage and pays attention to Madge.
Is The Great K. & A. Robbery a true story?
No, it is a made-up tale. Paul Leicester Ford wrote it to entertain friends on a private railroad trip across the West. It is set in October 1890 and uses real railroad details to give it a lifelike setting.
The author
Paul Leicester Ford
1865–1902 · American novelist and biographer
Paul Leicester Ford was an American novelist, biographer, and editor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1865 and died in New York City in 1902. His books included The Honorable Peter Stirling (1894), The True George Washington (1896), and The Great K. & A. Robbery (1897).
“The unexpected always happens.”
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