a monstrous wolf living in the forests of Dijon. The Marquis de St. Caux states that he hopes his sons will "acquire something of the manly independence of thought and action which distinguishes English boys," and Harry is often described in contrast to Ernest’s more refined, and therefore feminised, identity. The themes of boyhood and masculinity are also tied up with the nationalistic themes that run throughout the novel, and his position as the masculine rescuer of the St. Caux daughters can be read as the courageous British nation saving France from itself during the bloody and chaotic Revolution. This focus on masculinity and boyhood triumphs was common in Henty's novels, and "contemporary readers and subsequent critics alike have focused on Henty’s boy heroes, their adventures in distant locales, inevitable successes, rise in the Empire, and their triumphant return to England." Class Divisions The novel comments on the differences between the British and French structures of social class. The St. Caux family is part of the French nobility, while Harry is the son of a doctor and a member of a large family that often experiences financial difficulties in caring for all of the children. The contrast between British and French social classes is often directly addressed: the French class system is more deeply and strictly divided than the British, who are described as having less distinct class divisions. And in the historical setting of the French Revolution, the animosity between the aristocracy and the French peasantry is apparent – much of the St. Caux family are killed for the sake of their aristocratic status. Harry, himself a middle-class English boy, "sympathizes with the oppressed peasantry but tries to protect his adoptive noble French family from the terror." The theme of class divisions is threaded with nationalistic rhetoric: Harry’s father states that "the condition of the vast body of the French nation has been terrible," and that England, in contrast, has "long conquered our liberties." Reception In the Reign of Terror was well received in its time and is one of Henty's more popular works. Contemporary reviews were positive: The Saturday Review writes, "Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr. Henty's record. His adventure will delight boys by the audacity and peril they depict. The story is one of Mr. Henty's best," and the Birmingham Post says, "The difficulties and perils Harry has to encounter