Of The Lion of St. Mark, G.A. Henty wrote:
I have laid my story in the time not of the triumphs of Venice, but of her hardest struggle for existencewhen she defended herself successfully against the coalition of Hungary, Padua, and Genoafor never at any time were the virtues of Venice, her steadfastness, her patriotism, and her willingness to make all sacrifice for her independence more brilliantly shown. The historical portion of the story is drawn from Hazlitts History of the Republic of Venice, and with it I have woven the adventures of an English boy endowed with a full share of that energy and pluck which, more than any other qualities, have made the British Empire the greatest the world ever saw.

George Alfred Henty (1832-1906) was born in Trumpington, England. He studied at Cambridge but left without his degree to serve in the Crimean War. After several failed attempts at careers, he decided in 1865 to become a writer, beginning as a correspondent for The Standard. He wrote his first boys' adventure, Out of the Pampas, in 1868, and its popularity spurred him to write some eighty more children's books.

Ralph Cosham has acted in numerous roles for film and TV and in more than one hundred professional theater roles in addition to narrating books for Blackstone Audiobooks. He lives in Reston, Virginia.