Well-known Victorian children's author Howard Pyle published his novel Men of Iron in 1891. Set in the beginning of the fifteenth century during the stormy transitions of power between the English Kings Richard II Henry IV and Henry's son Henry V this historical fiction follows the coming of age adventures of a noble-born young man. As the protagonist finds his proper place as a knight of the realm he struggles to learn the truth about his exiled father and to avenge the honor of his family in order to reclaim his name and position.