Sir Julian Stafford Corbett was a prominent navy historian and geologist. This semi-autobiographical novel tells about the start: the personal and professional life of a scholar, the excitement of sailing, and joining the navy.
The title of this historical fiction could as well have been "A Soldier’s Mother" or “An Unknown Soldier”. There are indeed butterflies, and there is a small boy who grows into a fine, strapping young man who goes to war. But this moving novella centers squarely on the young man's mother, her love for him and her abiding faith.
Delia Blanchflower’s father has died, leaving her a considerable inheritance. However, she has become caught up in the militant wing of the Suffragist movement and has come under the spell of Gertrude Marvell, one of the leaders of the movement. Because he strongly disapproves, Delia’s father has put his money in trust until she is older. He has appointed an old friend – Mark Winnington – as the main trustee. Against the background of the Suffragist movement, the book follows the developing relationships between Delia, Gertrude and Mark Winnington.
The book starts with Annette Georges choosing between two fates: suicide and running away with a disreputable stranger. She is rescued by a kind woman who looks after her until she can go to live with her maiden aunts in a village in the English countryside. There she meets and makes friends with various people and, almost coincidentally, the facts of her past come back to play a crucial part in the story.
New York City in the early 20th century, a boy with an angelic voice, his devoted mother, the great Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John The Divine.
A fictionalized version of the self-discovery of primitive man, including: fire, cooking, defense and protection, architecture, community, communication, religion, government, and social interaction
G.P.R. James was a historian and novelist, who took well-documented historical events and characters and wove stories around minor or imaginary actors in the events. In this work, set in seventeenth century France, we follow the adventures of young Louis, heir to the Count of Bigorre, after an encounter with the vindictive Marquis de Saint Brie forces him into exile. The tale wends its way inexorably towards the Battle of Marfee in the 30 years War and the death of the Count of Soissons in a failed coup against the much hated minister, Cardinal de Richelieu. Young love, a brush with the law, card sharks, a deadly avalanche-- life is definitely interesting for the young adventurer.
Writing at the end of the American Civil War, Verne weaves this story of a Scottish merchant who, in desperation at the interruption of the flow of Southern cotton due to the Union blockade, determines to build his own fast ship and run guns to the Confederates in exchange for the cotton piling up unsold on their wharves. His simple plan becomes complicated by two passengers who board his new ship under false pretenses in order to carry out a rescue mission, one which Capt. Playfair adopts as his own cause. This is going make the Rebels in Charleston rather unhappy with him.
Sure, his new ship is fast - but can it escape the cannonballs of both North and South?
Tempest and Sunshine is the first book written by Mary Jane Holmes. Set in the pre-Civil War south, it follows the struggles and romances of two sisters, as different as night and day; blonde Fanny and dark haired Julia.
The story of Richard Mahony, a doctor trained in Edinburgh who comes to Ballarat in the gold rush of the 1850s. At first he runs a shop but later he marries and returns to medical practice. His story is interwoven with that of his wife's brothers and sister. Even after his medical practice becomes successful he is still unhappy living in the colony and decides to return home to Britain. Richard is a restless irritable man whose character is said to be based on the author's own father. This book is the first of the trilogy 'The Fortunes of Richard Mahony', but stands well on its own. The other two books of the trilogy are still protected by copyright in the USA, but may be found on Project Gutenberg Australia.
Clara Amedroz is the virtuous, intelligent, and quick-witted heroine of this novel. Like all women of her time, she has few options other than to marry. She is lucky enough to have two eligible suitors, and chooses the more urbane and worldly of the two. Alas, however, she realizes fairly quickly that Captain Aylmer is not a nice person. Throughout much of the novel we find her trying hard not to recognize that Will Belton - the suitor she rejected, and who still loves and wants to marry her - is.
As in all of Trollope's novels, the sub-plots are at least as engaging as the main story: here, we find Clara associated with, and ultimately for some time dependent on, Mr. and Mrs. Askerton, who - having perforce lived together for some time before they were married - are social outcasts. Clara is courageous enough to remain loyal to these friends, knowing that thus she, too, risks social condemnation and reduces her value on the marital market-place.
She becomes wiser, more generous, and more forgiving as her outlook on the world matures in various trials-by fire: the experiences she endures as a result of her mistaken allegiance to Captain Aylmer; her friendship with the Askertons; and the malicious gossip and social ostracization attendant on her loyalty to them. The question that will decide her ultimate happiness is whether she can be as generous and forgiving of herself.
The Jubilee marks the fiftieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria. Dickensian in its sweeping scope of London life, Jubilee depicts the harsh and disreputable conditions of lower-middle class life at the end of the 19th century.
Ned Sankey is a quick-tempered, strong-willed boy during the Luddite riots in Yorkshire. The happy times at the beginning of the story are soon marred by the death of his father. From there things only get worse. When things take a turn for the worst, how will he respond?
In the year 1792, the French Revolution is in the midst of its bloodiest stage. Aristocrats are being executed left and right by the Republic when the guillotine begins to be repeatedly cheated of aristocratic victims due to a series of daring rescues carried out by a mysterious hero known only as “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” Nothing is known about this person, save that he is a master of disguise, has saved dozens of lives, and has never been caught. He is the hero of the aristocrats, the bane of the Republic, and the talk of high society across the channel in England. As the inane and foppish Sir Percy Blakeney, the leader of English fashion, puts it, “They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere! Is he in Heaven or is he in Hell, that demmed elusive Pimpernel?” And no one is more interested in uncovering the mystery surrounding this hero than Sir Percy’s wife, the young French actress Marguerite St. Just, to whom the fate of the Scarlet Pimpernel may mean everything.
The Last of the Mohicans is an epic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826. It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and helped establish Cooper as one of the first world-famous American writers.The story takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results.
(Wikipedia Excerpt)
"Can You Forgive Her?" is the first in a series of six Trollope novels dealing broadly with 19th Century English political scene. It introduces the reader to Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser, as they court, marry, and as Plantagenet sets out on his political career, which is carried on in the foreground or background throughout the series. Each novel has a focus on other particular characters, as well. In this one, it is the delimma of Alice Vavasor, who is a young woman choosing between two suitors: one who has all the best qualities, but who prefers a retiring private life, and another, whose qualities are doubtful, but who is ambitious for public office. There is also a comic subplot involving a widowed aunt, who also must choose between two suitors: Mr. Cheeseacre, a dull but stable farmer, and Capt. Bellfield, a charming but somewhat erratic retired military man.
Washington Irving's Old Christmas tells of an American's travels through England during the Christmas season. Through a chance meeting with an old friend he is able to experience Christmas in a stately manor house. Through his eyes as a houseguest he glimpses the uniquely British customs and celebrations of Christmas as it would have been experienced during the Middle Ages, rather than in the early 19th century.
George Eliot's own favorite among her novels, this novel tells the story of Romola, the intelligent daughter of a blind scholar, who is falling in love with a man who is going to change her life and the politics of Florence in a way she doesn't like. Set in 15th century Florence, it is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view".
Summary by Stav Nisser and Wikipedia.
The story opens with Ishmael, his family, Ellen and Abiram slowly making their way across the virgin prairies of the Midwest looking for a homestead, just two years after the Louisiana Purchase, and during the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They meet the trapper (Natty Bumppo), who has left his home in New York state to find a place where he cannot hear the sound of people cutting down the forests. In the years between his other adventures and this novel, he tells us only that he has walked all the way to the Pacific Ocean and seen all the land between the coasts (a heroic feat, considering Lewis and Clark hadn’t yet completed the same trek).
This collection of Jack London's short stories touches on a variety of topics, from his love of boxing, to relationships between criminals, to the trials of life and travel on many frontiers, to an allegory about a king who desired a nose. London is considered a master of the short story, a form much more to his liking and personality than his novels. He was active and quick of mind and the short story suited him well.
It is the early days of The Great War. As the curtain rises, Sara Lee is sitting by the fire in her aunt and uncle’s home, knitting a baby afghan. Her beau’s name is Harvey. He has his eye on a little house that is just perfect for two and he will soon propose to Sara Lee. But in this play, the mise en scène is about to change. A fairyland transformation will take place and Sara Lee will step into a new and different story, where she is the princess in a forest of adventure. There is a prince, too, whose name is Henri. He is as strange as the forest itself. And then just as suddenly, the scene changes back and Sara Lee is once again sitting alone by the fire, knitting socks for the soldiers this time, and with a memory and a new stirring in her heart. This is the story of Sara Lee’s amazing interlude.
Wulf the Saxon is a classic George Henty tale of nobility, loyalty and courage set in 11th century Britain. It relates the adventures of Wulf, a young, but extremely capable Saxon Thane. Wulf with his friends and servitors devote their lives to the service of Harold Godwinson, both before and after he becomes king of England. They are directly involved in capturing castles, rescuing shipwreck survivors, foiling assassination attempts and entering the terrible battles at Stamford Bridge and Senlac field by Hastings.
The background of the novel is set in the stormy period prior to the Norman conquest of Britain and the story centers around real people and events, even offering a historically correct and lucid insight to the intrigues surrounding the religious and political alliances which led to the events of 1066; an absolute turning point in England's history.
Peveril is one of Scott's Waverley novels series. It is a historical novel set in 1678 in England, and tells a story of the Popish Plot. Peveril is a Cavalier, in love with a Roundhead's daughter, but is accused of involvement with the Popish Plot.
Laura Montreville is a well-born and religious girl, brought up in Scotland by her widowed father. She is pursued by Colonel Hargrave, a libertine, who makes an offer of marriage which Laura, not knowing any better, declines at first, saying she will marry him in two years time if he reforms his wicked ways.
The book follows the fortunes of Laura, who suffers impoverishment, illness and humiliation, all the while tormented by Hargrave who has no intention of waiting the stipulated two years and who eventually shows himself in his true colours. -
The Gods Are Athirst (French: Les dieux ont soif, also translated as The Gods Are Thirsty or The Gods Will Have Blood) is a 1912 novel by Anatole France.
The story follows the young Parisian painter Évariste Gamelin, who rises speedily from his humble beginnings to a member of the Revolutionary Tribunal in the second and third year of the French Revolution. In brilliant prose, Anatole France describes how Évariste's idealism turns into fanaticism, and he allows more and more heads to roll and blood to flow, placing himself and those he loves into ever greater danger.
This sequel to Dumas' “Marguerite de Valois” begins four years after the sudden death of King Charles IX and succession of his brother Henry III. The reign of King Henry III was plagued with rebellion and political intrigue due to the War of the Three Henries, where his regency was challenged by King Henry of Navarre (leader of the Huguenots) and Henry I, Duke of Guise (leader of the Catholic League). Dumas weaves two main storylines through this turbulent backdrop: one of the love ignited between le Comte de Bussy and la Dame de Monsoreau, and another of the friendship between King Henry III and his truly unique jester, Chicot (Jean-Antoine d'Anglerais).
The Children of the New Forest is a children's novel published in 1847 by Frederick Marryat. It is set in the time of the English Civil War and the Commonwealth. The story follows the fortunes of the four Beverley children who are orphaned during the war, and hide from their Roundhead oppressors in the shelter of the New Forest where they learn to live off the land.
The story begins in 1647 when King Charles I has been defeated in the civil war and has fled from London towards the New Forest. Parliamentary soldiers have been sent to search the forest and decide to burn Arnwood, the house of Colonel Beverley, a Cavalier officer killed at the Battle of Naseby. The four orphan children of the house, Edward, Humphrey, Alice and Edith, are believed to have died in the flames. However, they are saved by Jacob Armitage, a local gamekeeper, who hides them in his isolated cottage acting as his grandchildren.
Under Armitage's guidance, the children adapt from an aristocratic lifestyle to that of simple foresters. After Armitage's death, Edward takes charge and the children develop and expand the farmstead, aided by the entrepreneurial spirit of the younger brother Humphrey. They are assisted by a gypsy boy, Pablo, who they rescue from a pitfall trap. A sub-plot involves a hostile Puritan gamekeeper named Corbould who seeks to harm Edward and his family. Edward also encounters the sympathetic Puritan, Heatherstone, placed in charge of the Royal land in the New Forest, and rescues his daughter, Patience, in a house-fire. Edward leaves the cottage and works as a secretary for Heatherstone, but Edward maintains the pretence that he is the grandson of Jacob Armitage.
The children of Colonel Beverley, a Cavalier officer killed at the Battle of Naseby are believed to have died in the flames when their house, Arnwood, is burned by Roundhead soldiers. However, they escape and are raised by Joseph Armitage, a gamekeeper in his cottage in the New Forest. The story describes how the children adapt from an aristocratic lifestyle to that of simple cottagers. The children are concealed as the grandchildren of Armitage.
Eventually after Armitage's death, Edward Beverley leaves and works as a secretary for the sympathetic Puritan placed in charge of the Royal land in the New Forest. He then joins the army of the future King Charles II and after the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Worcester, he escapes to France and lives in exile until the Restoration.
His brother and siblings continue to live in the New Forest and they are reunited on the King's return.
The epigram to this work from Christoher Marlowe applies to the plot of this story: "My men like satyrs grazing on the lawns / Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic hay." The plot follows Huxley and his cohorts in a search for meaning and hope and love in post WWI London.
Two wealthy families are neighbors in Elizabethan England; one is staunchly Catholic and the other is devoutly Protestant. The attractive young scions of the families are drawn to each other in friendship and love, but are kept apart by their opposing religions. Life is very difficult for Catholics during those times. They are subject to fines, imprisonment, torture and ignominious death for practicing their faith. On the other hand, for various reasons some Catholics give up their inherited faith, and even betray and persecute their fellow-religionists. As the threads of plot are woven tighter, heroes emerge, sometimes most unexpectedly, as they grapple with theological doubts and conflicts, and undergo extreme suffering and loss. The many characters we meet ring true, whether they are brilliant or superstitious, stalwart or wavering, pious or violent; and it is a great privilege to spend time with such towering historical figures as St. Edmond Campion and Queen Elizabeth herself. Love, history, theology, suspense, and an array of colorful characters are sewn inexorably together in this large and compelling story. (Intro by Carol Pelster)
Typically, Henty's heroes are boys of pluck in troubled times, and this is no different. Detailed research is embellished with a vivid imagination, especially in this novel set in the Punic wars, about which knowledge is limited: "...certainly we had but a hazy idea as to the merits of the struggle and knew but little of its events, for the Latin and Greek authors, which serve as the ordinary textbooks in schools, do not treat of the Punic wars. That it was a struggle for empire at first, and latterly one for existence on the part of Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skilful general, that he defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome, and that the Romans behaved with bad faith and great cruelty at the capture of Carthage, represents, I think, pretty nearly the sum total of our knowledge. " (from the preface)
The enigmatic smile of The Laughing Cavalier of Franz Hals' famous painting invites you to wonder just what mischievousness hides behind that face. In this novel, inspired by the painting, Baroness Orczy recounts the adventures of an ancestor of her famous character, the Scarlet Pimpernel. Set in Holland during the turbulent times of 1623/1624, this is the story of a swashbuckling romanticist, whose desire for wealth and success always seems to be eclipsed by his sense of what is right and gentlemanly. The same combination of savoir-faire, insouciance, deep feeling, and humor that make the Scarlet Pimpernel such an intriguing character are already present in the DNA of the Blakeney family more than 150 years before the French Revolution. Enjoy this delightful romp through the "pages" of an historical fiction that will have you laughing right along with The Laughing Cavalier.
Drew Rennie, served as a cavalry scout in Confederate general John Hunt Morgan's command. He had left home in 1862 after a final break with his harsh grandfather, who despised him since his birth because of his mother's runaway marriage to a Texan. During the final year of conflict Drew has the additional responsibility of looking out for his headstrong fifteen-year-old cousin Boyd, who has run away from home to join Morgan's command and has a lot to learn in the school of hard knocks the army provides. The story follows the two of them and a new friend, Anson Kirby, through campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee and later on deeper into the South, first with Morgan and later under Forrest.
Another stirring tale from the master of historical fiction set in the time of Robert Bruce and William Wallace and their struggle for Scotland's independence.
During the Indian war with Tippoo Saib, 15 year old Dick Holland and his mother set out from England to find and rescue his father, shipwrecked 6 years earlier, and believed to be held prisoner by the 'Tiger of Mysore'
With Clive in India gives a vivid picture of the wonderful events of the ten years, which at their commencement saw Madras in the hands of the French--Calcutta at the mercy of the Nabob of Bengal--and English influence apparently at the point of extinction in India--and which ended in the final triumph of the English, both in Bengal and Madras. There were yet great battles to be fought, great efforts to be made, before the vast Empire of India fell altogether into British hands; but these were but the sequel of the events described.
Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden of the Mist (1829) is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It is set in Central Europe, mainly in Switzerland, shortly after the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471). It covers the period of Swiss involvement in the Burgundian Wars. (Wikipedia)
In The Marrow of Tradition, Charles W. Chesnutt--using the 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina massacre as a backdrop--probes and exposes the raw nerves and internal machinery of racism in the post-Reconstruction-era South; explores how miscegenation, caste, gender and the idea of white supremacy informed Jim Crow laws; and unflinchingly revisits the most brutal of terror tactics, mob lynchings.
A Daughter of the Land follows Kate Bates, one of sixteen children, as she takes the wings of morning to try for independence and the life she's been denied. She dreams of a husband, children, and a farm, yet her actions have far-reaching consequences. This is a story of love and forgiveness, a picture of the brokenness around us, and it shows how God can make all things work together for good and shed hope and light in the midst of the valley of the shadow.
"Among the stories of world-wide renown, not the least stirring are those that have gathered about the names of national heroes. The Æneid, the Nibelungenlied, the Chanson de Roland, the Morte D'Arthur,—they are not history, but they have been as National Anthems to the races, and their magic is not yet dead," is how Beatrice Clay unravels the magical journey through the most interesting adventures of King Arthur, his heirs and his companions.
This is an early novel by the phenomenally successful author of frontier, western and sports stories. It deals with historical characters and incidents in the Ohio Valley in the late 18th century, especially with the foundation of Gnaddenhutten, a missionary village intended to bring Christianity to the Indians of Ohio, despite the violent opposition of both Indians and white renegades. This turbulent adventure romance features the heroics of a semi-legendary frontiersman, Lewis Wetzel, who attempts to protect the settlers from hostile Native Americans and the vicious white outlaws the Girty brothers.
An adventure novel about William Wallace, one of the most popular books ever written by Jane Porter. The French version was even banned by Napoleon, and the book has remained very popular with Scottish children, but is equally enjoyable for adults.
When young Frank is falsely accused of a crime, he leaves England to seek adventure in America. He joins a wagon train heading west to the California gold fields, but as he is soon to find out, the West is more than just adventure! Braving Indians, wolves, and other dangers, Frank is determined to strike it rich - and perhaps someday clear his name and return home.
"This is the true story of a negro who was discontented and the circumstances that were the outcome of that discontent." While considered a novel, this largely autobiographical story is based on the author's experience as an African-American pioneer in South Dakota.
Set in a small town in Edwardian England, Regiment of Women is about the relationship between two teachers at a private (and elitist) girls' school. One of them, Clare Hartill, is in her mid-thirties and runs the school in all but name. Most of the girls are devoted to Hartill and gladly suffer under her strict but charismatic rule. The other teacher is Alwynne Durand, an attractive nineteen-year-old woman who lives with Elsbeth Loveday, her unmarried aunt and guardian. When Durand starts teaching at the school she is immediately popular with her students but also excites Hartill's attention. The two women become close friends, and the couple also travel abroad together during the summer holidays. Although Loveday and Hartill hardly ever meet, a strange kind of antagonism develops between them, each woman fighting to spend more time than they do with Alwynne Durand and to be the dominant person in Alwynne's life.
Famous for its veiled references to lesbian relationships, this novel was said to have inspired Radclyffe Hall's "The Well of Loneliness".
Charles King (1844 – 1933) was a United States soldier and a distinguished writer. He was the son of Civil War general Rufus King and great grandson of Rufus King, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He graduated from West point in 1866 and served in the Army during the Indian Wars under George Crook. He was wounded in the arm forcing his retirement from the regular army. During this time he became acquainted with Buffalo Bill Cody. King would later write scripts for several of Cody's silent films.
King's writings, relating to American Indians, cover a complex range of opinion within his novels. His sympathy for their cause of defending their homelands, and being forced to adopt a new lifestyle, did not stop him from graphically portraying them as savage and barbaric peoples. However, King also used his writings to harshly criticize U.S. government policies that resulted in Indian treaties not being honored and that permitted rampant corruption among government-appointed reservation agents. As a lieutenant in the 5th Cavalry, King was a participant on the American western frontier, who personally fought in battles with Southwestern and Plains Indians and observed government policies first hand. Charles King is credited today with helping to establish the "Western novel" as a romantic and dramatic genre of American literature, based upon a sturdy foundation of historical realism. (Summary compiled from Wikipedia and THE LIFE OF CHARLES KING
by Nathan Bender, Housel Curator, McCracken Research Library within The Buffalo Bill Historical Center.)
Set during the Tudor period of English history, When Knighthood Was in Flower tells the tribulations of Mary Tudor, a younger sister of Henry VIII of England who has fallen in love with a commoner. However, for political reasons, King Henry has arranged for her to wed King Louis XII of France and demands his sister put the House of Tudor first, threatening, "You will marry France and I will give you a wedding present – Charles Brandon's head!"
Adventure, pirates, a young orphan finds a place with a legendary order of knights. Fighting on sea and land to defend his people from barbaric slavers
Christina is an ordinary girl who lives with her aunt and uncle. Life is normal until one day when her father appears and plans to take Christina away to live with him at a robber baron's castle. Her peaceful life has suddenly turned upside down, but this is only the first of many changes. How will Christina, gentle as a dove, survive in the violent eagle's nest?
A satire of middle-class complacency and artistic aspiration. It is the story of a strange bohemian upper-class love triangle, and of a mystic tract.