A rollicking juvenile adventure tale, this historical fiction book received the Newbery Honor award in 1922. Set in England during the early 1200s, the scion of a Western Marches noble family relates the many encounters and battles that he faces with the Saxon yeoman who becomes his fast friend. This yeoman, great of cross-bow skill and strategy, often saves the day, and after earning knighthood, becomes instrumental in the making of the Magna Carta.
The book follows the life of Clodagh Asshlin, an Irish girl brought up with her younger sister by her spendthrift father in the wilds of the Irish countryside. When her father dies, she marries the much older friend of her father who pays off all the family’s debts. They move to Italy, where Clodagh falls in with a fast crowd where she is easily led by her naivete and youth down the wrong paths. However, eventually she sees sense and her life takes a turn for the better.
Constance Bledlow is a beautiful monied 20 year old with the world at her feet. She arrives in Oxford to spend a few months with her impoverished uncle, a University reader, and his family. She conquers Oxford society and sets many hearts aflame, among them that of Douglas Falloden, a conceited aristocrat at the university. However, his assumption that she will fall at his feet comes to nothing. Later, some ragging by ‘bloods’, led by Falloden, of a Polish musician at his college (Radowitz) leads to a bad injury. The book, set in Oxford, follows the aftermath of the incident and the way the lives of the three surprisingly intertwine.
Herman Cyril McNeile, better known as Sapper, was one of England’s most popular fiction writers during the period between World Wars I and II. He was a soldier, and his early writings mostly concerned war and the way war influenced the lives of his main characters. Because British officers were prohibited from publishing under their own names, he used the pseudonym Sapper. His best known works are ten thrillers featuring Bulldog Drummond.
Sapper also wrote a great many other novels and short stories. The Dinner Club begins with each of six men, the members of the club, telling a gripping story that relates specifically to his particular line of work (the first six chapters). All but one of the chapters that follow feature different characters. Yet to greater and lesser degrees they develop themes introduced in the first half of the book by the members of The Dinner Club. (There's also not a little romance ...)
Set in the sixteenth century, two young boys are left orphans and are turned out of their home by their older brother, or, more particularly, his shrewish wife. John has taken over their father's position as verdurer, but what are young Ambrose and Stephen to do? Visit and seek counsel from their old and infirm uncle, who lives on charity after leading a military life? Or chase the dream of finding their ne'er-do-well maternal uncle, who has reputedly made his fortune in the king's court.
Norrie Ford, having been unfairly convicted of murder, has escaped. A lucky chance finds him being rescued by a mysterious girl (the Wild Olive of the title), who sets him up with a new life under a new name in Argentina. He makes such a success of his time there that he is posted back to New York by the company he works for – but not before he has become engaged to be married. Back in New York, he meets up again with the Wild Olive . . .
Margaret of Anjou, wife of England’s Henry VI, played a key role in launching the storied War of the Roses – the 30-year civil conflict fuelled by the Lancasters and the Yorks, each vying for the British throne in the 15th century.
Lady Arabella Stuart was an English noblewoman at the beginning of the seventeenth century. At one time considered to be a possible successor to Elizabeth I, the crown eventually went to her cousin, the tyrannical James I. Our story begins in 1603, shortly after his ascension to the throne. Apparently she was happy at the change in fortune, although relations with her kinsman deteriorated after her clandestine marriage, which was incorrectly seen as a power struggle. Even her closest friends could not protect her. In James's usual fashion, this is a colorful fictional account of her life.
Harry Heathcote is an English ‘squatter’ who runs a huge sheep station at Gangoil in Queensland, Australia. His wife Mary and her older sister Kate live with him. Giles Medlicott owns a sugar plantation and mill nearby. Two of Harry’s former disgruntled employees, with the aid of other disreputable neighbours the Brownbies, deliberately start a potentially disastrous fire on Harry’s land. Medlicott comes to Harry’s support and the book follows what happens thereafter.
Edward wakes up on board a ship crossing the Atlantic, on his return from the Great War – however, he finds that his memory of who he is and where he comes from is only fragmentary.The book follows his fascinating journey back to health and his growing realisation about what effect the War and its aftermath has had on him and also on the people he meets - as well as his family.
This adventure historical fiction novel is set in Angus, Scotland during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. It has all the elements of a good war novel: spies, betrayals, politics, and even a love story (but not quite what you expect). This is a smart novel with wise insights into human nature, the different choices people make during a conflict, and the coping mechanisms of those who were left behind. This novel will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love with the landscape of Scotland.
This is a fictionalized biography of the wife of the reformer Dr. Martin Luther. In the author's words, he hopes that "people may learn to know the wife of its greatest man,—not by name only, but as her husband's 'helpmeet,' in the truest sense of the word, as a pattern of domestic virtue, and as a pearl among women."
Archie Flemington, a spy in Government service during the 1745 Jacobite rising, is sent to investigate the suspected rebel James Logie. Despite the secrets and enmities between them, the two men form a lasting connection. But when the war comes to its bitter end, and they are forced to choose between honouring that connection, and their military duty, what will they do?
"The Shades of the Wilderness" is the seventh book of the Civil War Series by Joseph A. Altsheler. Picking up where "The Star of Gettysburg" left off, this story continues the Civil War experiences of Harry Kenton and his friends in the Southern army, from the retreat after Gettygurg, to Richmond, and then through the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, to Robert E. Lee's heroic stand during the siege of Petersburg.
Other books in the Civil War series are: "The Guns of Bull Run," "The Guns of Shiloh," "The Scouts of Stonewall," "The Sword of Antietam", "The Star of Gettysburg","The Rock of Chickamauga", and "The Tree of Appomattox."
It is a fictional tale of cavalry actions during the U.S. Civil War, under General John Morgan.
Norma Hardacre is a member of smart London society. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to a penniless artist named Jimmie Padgate. However, she gets engaged to Morland King, a wealthy man who sees her as a convenient trophy wife as he furthers his career. Morland (who is also a close friend of Jimmie’s) is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, Jimmie, who is hopelessly in love with Norma, starts to become a rising star - but then his reputation is suddenly smashed . . .
Mr Prohack, an ordinary official in the Treasury and leading a hum-drum life, suddenly and unexpectedly inherits a large sum of money which, with a lucky investment, he turns into a fortune. This humorous book follows his progress and that of his wife, son and daughter who all, in their different ways, slowly get used to their new lives.
Three generations of the Trenchard family, ruled over by the indomitable Mrs Trenchard, live together in comfortable domesticity until Katherine, the favourite daughter, meets and falls in love with Philip, back from some years in Russia, who threatens the whole stability of the family set up by thinking that he can marry her and thus take her away from them all. Philip and Katherine agree reluctantly to postpone their marriage for a full year. During this year, the family begins to splinter as more about Philip and his past becomes known.
With considerable humour, the book follows the ups and downs of the family relationships as the year progresses.
In this third book of Joseph Altsheler's Civil War series, Harry Kenton, a lieutenant in the Southern Army, is on scout patrol in the Shenandoah Valley. He has attracted the notice of the great General Stonewall Jackson after his regiment, the Invincibles of South Carolina, suffered great losses at the Battle of Bull Run. As the war continues, Harry meets each challenge that he faces with his close friends and fellow warriors.
This is a unique sequel to the book Titus: A Comrade of the Cross written in a very different style, though none the less memorable, full of excitement and suspense! The author combines several stories together with great skill and ease, creating tension, making you wonder how things can play out until the very climax is reached. A blind girl and her brother just barely surviving in Egypt, threatened by the slave trade, almost without hope, one day hear about miracles happening in Jerusalem. They fly for their lives, hoping against hope and when they finally get there they find themselves at the foot of the cross. Is it too late? Was all their suffering for nothing?
What if the Confederacy had won the American Civil War? It’s July 1864 and three oh-so-young Union troopers are assigned to a mountaintop in Tennessee to be a link in a chain of flag signalers across a ridge of mountains. They encounter a dizzying gorge with a rickety bridge, bears, aching heartache, freezing cold, avalanche, bats, skeletons, deserted cabins, puzzling mysteries, starvation, and more. (David Wales)
At the opening of this story Diane Eveleth returns from a party in Paris to her mother-in-law, who tells her that her husband George Eveleth has been killed in a duel, fought with the Marquis de Bienville. Diane secretly transfers her remaining patrimony to her mother-in-law and the two women sail for New York, where the elder woman has relatives.
Here Diane is offered the situation of chaperone for the daughter Dorothea of Derek Pruyn, a widower whom she has met before. Eventually, Pruyn makes her an offer of marriage. She withholds her answer until his return from a voyage to South America, when she is prepared to accept him, but on his home-coming she finds his attitude towards her completely changed. Pruyn has encountered de Bienville on his voyage and has heard from him that Diane was unfaithful to her husband.
The book concentrates on how the relationships between the various protagonists develop.
Colonel Tempest , his wastrel son Archie and beautiful daughter Diana (Di) are dismayed when they are cut out of the will of old Mr Tempest, Colonel Tempest’s brother. All of the Tempest fortune and estates at Overleigh pass to son John. However, everyone except John knows that he is illegitimate.
Colonel Tempest, enraged, agrees in a drunken stupor to a bounty of £10,000 on John’s head although he later comes to bitterly regret this.
Meanwhile, Di, who is strong and independent, has vowed she will never marry. However, as she gets to know her cousin John, over time they become close.
John eventually learns of his illegitimacy and its implications. What will therefore happen to his deepening love for Di and his claim to the family fortune?
Five stories of Army life in the mid to late 19th century. Charles King (1844 – 1933) was a United States soldier and a distinguished writer. He wrote and edited over 60 books and novels. Among his list of titles are Campaigning with Crook, Fort Frayne, Under Fire and Daughter of the Sioux.
Six short stories by Mary Hallock Foote (1847–1938), an American author and illustrator. She is best known for her illustrated short stories and novels portraying life in the mining communities of the turn-of-the-century American West. She is famous for her stories of place, in which she portrayed the rough, picturesque life she experienced and observed in the old West, especially that in the early mining towns. She wrote several novels, and illustrated stories and novels by other authors for various publishers. She died at age 90. Her legacy in American history is as a stalwart of the American Old West and a teller of its stories. Her work—the numerous stories for books and periodicals, with her drawings and woodcut illustrations; the correspondence from western outposts; her novels and nonfiction—gained her notice as a skilled observer of the frontier and an accomplished writer.
Waverley is set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which sought to restore the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles Edward Stuart (or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'). It relates the story of a young dreamer and English soldier, Edward Waverley, who was sent to Scotland in 1745. He journeys North from his aristocratic family home, Waverley-Honour, in the south of England first to the Scottish Lowlands and the home of family friend Baron Bradwardine, then into the Highlands and the heart of the 1745 Jacobite uprising and aftermath.
This novel is centered on the Dutch House of Orange, and begins with its prince, William. It is set in the time of the Holy Inquisition, when tensions between the Catholic and Protestant churches dominated.
The charming story of “Gudrun” is a romance of the old heroic period, written by some unknown poet of Austria or Bavaria in the thirteenth century. Next to the "Nibelungen Lied," it is the most important of the German epic poems...The same elemental passions are depicted. The men are brave, vigorous heroes, rejoicing in battle and feats of prowess; the women are beautiful, constant, and courageous. There are many fine delineations of character in the original, as well as vigorous sketches of northern scenery. The figure of Gudrun stands out in bold relief among the maidens. There are few more beautiful characters, indeed, in the poems of the old heroic period...Gudrun’s name is always spoken by her people with reverence. "Her courage and constancy were extolled by them, and in after days her fame was as radiant as the stars in the heavens." (George P. Upton, Translator's Preface)
Waverley is set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which sought to restore the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles Edward Stuart (or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'). It relates the story of a young dreamer and English soldier, Edward Waverley, who was sent to Scotland in 1745. He journeys North from his aristocratic family home, Waverley-Honour, in the south of England first to the Scottish Lowlands and the home of family friend Baron Bradwardine, then into the Highlands and the heart of the 1745 Jacobite uprising and aftermath.
’St. George and St. Michael’ is a little-known historical romance telling the story of a young couple who find themselves on opposing sides during the tumultuous years of the English Civil Wars.
Tensions are rising between king and parliament, the Church of England and the numerous independent puritans, and rumours abound that Charles I will soon declare open war on the dissident elements within his realm. Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Vaughan knows little of the brewing conflict, yet is sure that her loyalty must be with her king and her nation. When she challenges her childhood friend, Richard Heywood, to prove himself a man and so worthy of winning her hand in marriage by becoming involved in the larger events that surround them, he finds that his convictions – both political and spiritual – lie with his father’s and the puritans. Determined to do what he believes is right, Richard finds that he cannot shake his immovable conscience, even for the woman he loves.
Though it is, for the most part, a realistic novel, ‘St. George and St. Michael’ is not without either the otherwordly atmosphere of the fantastic or the rich spiritual depth that characterises so much of MacDonald’s writing.
’St. George and St. Michael’ is a little-known historical romance telling the story of a young couple who find themselves on opposing sides during the tumultuous years of the English Civil Wars. Volume 3 completes the series. Tensions are rising between king and parliament, the Church of England and the numerous independent puritans, and rumours abound that Charles I will soon declare open war on the dissident elements within his realm. Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Vaughan knows little of the brewing conflict, yet is sure that her loyalty must be with her king and her nation. When she challenges her childhood friend, Richard Heywood, to prove himself a man and so worthy of winning her hand in marriage by becoming involved in the larger events that surround them, he finds that his convictions – both political and spiritual – lie with his father’s and the puritans. Determined to do what he believes is right, Richard finds that he cannot shake his immovable conscience, even for the woman he loves.Though it is, for the most part, a realistic novel, ‘St. George and St. Michael’ is not without either the otherwordly atmosphere of the fantastic or the rich spiritual depth that characterizes so much of MacDonald’s writing.
’St. George and St. Michael’ is a little-known historical romance telling the story of a young couple who find themselves on opposing sides during the tumultuous years of the English Civil Wars.
Tensions are rising between king and parliament, the Church of England and the numerous independent puritans, and rumours abound that Charles I will soon declare open war on the dissident elements within his realm. Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Vaughan knows little of the brewing conflict, yet is sure that her loyalty must be with her king and her nation. When she challenges her childhood friend, Richard Heywood, to prove himself a man and so worthy of winning her hand in marriage by becoming involved in the larger events that surround them, he finds that his convictions – both political and spiritual – lie with his father’s and the puritans. Determined to do what he believes is right, Richard finds that he cannot shake his immovable conscience, even for the woman he loves.
Though it is, for the most part, a realistic novel, ‘St. George and St. Michael’ is not without either the other-worldly atmosphere of the fantastic or the rich spiritual depth that characterises so much of MacDonald’s writing.
Charles Farrar Browne, a native of Maine, became famous as a writer and lecturer under the name of Artemus Ward. Like his friend Mark Twain, Browne worked as a type-setter in his youth and in 1858, began publishing a series of letters, essays, and stories told in the first person by a droll, illiterate rube with a good measure of subtle common sense who commented on the events and fads of the day. Taking his character to the stage as a lecturer, Browne became an early-day prototype of what we now name a stand-up comedian. Artemus Ward was such a favorite of President Abraham Lincoln that the chief executive read one of the Ward stories to his assembled cabinet officers before getting down to the business of discussing the proposed Emancipation Proclamation. Browne’s writings became popular in England as well as in America, and he travelled to Britain to perform his Artemus Ward lectures and contribute to the comic magazine Punch. Browne contracted tuberculosis and died at the age of thirty-two in Southampton. (There was a real Artemus Ward, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.)
Young Adult historical fiction of a young man joining the Union Army and taking part in the Great Locomotive Chase.