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Historical Fiction |
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By: Emily Sarah Holt (1836-1893) | |
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Lady Sybil's Choice
This historical novel is set in the 1100s in France and Jerusalem, following the First Crusade. Part of the story of Guy of Lusignan is told through the eyes of his fictional sister, Elaine. Guy travels to the Holy Land to reclaim it from the Saracens. Elaine follows afterward, finding upon arrival that her brother has fallen in love with Sybil, the sister of the leper king of Jerusalem. Queen Sybilla, a real historical character, is surrounded by political intrigue as she prepares to ascend the throne, which threatens her upcoming marriage to Guy of Lusignan... |
By: Marshall Saunders (1861-1947) | |
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'Tilda Jane
When spunky 'Tilda Jane isn't allowed to keep her beloved dog with her at the orphanage, she decides to set out on her own in search of a home where the inseparable pair will be accepted. Throughout her weary travels she encounters many people, both rich and poor, kind and cantankerous -- but will she ever find family? Set in the Canadian wilderness and coast of Maine, 'Tilda Jane is a story of true grit, forgiveness, and unlikely friendship. |
By: John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) | |
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Peeps at People - Being Certain Papers from the Writings of Anne Warrington Witherup
Written by a fictitious first-person narrator, this book puts a humorous spin on encounters with several famous people of the time. "I set forth from my office in London upon my pilgrimage to the shrines of the world's illustrious. Readers everywhere are interested in the home life of men who have made themselves factors in art, science, letters, and history, and to these people I was commissioned to go." -- Summary by TriciaG and from the book. | |
By: Georg Ebers (1837-1898) | |
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Cleopatra
The world knows the fate of the classic lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony, so there is no need to announce a spoiler alert. Georg Ebers was a German Egyptologist who deftly applied his comprehensive knowledge of Rome and Egypt into a fictionalized account of the ill-fated romance between the Egyptian Queen and her Roman lover Mark Antony. |
By: Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925) | |
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Diana Tempest
Colonel Tempest , his wastrel son Archie and beautiful daughter Diana 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... |
By: George Payne Rainsford James (1799-1860) | |
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Darnley
A stranger rides across the Kentish countryside when his attention is called to a cottage where violence is being done to an elderly couple. The knight, for such he appears to be, rushes to their aid. Soon after, the strange and prophetic Sir Cesar appears on the scene and foretells of danger ahead. We follow this knight as he encounters an evil landowner; the good and faithful Longpole, son of the elderly couple; the beneficent Duke of Buckingham--or is he a traitor?; and the coquettish Lady Katrine... |
By: Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899) | |
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Mark the Match Boy or Richard Hunter's Ward
In this third installment from the “Ragged Dick” series by Horatio Algers, Jr., the reader is reacquainted with some old friends and meets young Mark Manton. Mark is a match boy plagued by bad luck and an even worse guardian. But, with new friends, hard work, and smart choices, Mark may just find his luck taking a turn for the better. summary by tfaulder |
By: George Payne Rainsford James (1799-1860) | |
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L'Orme
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. |
By: Émile Zola (1840-1902) | |
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Germinal (English)
This epic about French coal miners and the burgeoning labor movement is considered one of Zola's finest novels. - Summary by Matt Pierard |
By: William Henry Shelton (1840-1932) | |
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Last Three Soldiers
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. |
By: Violet Jacob (1863-1946) | |
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Flemington
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 . 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. - Summary by Stav Nisser. |
By: Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899) | |
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Rough and Ready OR Life Among the New York Newsboys
Join Rough and Ready for his adventure on the streets of New York City. Working as a newsboy, Rough and Ready tries to support himself and his sister on his meager earnings. Unfortunately, their stepfather is seeking to kidnap little Rose, getting an education is hard work, swindlers are trying to trick him out of his money, and thieves are planning nefarious deeds. Luckily for Rough and Ready, he makes some good friends along the way. Summary by Tori Faulder |
By: Fred M. White (1859-1935) | |
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Doom of London
Here are six stories, each one describing a disaster afflicting London, that were popularly serialized during 1903-1904 in Pearson’s Magazine. The tales depict a deep freeze and unprecedented snowfall; a heavy, blinding, paralyzing blanket of fog; a widespread killer virus; a fraudulent scheme causing financial panic; a minor electrical accident in a tunnel that spirals into catastrophe; and most of the city’s water supply, reportedly contaminated with deadly bubonic bacillus, puts the population in great fear of plague. Is the word “doom” in the book's title accurate, or is it just hyperbole? |
By: Basil King (1859-1928) | |
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Thread of Flame
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. |
By: William Platt | |
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Stories of the Scottish Border
Nothing seems to be known about Mr and Mrs William Platt, the writers of Stories of the Scottish Border. What they produced is an eccentric guidebook and history, seen partly through the ballads of the region. The book recounts the military stratagems, treachery and courage of those who struggled for control of the Border lands and of the whole country, and tells of the triumphs or tragic fate of those who took part on both sides. It also tells us stories of the Border Reivers, raiders who lived by riding out and stealing their neighbours’ livestock... |
By: Joseph A. Altsheler (1862-1919) | |
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Last Rebel
Arthur West has been taken as a prisoner of war by Colonel Hetherhill of the Confederate States of America, and imprisoned at Fort Defiance, where an oddly small number of soldiers are stationed. More odd than the size of the fort's company, however, is the fact that the Civil War ended thirty years prior to West's capture. This is the story of West's attempts to regain his freedom. - Summary by David Gore |
By: Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925) | |
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Notwithstanding
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. - Summary by Simon Evers |
By: Henry Cadwallader Adams (1817-1899) | |
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Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand
A young man travels to South Africa to find his Mother and sister. He wants to be a clergyman and a farmer when he arrives there. This story includes accounts of the Zulu-Boer wars. - Summary by Ingrid Kennedy |
By: Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929) | |
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Cliff-Dwellers
Between the former site of old Fort Dearborn and the present site of our newest Board of Trade there lies a restricted yet tumultuous territory through which, during the course of the last fifty years, the rushing streams of commerce have worn many a deep and rugged chasm. These great canons—conduits, in fact, for the leaping volume of an ever-increasing prosperity—cross each other with a sort of systematic rectangularity, and in deference to the practical directness of local requirements they are in general called simply—streets... |
By: Clemence Dane (1888-1965) | |
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Regiment of Women
Set in a small town in Edwardian England, Regiment of Women is about the relationship between two teachers at a private 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... |
By: Baroness Emma Orczy (1865-1947) | |
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Leatherface: A Tale of Old Flanders
A romantic, political adventure story set in the late 1500's, during the Spanish rule over the Netherlands, in the city of Ghent. Leatherface is an Orangist and emerges to lead the Ghent citizens to rebel and win back their freedom. |
By: Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) | |
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Taking the Bastile
Pitou lost his mother when he was small. He was raised by a stern aunt who did not really love him. He starts knowing the world by going to service. How can this man, Pitou the Peasant go on to influence the whole state? How can he go on and take a part in the French revolution? Can his motivation, coming from what he did not have, be enough? - Summary by Stav Nisser |
By: Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) | |
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Anne of Geierstein, Volume 1
Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden of the Mist 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 . It covers the period of Swiss involvement in the Burgundian Wars. |
By: Homer Greene (1853-1940) | |
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Blind Brother (Version 2 Dramatic Reading)
A story of repentance and forgiveness set in the times of the the coal mines. Follow a blind boy and his brother determined to get him cured but also determined to live up to a moral code even if that mean years of blindness for Benny. See self sacrifice and family togetherness in this classic tale. - Summary by Luke Castle Cast List Narrator: Sky AsimaruDoctor: lordaJack: Andrew JamesBennie, Judge: larryhayes7Lawyer Pleadwell: Adam BielkaTom: NavinSandy: RockyOctopusDistrict Attorney, Lawyer Summons: Alan MapstoneRandom Testifying Guy, Sheriff: Michael LMicheal Carolann, Irishman: Wayne CookeCourt Clerk, Little Fellow: ambsweet13Mother: LilyLewis G... |
By: Patrick MacGill (1889-1963) | |
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Brown Brethren
The Brown Brethren tells the story of friends and comrades who fought together during World War I on the Western Front. The principal characters belong to the London Irish Rifles, a volunteer regiment whose 1st Battalion was mobilized immediately with the outbreak of the war. The 1st Battalion, to which this story's characters belong, especially distinguished itself at the Battle of Loos in 1915. This book takes the men up through the Battle of the Somme - Summary by KevinS |
By: Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) | |
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Conquest
"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. |
By: Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) | |
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Anne of Geierstein, Volume 2
Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden of the Mist is an adventure and romance novel by Sir Walter Scott. It is set in Central Europe, mainly in Switzerland, shortly after the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury . It covers the period of Swiss involvement in the Burgundian Wars. |
By: Ferdinand Schmidt (1816-1890) | |
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Gudrun
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... |
By: Leonard Woolf (1880-1969) | |
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Village in the Jungle
Woolf wrote this novel based on his experience as a government agent for British imperialist-controlled Ceylon in the early part of the twentieth-century. He focuses his story on one poor family in a jungle village as they struggle to survive, not just faced with a very harsh environment but with their own human prejudices, superstitions, jealousies, violence, ignorance, and greed. In the background is the other enemy: the foreign government that controls them but does not really understand or care for these uncivilized, not really human beings. It was an important work because its point of view was sympathetically a native one. JL |
By: Earl Reed (1863-1931) | |
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Tales of a Vanishing River
The background of this collection of sketches and stories is the country through which flowed one of the most interesting of our western rivers before its destruction as a natural waterway. This book is not a history. It is intended as an interpretation of the life along the river that the author has come in contact with during many years of familiarity with the region. Names of places and characters have been changed for the reason that, while effort has been made to adhere to artistic truth, literary liberties have been taken with facts when they have not seemed essential to the story. - Summary by Earl H. Reed |
By: Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) | |
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Marie Antoinette Romances, Vol 1: Balsamo, The Magician
This is the first volume of Dumas' Marie Antoinette Romances . This historical fiction chronicles the strange events surrounding the fall of the French monarchy and rise of revolutionaries so terrifying that the period is still called "The Reign of Terrors" . In this volume, a renowned magician, Count Alessandro di Cagliostro , employs various occult tactics, like hypnotism and necromancy, to gain state secrets. Balsamo claims to be plotting against the Bourbons, but one must wonder whether this 3000 year old sorcerer has an ulterior motive... - Summary by jvanstan |
By: Thomas Wallace Knox (1835-1896) | |
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Captain John Crane, 1800 - 1815
John and David grew up best of friends, outgoing and full of adventure. Living but miles from the sea west of Boston, right on the cusp of manhood at the end of America’s Revolutionary war, the ocean’s siren song beckoned to both. At the peak of adolescence, they struck out on foot in pursuit of their shared dream. Two days to Boston and only one day there found them aboard ship for a whirlwind of adventure beyond their wildest dreams. The next fifteen years shaped a future for the fledgling mariners that seems spun as a flaxen yarn --- were it not so historically accurate. - Summary by Tom Hirsch |