Subject: Historical Fiction | Page #5
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Barchester Towers Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers is the second of the six Chronicles of Barsetshire, the work in which, after a ten years' apprenticeship, Trollope finally found his distinctive voice. In this his most popular novel, the chronicler continues the story of Mr. Harding and his daughter Eleanor, begun in The Warden, adding to his cast... read more »
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Barry Lyndon W. M. Thackeray
Set in late 18th century Europe the adventures and mis-adventures of a minor member of the Irish gentry trying to better himself. Redmond Barry of Bally Barry is a clever young man, who learns the manners of a gentleman. This serves him well, for the next few decades he meanders through Europe, as a soldier... read more »
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The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions Howard Pyle
Enchanting tale of chivalry and love recounts the adventures of the most famous knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Follows Sir Launcelot of the Round Table as he rescues Queen Guinevere, fights in the tournament at Astolat, and pursues other adventures. read more »
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The Lion's Skin Rafael Sabatini
Since childhood and his mother's cruel death, young Caryll had been bred in France by his guardians for one purpose—to wreak their vengeance on the father who had never known him. But Caryll did not complete his mission. Instead, he sailed for England and plunged into a maelsrom of dissension and revolt that... read more »
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The Prairie James Fenimore Cooper
The final novel in Cooper’s epic Leatherstocking Tales, filled with excitement and thrill, which follows the adventures of Natty Bumppo and Dr. Bat, the latter of whom spends his time in discovering new animals and plants in the prairie. The book subtly highlights various issues of that era like the annihilation... read more »
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The Heart of Midlothian Walter Scott
This novel, regarded as one of Scott's finest, opens with the Edinburgh riots of 1736. The people have been infuriated by the actions of John Porteous, Captain of the Guard; when his life is saved by the distant monarch they ignore the Queen and resolve to take their own revenge. Closely connected with these events... read more »
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The Odd Women George Gissing
Virginia and Alice Madden are odd women', growing old alone in Victorian England with no prospect of finding love. Forced into poverty by the sudden death of their father, they lead lives of quiet desperation in a genteel boarding house in London. The Odd Women is a novel of social realism that reflects the major... read more »
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The Broken Road A. E. W. Mason
The Broken Road, one of two books by the author set in British India. It is an exciting adventure story involving the Indian Army, Rajas and secret agents. It was the Road which caused the trouble. It usually is the road. That and a reigning prince who was declared by his uncle secretly to have sold his country to... read more »
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The Cannibal Islands R. M. Ballantyne
Travel back to the late eighteenth century and join Captain James Cook on his scientific expeditions to such exotic places as Tierra del Fuego, the islands of Tahiti and New Zealand, and the scene of the closing of his great career as navigator and discoverer. Learn from Cook's own observations and Ballantyne's... read more »
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Love-at-Arms Rafael Sabatini
Get set for a rip-roaring yarn. Set in early modern Italy, Love-At-Arms skillfully combines all of the elements that have won Rafael Sabatini's work a worldwide following: non-stop action, surprising plot twists, and plenty of swoon-worthy romance. Settle in with Sabatini's Love-At-Arms for an exceptionally... read more »
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The Virginians W. M. Thackeray
A sequel to Henry Esmond, the novel is set, as is much of its precursor, chiefly in colonial Virginia. The Virginians follows the life of the family and descendants of Henry Esmond of Castlewood, Virginia. Although Esmond’s grandsons take opposing positions during the American Revolution, they reconcile after the... read more »
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The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
American writer Stephen Crane is best known for his classic depiction of the American Civil War in his novel the Red Badge of Courage. It is the story of a 19-year-old boy named Henry Fleming who struggles to overcome his fear in battle. The Red Badge of Courage is widely regarded for its realistic depiction of a... read more »
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The Talisman Walter Scott
The Talisman is Sir Walter Scott's tale of the Crusades -- a tale of chivalry, of violence, of virtue, romance, and deceit. In Scott's own words: "...the warlike character of Richard I, wild and generous, a pattern of chivalry, with all its extravagant virtues, and its no less absurd errors, was opposed to that of... read more »
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Rob Roy Walter Scott
Rob Roy is set in 1715-16, yet it concerns not the conduct of the Jacobite Rising, but the economic and social conditions which gave rise to it. It celebrates the freebooting capitalism of the hero's father in the City of London, and the actual freebooting of Rob Roy, the "Robin Hood of Scotland, the dread of the... read more »
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The Pioneers James Fenimore Cooper
Although The Pioneers was first of the "Leatherstocking" books to be published, the period of time covered (principally 1793) makes it the fourth chronologically. The story takes place on the rapidly advancing frontier of New York State and features a middle-aged Leatherstocking (Natty Bumppo), Judge Marmaduke... read more »
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The Pioneers R. M. Ballantyne
Writing during the latter half of the nineteenth century after studying original sources and acquainting himself personally with the lands and the remaining family of the outstanding discoverer of the previous century, Sir Alexander Mackensie, R. M. Ballantyne recounts for successive generations an interesting... read more »
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Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope
With 'Can You Forgive Her?' Trollope begins his masterful series of Parliamentary novels, but here he is concerned with the politics of love and the demands of society. Alice Vavasor, lovely, intelligent and just a bit prudish, is torn between two men -- the upright if plodding John Gray, and the evasive yet... read more »
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With Fire and Sword Henryk Sienkiewicz
This powerful novel, a "Polish Gone with the Wind", is set in the 17th century and follows the struggle of the kingdom of Poland to maintain its unity in the face of the Cossack-led peasant rebellion. It was initially serialized in several Polish newspapers, chapters appearing in weekly instalments. It gained... read more »
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The Path of the King John Buchan
Best known for penning the spy thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps, author and politician John Buchan produced dozens of fiction and non-fiction works over the course of his career. The Path of the King is a sprawling epic that takes the reader on a trip through the lives of centuries' worth of kings and leaders... read more »
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The Betrothed Walter Scott
Set at the time of the Third Crusade (1189-92), The Betrothed is the first of Scott's Tales of the Crusaders, and although set in the Welsh Marches it is a crusading novel in that it is about those who stayed at home. The betrothed is Eveline, daughter of a Norman warrior, who is a victim of the Crusade in that her... read more »
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Count Robert of Paris Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott was a master of diverse talents. He was a man of letters, a dedicated historian and historiographer, a well-read translator of foreign texts, and a talented poet. Deriving most of his material from his native Scotland, its history and its legends, Scott invented and mastered what we know today as... read more »
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The Antiquary Walter Scott
The Antiquary completes the series of books dealing with social manners of Scotland. Waverly embraced the age of our fathers. Guy Mannering that of our youth and Antiquary covers the last ten years of the 18th century. Set in the tense times of revolutionary France, a young man named Lovel who travels idly toward... read more »
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Guy Mannering Walter Scott
Guy Mannering is set in the exotic highlands of Scotland, this is an interesting novel by Walter Scott. Narrating the story of Harry and his adventures, this amazing work dwells on the ups and downs he faced throughout his life. As Mannering, the student of astrology, foresees this child's future, everything appears... read more »
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Waverley Walter Scott
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... read more »
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Ride Proud, Rebel! Andre Norton
Civil war buffs and historical fiction fans alike will enjoy Andre Norton's Ride Proud, Rebel! This detailed and emotionally resonant account focuses on the personal sacrifices and astounding courage of rebel soldiers in the waning days of the Confederacy. read more »
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Pathfinder James Fenimore Cooper
Vigorous, self-reliant, amazingly resourceful, and moral, Natty Bumppo is the prototype of the Western hero. A faultless arbiter of wilderness justice, he hates middle-class hypocrisy. But he finds his love divided between the woman he has pledged to protect on a treacherous journey and the untouched forest that... read more »
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Knickerbocker's History of New York Washington Irving
In 1809, New Yorkers were buzzing about a series of classified ads concerning the whereabouts of Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker. They were unaware that Washington Irving had invented the man entirely and placed the ads himself. Knickerbocker's purported manuscript, A History of New York, was Irving's own... read more »
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The Adventures of Gerard Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Gerard is an anthology of short stories about the heroics of a Hussar of the French army who lived from the 1780s to 1860s. The strategies of war and the lives of soldier are romantically described, as is the vanity of the protagonist himself, who views himself as the most... read more »
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Maid Marian Thomas Love Peacock
Marian expects that Robin Hood and his Merry Men can help her gain information that can secure her liberty. What she doesn't expect is to fall in love with the leader of that merry band. Despite their political differences, which sometimes result in fierce arguments between the sharp-tongued duo, the lovers hatch a... read more »
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The Black Dwarf Walter Scott
The Black Dwarf, is set in the Liddesdale hills, an area which Scott knew intimately from the time he had spent hunting ballads for his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. The plot itself draws on a number of Border Ballads. The adventures of Hobbie Elliot, the pillage of Heughfott, appeal to the Black Dwarf for... read more »