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British Literature — page 44

3,897 public-domain british literature books, summarised. Page 44 of 82.

For the Faith: A Story of the Young Pioneers of Reformation in Oxford

Evelyn Everett-Green

This historical narrative follows a group of young scholars in Tudor-era Oxford, caught between their intellectual hunger for the Reformation’s new ideas and the lethal machinery of the Church. It is a story of internal conflict, the high cost of conscience, and the struggle to remain true to one's convictions when…

British Literature6 min read

Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896]

John Stephen Farmer

From the shadows of the seventeenth-century underworld to the lively music halls of the late Victorian era, this collection preserves the defiant, rhythmic argot of Britain’s marginalized classes.

British Literature6 min read

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners)

Unknown

From the biting chill of medieval Paris to the sun-drenched, doomed orchards of the Franco-Prussian War, these stories capture the peril, romance, and sudden shadows of French life.

British Literature6 min read

The Admiral: A Romance of Nelson in the Year of the Nile

Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen

The life of a naval icon is reimagined through the loyal, observant eyes of those who stood closest to him during the pivotal year of 1798. This narrative captures the intersection of great historical strategy and the intensely human frailties of a legendary leader.

British Literature7 min read

The Mystery of 31 New Inn

R. Austin (Richard Austin) Freeman

A medical practitioner inadvertently stumbles into a high-stakes conspiracy involving a man held captive by a mysterious, chemically-induced illness. This intricate puzzle demands the cold, analytical brilliance of a physician-detective to unravel.

British Literature6 min read

Lying Prophets: A Novel

Eden Phillpotts

In a remote Cornish fishing village, a young woman’s search for identity clashes with the crushing religious fanaticism of her father. This atmospheric drama captures the tension between natural desire and the rigid, often hypocritical, morality of an isolated community.

British Literature6 min read

Mr Punch's Pocket Ibsen - A Collection of Some of the Master's Best Known Dramas

F. Anstey

This collection of sharp-witted parodies playfully dismantles the brooding intensity of Victorian-era drama, inviting readers to laugh at the very tropes that once defined high-minded European theater.

British Literature6 min read

Much Ado about Nothing

William Shakespeare

Two sharp-witted bachelors battle their own cynicism to find love, while a young bride faces a ruinous scandal born of a malicious lie. This enduring comedy balances biting humor with a dark, sudden turn toward tragedy.

British Literature6 min read

Our Casualty, and Other Stories: 1918

George A. Birmingham

Amidst the upheaval of the Great War and the brewing turbulence of Irish independence, a collection of stories captures the quiet absurdity of ordinary people navigating extraordinary times.

British Literature6 min read

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 10, 1892

Various

A razor-sharp mirror of late-Victorian life, this collection captures the skepticism, absurdity, and political maneuvering of 1892 through the eyes of London’s premier satirical voice. It is a portrait of an empire caught between rigid tradition and the frantic, noisy birth of the modern age.

British Literature6 min read

Selections from the Prose Writings of John Henry Cardinal Newman: For the Use of Schools

John Henry Newman

These selections offer a rare, intimate encounter with one of the nineteenth century’s most luminous minds, blending historical portraiture, theological reflection, and educational philosophy into a singular, enduring voice.

British Literature6 min read

The Lonely Stronghold

Reynolds, Baillie, Mrs.

A young woman accepts a mysterious job at a remote, ancient fortress, only to find herself ensnared in the complex psychological games of two enigmatic brothers.

British Literature6 min read

The Tempting of Tavernake

E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

A solitary, rigid Englishman finds his orderly life shattered when he becomes the guardian of a mysterious, desperate woman, leading him into a web of international intrigue and moral discovery.

British Literature6 min read

Unravelled Knots

Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

An eccentric, string-twisting recluse solves the most baffling criminal mysteries of his day from the quiet isolation of a corner table in a London teashop.

British Literature5 min read

Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

This historical narrative follows a young Saxon thane caught in the turbulent clash of cultures during the Norman Conquest, charting his journey from loyal page to a man navigating a transformed England.

British Literature6 min read

Mrs. Falchion, Complete

Gilbert Parker

This novel follows the collision of a woman with a hidden past and the men who are haunted by their own mistakes. It is a story of how a single, irrevocable act can ripple through a life, leaving only the choice of how to carry the weight.

British Literature6 min read

The children of Dickens

Charles Dickens

The children of Dickens serve as our guides through the labyrinth of Victorian London, where the boundary between harsh reality and magical storytelling dissolves into the wonder of a child’s imagination.

British Literature6 min read

The Lion's Share

Arnold Bennett

A young woman inherits a fortune and abandons her stifling life to claim the world as her own, navigating the shifting landscape of early twentieth-century freedom.

British Literature6 min read

The Praise of Shakespeare: An English Anthology

Unknown

This collection gathers centuries of literary reflection, serving as a cumulative testament to the enduring stature of England’s most celebrated poet. By assembling diverse voices—from contemporary tributes to Victorian critique—the work maps the evolution of a reputation that has defined the English-speaking world.

British Literature6 min read

The Secret of the Tower

Anthony Hope

The quiet of a village masks a web of secrets, and a soldier’s return from the Great War brings with it not peace, but a complex, moral game of cat and mouse.

British Literature6 min read

Timon of Athens

William Shakespeare

A wealthy Athenian learns the bitter cost of unconditional generosity when his friends abandon him in poverty. He retreats into misanthropy, trading his gold for a lonely, vengeful end.

British Literature6 min read

Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare

A shipwrecked twin, a lovelorn duke, and a mischievous household collide in a coastal city where disguises mask hearts and truth is found only through confusion.

British Literature6 min read

Two Penniless Princesses

Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

Two young Scottish princesses journey across a volatile, medieval Europe to find their place, proving that resilience and character define royalty far more than a crown ever could.

British Literature6 min read

White Heather: A Novel (Volume 2 of 3)

William Black

HOOK A young Highland gamekeeper, torn between the wild beauty of his home and the allure of city ambition, must navigate a path that tests his integrity and threatens the loyalties he holds most dear.

British Literature6 min read

Bright Ideas: A Record of Invention and Misinvention

Herbert Strang

HOOK Two young men return from the Great War to find their inventive spirits undimmed by the mundane constraints of civilian life. Their misadventures in a quiet English village turn local order into a series of chaotic, comedic triumphs.

British Literature6 min read

Farquharson of Glune

May Bateman

HOOK A political drama set against the fading influence of the British Empire, where a man of integrity battles both personal betrayal and national decline.

British Literature6 min read

In Spite of All: A Novel

Edna Lyall

This historical novel traces the fractured lives of two childhood sweethearts torn apart by the brutal ideological divide of the English Civil War. It captures the personal cost of political conviction during a time when faith and loyalty were matters of life and death.

British Literature7 min read

The Farmer's Boy: A Rural Poem

Robert Bloomfield

The pastoral world awakens through the eyes of a laborer, where the changing seasons reflect both the quiet grace of nature and the wearying toll of honest toil. This work captures the rhythm of country life with the steady, observant heart of one who lived it.

British Literature6 min read

The Gipsy: A Tale (Vols I & II)

G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

A hidden fratricide, a noble heir’s struggle with his own identity, and a mysterious Romani leader collide in this atmospheric tale of honor, duty, and the long-reaching shadows of the past.

British Literature9 min read

The Prince and Betty

P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

A young woman’s plan to enjoy a summer holiday is upended by a bizarre, high-stakes scheme to install a penniless stranger on a foreign throne.

British Literature6 min read

The soul of Lilith

Marie Corelli

The pursuit of divine knowledge through forbidden experiments brings a brilliant man to the precipice of madness. This haunting tale examines the thin line between scientific ambition and the sanctity of the human soul.

British Literature6 min read

The Vicar of Bullhampton

Anthony Trollope

A village vicar finds his moral authority and private life upended by the arrival of a local scandal and the intrusion of an unwanted chapel.

British Literature9 min read

The Woman with One Hand, and Mr. Ely's Engagement

Richard Marsh

A man finds himself caught in a web of murder, mystery, and unwanted matrimony. This droll, twisty Victorian tale explores the absurdity of courtship and the fragility of a reputation.

British Literature6 min read

Jim Mortimer

R. S. Warren (Robert Stanley Warren) Bell

Stripped of his inheritance after a reckless night, a headstrong young London doctor must trade his grand prospects for a grueling impoverished practice, where violence, love, and redemption test his character.

British Literature6 min read

Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard

Eleanor Farjeon

A minstrel arrives at an orchard to rescue a girl imprisoned for love by telling six tales to six skeptical milkmaids. This lyrical narrative blends folklore with the emotional complexity of romance, creating a world where stories function as medicine for the pining heart. It remains a classic for its lush,…

British Literature5 min read

My Friend Smith: A Story of School and City Life

Talbot Baines Reed

True friendship is the anchor that holds a young man steady against the cold, indifferent currents of city life. This story of loyalty and moral growth explores the transition from the sheltered, strict confines of a boarding school to the harsh, competitive realities of a London clerkship.

British Literature6 min read

The Golden Calf

M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

A proud young woman trades her integrity for the illusion of wealth, marrying a man who only shares the name of the rich heir she actually desired.

British Literature8 min read

The Man in Ratcatcher, and Other Stories

H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile

A veteran of the hunting field mounts a scruffy steed to save a rider heading for a cliff, setting the tone for tales where courage and quick thinking cut through social posturing.

British Literature6 min read

The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2)

James Payn

A young man’s desperate bid for his father's affection spirals into a legendary literary deception. This historical drama explores the high stakes of vanity, the fragility of truth, and the ruinous cost of a lie.

British Literature6 min read

White Wings: A Yachting Romance, Volume I

William Black

A group of friends trade the clamor of the mainland for the rhythmic, salt-sprayed isolation of the Hebrides, finding in the quiet of the sea a vessel for both lighthearted romance and profound, unspoken shifts in the heart.

British Literature6 min read

A Little Mother to the Others

L. T. Meade

The burden of a dying mother’s final request rests heavily upon a young girl, who strives to guide her siblings through the rigid discipline of a stern aunt and the perils of the wider world.

British Literature6 min read

Bred in the Bone

James Payn

This is a portrait of generational inheritance, where the volatile impulses of a landed squire ripple through the lives of the unsuspecting, eventually pulling a family into a web of ruin, revenge, and mystery.

British Literature7 min read

Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Henry Fielding

Henry Fielding

A comprehensive roadmap through classical satirical fiction, comic romance, and moral philosophy reveals the full landscape of mid-eighteenth-century English narrative art.

British Literature7 min read

Last Poems

Edward Thomas

A phantom memory called up by a single crushed leaf. A train window framing a cloud that holds back time. Rain on a ruined barn, and soldiers marching down roads that lead only to France.

British Literature6 min read

Lolly Willowes

Sylvia Townsend Warner

A quietly radical tale of a quiet woman, Laura Willowes, who abandons her respectable London family for the Buckinghamshire countryside—only to discover that true self-possession lies in striking a pact with the Devil.

British Literature7 min read

Ten Girls from Dickens

Kate Dickinson Sweetser

These ten portraits of girlhood celebrate the endurance and grace of young characters navigating a world often indifferent or cruel to their needs.

British Literature6 min read

The Cell of Self-Knowledge

Unknown

To seek the divine is to look inward, stripping away the noise of the world to find a quiet, singular truth within the soul.

British Literature6 min read

The Dead Alive

Wilkie Collins

A weary London barrister seeks rest in the American countryside, only to find himself entangled in a dark, suspicious disappearance that threatens the lives of two brothers.

British Literature6 min read