Free summaries
Historical Novels — page 12
566 public-domain historical novels books, summarised. Page 12 of 12.
Kings in Adversity
Edward S. (Edward Sims) Van Zile
A young prince in exile finds himself caught between the democratic ideals of the New World and the heavy, inescapable crown of his ancestors.
Neville Trueman, the Pioneer Preacher
W. H. (William Henry) Withrow
The borders of a young nation fray under the pressures of imperial conflict, testing the resolve of those caught between ancestral loyalties and the immediate demands of faith and home.
The Silver Arrow
Elbert Hubbard
A fragile golden chain binds a courtier's fate to a mythical white deer, bridging Elizabethan London and the untamed Carolina wilderness through tragedy, love, and untamed sovereignty.
Corianton: A Nephite Story
B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts
A man of pride and noble birth discovers that the path of rebellion leads only to ruin, finding redemption through the painful unraveling of his own heart.
Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt
Georg Ebers
In the shadow of the Pharaohs, a disgraced poet and a hidden princess navigate a web of court intrigue and forbidden love. This sweeping historical romance captures the grandeur of Ancient Egypt through the eyes of those living on the fringes of its rigid caste system.
Joan of Arc: A Play in Five Acts
J. A. (Jane Alice) Sargant
This drama captures the brief, meteoric trajectory of a peasant girl whose singular conviction alters the course of the Hundred Years' War. It is a work of romanticized history, concerned less with the political mechanics of the fifteenth century than with the personal toll of martyrdom and the shifting loyalties…
The story of Flamenca
William Aspenwall Bradley
A beautiful noblewoman, locked away by a pathologically jealous husband, finds an ingenious, secret path to love that defies her captor’s tyranny.
The Treasure
Selma Lagerlöf
A midwinter massacre in a lonely Swedish parsonage leaves a legacy of blood, gold, and a ghost who refuses to rest until the guilty are brought to justice.
Theobald, the Iron-Hearted
César Malan
A wounded knight learns the true meaning of Christian mercy from the enemies he sought to destroy.
An Egyptian Princess
Georg Ebers
A sweeping historical epic set in the twilight of Ancient Egypt, this narrative explores the collision between traditional Pharaohs, ambitious mercenaries, and the encroaching might of the Persian Empire.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
This historical portrait follows the life of a woman whose clandestine connection to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V alters her path forever, leading her to navigate the turbulent politics of the Netherlands and the rise of her illustrious son, Don John of Austria.
On the red staircase
Mary Imlay Taylor
A stranger in a land of shifting loyalties, a French nobleman risks his life to navigate the treacherous intrigues of the Russian court and rescue a young woman from a forced, loveless marriage.
The Burgomaster's Wife
Georg Ebers
The heavy shadow of the Spanish siege looms over Leyden, forcing a young bride to find her own strength amidst the encroaching chaos of war. Duty and desire collide as the city’s defense demands everything from its people, testing the limits of loyalty and the resilience of the human spirit.
Under King Constantine
Katrina Trask
A series of lyrical tales set in the shadow of Arthur’s death, where the true measure of knighthood is found not in the tournament ring, but in the quiet, agonizing victories of the soul.
A Question
Georg Ebers
In the sun-drenched gardens of ancient Sicily, a young woman’s heart hangs in the balance as two rival families clash over property and marriage. A single, life-altering question finally bridges the gap between pride and love.**
Bits from Blinkbonny
John Strathesk
A quiet, observant portrait of a Scottish village, this narrative captures the texture of daily life and the spiritual upheaval of a community caught in the tide of historical change.
Four days
Hetty Hemenway
A young American bride spends four days in England with her soldier husband before he departs for the Dardanelles, capturing a fleeting, desperate moment of love held against the encroaching shadow of the Great War.
A Forgotten Hero
Emily Sarah Holt
This historical narrative uncovers the quiet, often painful struggles of life in the thirteenth century, moving between the high-stakes politics of King Edward I’s court and the restricted, domestic world of the women who served within it.
A Search For A Secret: A Novel. Vol. 3
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
This sprawling, sentimental Victorian narrative centers on a young woman’s long, agonizing wait for the return of her missing fiancé and the recovery of a lost inheritance. It is a story of endurance, where personal grief is inextricably bound to the discovery of hidden documents and the eventual, dramatic…
Arachne
Georg Ebers
The ancient world’s obsession with beauty and the heavy cost of pride collide when a sculptor’s pursuit of artistic perfection destroys his moral compass. This drama of obsession follows a brilliant but volatile Greek artist whose betrayal of a local woman triggers a spiral of vengeance and personal ruin.
Emmanuel Appadocca
Maxwell Philip
A son returns from Europe to the Caribbean to exact a cold, calculated vengeance upon the father who abandoned him to poverty. This story traverses the violent divide between the law of the sea and the cruelties of the plantation.
The Young Carpenters of Freiberg: A Tale of the Thirty Years' War
Anonymous
A child dies in an isolated mill, caught between warring soldiers, while an honest apprentice carries a dangerous secret past the town gates. Outside the walls of Freiberg, an army waits to destroy everything inside.
Red Fleece
Will Levington Comfort
A war correspondent and a mysterious woman navigate the shifting front lines of the First World War, where the brutal machinery of conflict collides with the fragile, transcendent power of human connection.
The Story of Sonny Sahib
Sara Jeannette Duncan
A child survives a colonial uprising to be raised in an Indian palace, only to face a final test of loyalty between two worlds.
The Truce of God
Mary Roberts Rinehart
A stubborn feudal lord risks his marriage and his soul over his desperate longing for a heir, until a quiet Christmas miracle leads him back to the family he cast aside.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
This historical portrait follows a vibrant singer caught in the orbit of an aging, volatile emperor, tracing the friction between personal desire and the rigid demands of imperial duty. It explores how a woman of common birth maneuvers through a world of shifting political loyalties and courtly intrigue.
The Centurion's Story
David James Burrell
An aging Roman soldier recounts the day he oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus, describing his journey from a detached instrument of the state to a believer in the divinity of the man on the cross.
Serapis
Georg Ebers
Set in late-antique Alexandria, this narrative explores the collision between a waning pagan tradition and a rising Christian fervor through the lives of individuals caught in the shifting tides of faith.
The Danes, Sketched by Themselves. Vol. 2 (of 3): A Series of Popular Stories by the Best Danish Authors
Mrs. (Anna S.) Bushby
This collection of mid-19th-century Danish tales offers a window into the somber, introspective, and often fatalistic sensibilities of a bygone literary tradition. It is a portrait of lives shaped by duty, the crushing weight of class expectations, and the persistent hauntings of memory.
Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt
Georg Ebers
Set during the reign of Rameses II, this historical novel weaves the lives of princes, priests, and outcasts into a tapestry of political intrigue and personal discovery. It remains a foundational work of Egyptological fiction, known for its meticulous attention to historical setting and the complexities of ancient…
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
A queen’s destiny hangs in the balance as political intrigue, youthful infatuation, and loyalty clash in the sunlit streets and marble halls of ancient Alexandria.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
As Roman forces close in on Alexandria, a proud queen and a fading hero choose a final, glittering defiance before the end.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
Amidst religious turmoil and a failing Nile in ancient Egypt, a young nobleman torn between passion and duty watches as those he loves risk everything on a perilous river rescue.
The Last Look: A Tale of the Spanish Inquisition
William Henry Giles Kingston
A young widow and her husband face the ruthless machinery of the Spanish Inquisition as they quietly hold fast to their newfound Protestant faith.
True to a Type, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Robert Cleland
A sun-drenched, social comedy of manners, this story captures the restless energy of vacationers bound by the rigid conventions of their class. It is a portrait of a summer sanctuary—Clam Beach—where the rigid social order of the nineteenth century meets the unpredictable impulses of the heart.
An Easter Disciple: The Chronicle of Quintus, the Roman Knight
Arthur Benton Sanford
The Roman Empire and the nascent Christian faith collide in the personal awakening of a young knight. A historical reimagining of the first Easter, this narrative traces the journey of a man who exchanges the uncertainty of pagan philosophy for a conviction in the resurrection.
The Battle of the Strong: A Romance of Two Kingdoms
Gilbert Parker
Love overtakes hearts with the suddenness of a storm, binding youth to fateful secrets amid the shifting tides of war.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
As plague and drought ravage ancient Memphis under Arab rule, a noble family's ruin and a wrongful imprisonment entangle lovers in a desperate struggle for survival.