Free summaries
Historical Novels — page 13
697 public-domain historical novels books, summarised. Page 13 of 15.
The World for Sale, Volume 3
Gilbert Parker
A powerful industrialist loses his sight and his fortune, only to find himself in the care of a woman born to the Romany people. This story traces the quiet reclamation of a man’s spirit and the dangerous pull of heritage.
An Egyptian Princess
Georg Ebers
In the ancient courts of Persia, the delicate balance between royal power and human passion collapses when a single lie triggers a catastrophic chain of royal executions.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
This historical novel captures the twilight of the Ptolemaic dynasty, following the final, desperate days of a queen whose legend and empire are simultaneously collapsing under the weight of Roman ambition.
In the name of Time
Michael Field
The tragedy of a king who seeks to trade his crown for the absolute freedom of a monastic life, only to find that the spirit refuses to be caged by any institution.
Serapis
Georg Ebers
The old world of classical paganism stands at a precarious, crumbling precipice, caught between the fading glory of the past and the rising, often violent, tide of a new religious order.
The Battle of the Strong: A Romance of Two Kingdoms
Gilbert Parker
The path of love often runs through the shadow of secrets, where the promise of a glorious future threatens to eclipse the quiet, essential truths of the heart.
Via Berlin
Crittenden Marriott
A naval officer and a tenacious journalist uncover a web of international intrigue, racing against time to prevent a clandestine alliance from plunging the United States into a global conflict.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
Set against the backdrop of a relentless, plague-ridden summer in seventh-century Egypt, this narrative weaves together the fates of those caught in the shifting tides of religious and political upheaval.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
A young German singer finds herself caught between the passionate love of Emperor Charles V and the bitter jealousy of those who guard his court.
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
The sudden death of a prince shatters a young knight’s world, driving him toward monastic renunciation even as financial ruin and scandal threaten the proud merchant city of Nuremberg.
A Girl of the Commune
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
HOOK A young Englishman finds his fortune shattered, leading him into the crucible of the 1871 Paris Commune, where war and personal transformation collide in an epic struggle for survival.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
Set against a decaying Egyptian capital and a vibrant new Arab city, this historical drama follows a young nobleman navigating religious strife, forbidden love, and family betrayal.
In the Blue Pike
Georg Ebers
A young woman trades the freedom of a traveling circus for the stifling, silent halls of a wealthy home, only to find that the heart’s deepest cravings refuse to be tamed by comfort or social standing.
The Burgomaster's Wife
Georg Ebers
The siege of Leyden serves as the crucible for a young woman’s awakening, as she grapples with the cold, unyielding nature of her husband’s duty to a city in peril.
The Conscript Mother
Robert Herrick
HOOK A mother’s relentless, quiet pursuit of her conscripted son through the chaos of mobilizing Italy captures the devastating intersection of maternal love and the machinery of war.
The Weavers: a tale of England and Egypt of fifty years ago - Volume 2
Gilbert Parker
The shadows of Egyptian deserts reach into the quiet Quaker villages of England, binding the fates of two men to the same hidden, fractured lineage. This is a story of political ambition, the weight of inherited secrets, and the struggle to act with integrity in a world that rewards convenience over conscience.
Acadian Reminiscences
Felix Voorhies
This narrative preserves a foundational legend of the American South, tracing the arduous journey of the Acadian people from their expulsion by the British to their eventual sanctuary in the bayous of Louisiana.
Charles Di Tocca: A Tragedy
Cale Young Rice
This tragic drama centers on the volatile Duke of Leucadia, whose awakening to love at the end of a long, hardened life triggers a cascade of jealousy, misunderstanding, and ruin. When the aging Duke Charles di Tocca falls for the young Helena—not realizing she is already beloved by his own son, Antonio—the…
Rowena & Harold: A Romance in Rhyme of an Olden Time, of Hastyngs and Normanhurst
William Stephen Pryer
Feud and faith collide along the Sussex cliffs when an obdurate Norman lord drives his daughter’s Saxon lover to the Crusades.
Hatsu
Laura Dayton Fessenden
In an ancient Egyptian city bound by sacred silences, a reluctant princess ascends a troubled throne while divine curses gather over the land.
Homo Sum
Georg Ebers
A brutal jealous rage shatters a marriage in a fourth-century desert oasis, driving a lonely woman into the wilderness where an ascetic monk seeks redemption through silent suffering.
The Old Helmet, Volume I
Susan Warner
A restless young woman navigating a wealthy, conventional marriage finds her world unsettled by an earnest dissenting teacher and a quiet, inward search for spiritual truth.
The Sisters
Georg Ebers
Amid the ancient sands of Egypt under Ptolemaic rule, twin water-bearers face impossible choices as palace intrigue closes in around their sacred temple sanctuary.
Miss Hildreth: A Novel, Volume 2
Augusta de Grasse Stevens
Beneath the glittering facade of high society and autocratic power, a web of political intrigue and personal obsession threatens to destroy those caught in its tightening grip. Secrets of the past collide with a desperate present in a struggle where love and loyalty are the first casualties.
Porzia
Cale Young Rice
A young woman is ensnared in a web of deceit and psychological torment, forcing her to confront the dark secret of her husband’s brother and the tragic cost of truth.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
As ancient Memphis burns and plague sweeps its streets, a young woman prepares to plunge into the river as a human sacrifice to save a divided nation.
An Egyptian Princess
Georg Ebers
The path of an Egyptian princess becomes a collision course with destiny as she is sent from the Nile to the vast, opulent, and dangerous court of a Persian king.
The Sisters
Georg Ebers
In the shadow of the ancient temple of Serapis, the fate of two innocent sisters becomes the pivot upon which the power of Egypt turns. Amidst the schemes of kings and the arrogance of Roman visitors, a desperate rescue mission unfolds under the burning sun of the Nile.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
The shadow of a tyrant looms over a city, yet the strength of a young woman’s spirit remains unyielding against the whims of a volatile emperor.
The Seats of the Mighty, Volume 3
Gilbert Parker
A man imprisoned by the corrupt authorities of colonial Quebec survives both physical torture and political intrigue, sustained by the hope of rescue and the steadfast love of a woman who walks a perilous line between his jailers and his freedom.
Terry's Trials and Triumphs
J. Macdonald (James Macdonald) Oxley
A street-smart boy rises from the poverty of a rough waterfront neighborhood to become a trusted clerk, navigating a series of perilous adventures during the American Civil War.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
HOOK In the heat of ancient Egypt, a headstrong sculptor battles the constraints of tradition and his own turbulent desires to capture the elusive essence of human reality.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
The final days of an Egyptian queen unfold through the eyes of those who loved her, capturing the tension between personal devotion and the inexorable collapse of an empire.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
HOOK In a famine-stricken, plague-ridden Memphis, a noblewoman’s life hangs in the balance as the city’s desperate populace looks to an ancient, dark superstition for salvation.
The Rebellion in the Cevennes, an Historical Novel. Vol. II
Ludwig Tieck
The violent friction between religious zeal and human longing defines this historical drama. Set amidst the brutal Camisard uprising in early 18th-century France, the narrative follows a young man caught between his shifting faith and the bloody realities of insurrection.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
The shifting tides of late-antique Egypt collide with the intimate betrayals of the heart in this sprawling, atmospheric drama. It is a world where ancient gods and new faiths struggle for dominance under the shadow of the encroaching Arab conquest.
Serapis
Georg Ebers
The fall of the ancient world is not a sudden tremor of the earth, but the slow, painful dissolution of a soul torn between the gods of the past and the promise of a new faith.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
The struggle for survival in ancient Alexandria becomes a desperate race against imperial tyranny and religious intrigue. A young woman’s devotion to her injured lover forces her into the heart of a city teeming with danger.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
A blind sculptor finds himself thrust into a political storm, forced to reconcile his artistic ego with a sudden, transformative honesty. His journey from the opulent palaces of Alexandria to the silence of the desert explores the delicate balance between the truth of the heart and the pursuit of beauty.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
HOOK In the shadow of a crumbling empire, a young woman’s quiet life is shattered when she becomes the target of a queen’s desperate, all-consuming jealousy.
Homo Sum
Georg Ebers
Set against the stark, unforgiving landscape of the Sinai Peninsula in the fourth century, this novel explores the turbulent collision between the monastic quest for spiritual perfection and the inescapable, messy realities of human life. It traces the journey of those who flee society to seek holiness in the…
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
The forge of life tests the mettle of the human heart, refining love and duty through the fires of grief, ambition, and faith.
The Sisters
Georg Ebers
Caught between the rigid duties of an ancient temple and the shifting ambitions of rival kings, two sisters navigate a dangerous political landscape where love and loyalty collide with the cold power of Rome.
At the "Sign of the Golden Fleece"
Emma Leslie
This historical tale follows a young man’s journey from a sheltered English estate to the center of the Reformation, where he risks everything to bring the forbidden English New Testament to the people.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
The final days of an Egyptian queen unfold in this somber meditation on power, love, and the dignity of a sovereign refusing to be a trophy of the Roman Empire. It captures the heavy atmosphere of a city under siege and the quiet, desperate resolve of a woman maneuvering against her inevitable end.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
Amid the political volatility and religious tensions of third-century Alexandria, a young woman stakes her life on an act of quiet mercy to save her brother from the wrath of an emperor.
Margery (Gred): A Tale Of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
The Imperial Diet has arrived in Nuremberg, bringing with it a whirlwind of pageantry, dangerous rivalries, and the testing of young hearts against the rigid laws of the realm.
An Egyptian Princess
Georg Ebers
A young Egyptian princess travels to Persia as a royal bride, only to find herself a pawn in a web of political deception, shifting loyalties, and the looming threat of war.