Free summaries
Historical Novels — page 14
697 public-domain historical novels books, summarised. Page 14 of 15.
Serapis
Georg Ebers
The final triumph of Christianity over the ancient gods in Alexandria serves as the backdrop for a story of personal transformation, where religious fervor and the endurance of human love collide.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
A young woman’s desperate search for her missing father becomes a crucible of moral integrity when she is ensnared in a web of deceit spun by the man she once trusted. In the twilight of Byzantine Egypt, honor proves as fragile as it is demanding.
An Egyptian Princess
Georg Ebers
The grandeur of ancient empires provides a fragile stage for this sweeping drama of political intrigue, forbidden love, and the heavy toll of royal caprice.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
HOOK A blind sculptor, propelled by fame and court intrigue, struggles to reconcile his identity with a masterpiece he suspects he did not create.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
This historical novel captures the intersection of personal desire and political consequence in the sixteenth-century Holy Roman Empire. It tells the story of a young woman who finds herself caught between the conventional life expected of her and a transformative, yet isolating, affair with the most powerful man…
Joshua
Georg Ebers
This historical novel vividly reimagines the biblical exodus, tracing the transformation of an Egyptian-trained Hebrew soldier into the legendary leader of his people. It stands as a sweeping, character-driven epic of faith and national identity.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
Hook In the twilight of the Roman Empire, a young woman’s quiet virtue becomes a dangerous commodity when a volatile emperor marks her for his own.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
The world is a grand, fleeting banquet, and those who feast upon it must navigate the sharp edges of history and faith to find their way home. In this vibrant tapestry of ancient Alexandria, the search for personal happiness is constantly shadowed by the shifting tides of empire and the quiet emergence of a new…
Serapis
Georg Ebers
This historical novel captures the twilight of paganism in fourth-century Alexandria, where the collision of ancient traditions and rising Christianity forces ordinary lives into extraordinary peril.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
The life of a famous singer is irrevocably altered when she becomes the secret mistress of the most powerful man in Europe. Caught between imperial ambition and her own fierce independence, she fights to keep the child who will define her legacy.
Cleopatra
Georg Ebers
This historical novel explores the closing days of the Ptolemaic dynasty, capturing a queen’s desperate bid for survival through the intimate, often shadowed lens of those trapped within her inner circle.
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
A young, devout woman’s sleepwalking leads her into the path of a bold knight, triggering a tangle of misunderstandings that threaten her family's reputation in the rigid society of medieval Nuremberg.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
The Roman Empire pulses with the tensions of ancient Alexandria, where the weight of imperial power and the whisper of a new faith collide. This narrative explores the intersection of high politics and the quiet, desperate struggles of those living in the shadow of a god-like sovereign.
When Valmond Came to Pontiac: The Story of a Lost Napoleon. Volume 3
Gilbert Parker
HOOK A charismatic stranger arrives in a quiet Canadian village claiming the legacy of a fallen emperor, setting into motion a tragic, inevitable collision between romantic ambition and the cold reality of the law.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
In the shadow of ancient Egypt, a blinded sculptor battles the crushing weight of his own hubris and the perceived wrath of the gods. He must reconcile his artistic legacy with the bitter reality of his dark, sightless existence.
A Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem
William Wetmore Story
A Roman lawyer stationed in Jerusalem writes to a friend in Rome, exploring the mysterious motives of Judas Iscariot and questioning whether the betrayal was a base crime or a tragic mistake.
The Black Troopers, and other stories
Anonymous
From Australian sheep stations to coastal English smuggling and ancestral country estates, these nineteenth-century tales explore human frailty, conscience, and redemption.
The Mother of St. Nicholas: A Story of Duty and Peril
Grant Balfour
HOOK This narrative reimagines the origins of a legendary figure, weaving a tale of early Christian faith, Roman persecution, and a sacrificial act of courage in the Colosseum.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
An innocent young Greek girl finds her fate entwined with a suffering, ruthless Roman emperor in ancient Alexandria through a strange and powerful illusion.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
A young musician returns to Ratisbon in the spring of 1547, bearing costly gifts and high hopes for his childhood sweetheart, only to find her unchanged by time yet entirely out of reach.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
A crumbling ancient empire and the quiet persistence of everyday duty collide in Georg Ebers's classic historical novel set against the sunlit harbor of Alexandria.
A Word, Only a Word
Georg Ebers
Fleeing religious persecution in a harsh, snow-bound winter landscape, a hunted Jewish scholar and his loyal protectors journey toward a tragic fate that reshapes an orphaned boy's life forever.
Margery (Gred): A Tale Of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
A faithful maiden of old Nuremberg struggles through sacrifice, long separation, and perilous trials to redeem her imprisoned brothers, secure her family’s honor, and claim a hard-won domestic peace.
No Defense, Volume 1
Gilbert Parker
Irish pride, political intrigue, and a murder charge collide in a sprawling tale of chivalry, honor, and sacrifice.
Arachne
Georg Ebers
Amid the flooded canals of ancient Egypt, a proud ship-owner's daughter falls for a charismatic Greek sculptor, only to be consumed by jealousy and dark desires for vengeance.
In the Blue Pike
Georg Ebers
A shattered former ropedancer spends her final hours at a waystation by the Main river, striving to redeem the soul of a lost child through sacrifice before her own life ebbs away.
The French Prisoners of Norman Cross: A Tale
Arthur Brown
Captives of war navigate honor, faith, and bitter old grudges within the grim timber barracks of a historic English depot.
The World English Bible (WEB): Ruth
Anonymous
Amid famine and bitter loss, an impoverished foreign widow steps into a harvested field, beginning a quiet journey toward redemption, love, and a royal lineage.
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
When a midnight storm breaks over old Nuremberg, a rash nocturnal meeting shatters two betrothals, sparks a fatal duel, and unleashes fires both literal and emotional among merchants and nobles.
The Burgomaster's Wife
Georg Ebers
Spring brings early warmth to sixteenth-century Leyden, but the shadow of Spanish tyranny hangs heavy over citizens torn between loyalty to the Netherlands and the dangerous lure of compromise.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
A young woman’s virtue becomes a dangerous pawn in the arena of imperial power, as the whims of a volatile emperor collide with the simmering resentment of an ancient, prideful city.
Stories About Indians
Anonymous
This collection of mid-19th-century vignettes seeks to humanize the Indigenous peoples of North America through anecdotes of honor, wit, and tragic displacement. It invites readers to look past stereotypes and witness the moral complexity of individual lives.
The Bride of the Nile
Georg Ebers
Amid the fading power of a decaying empire, a young woman flees a web of deceit and corruption to seek her own moral independence.
The Eve of All-Hallows
Matthew Weld Hartstonge
A flight from a disastrous battle sends exiles across Europe, where secret identities and ancient loyalties complicate a passionate search for love.
The Ruinous Face
Maurice Hewlett
HOOK The legend of the world’s most beautiful woman finds a harrowing, intimate conclusion when she realizes that her face is not a blessing, but a cage.
A Word, Only a Word
Georg Ebers
A boy discovers that the weight of the world is not carried in his fists, but in the power of a single, elusive word. This tale of faith, prejudice, and survival follows a blacksmith’s son and a Jewish scholar through the religious tensions of the Reformation era.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
The Roman Empire’s brutal reach into Alexandria serves as the backdrop for a young woman’s perilous flight toward faith and sanctuary. Amidst the chaos of imperial tyranny, a single life becomes the pivot for profound spiritual and political transformation.
Barbara Blomberg
Georg Ebers
This historical portrait follows the life of a talented singer whose brief, illicit romance with the Holy Roman Emperor leaves her forever tethered to his shadow and their secret child. It is a study of pride, maternal longing, and the weight of imperial power.
A Thorny Path
Georg Ebers
The emperor Caracalla arrives in Alexandria, casting a shadow of imperial cruelty over a family of artists and thinkers. Amidst the upheaval, a young woman fights to preserve her kin and her own future from the whims of a tyrant.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
In the sun-drenched, bustling city of Alexandria, the arrival of a mysterious Roman architect triggers a series of encounters that reveal the vanity of power and the resilience of the human spirit.
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg
Georg Ebers
Amidst the political upheavals of medieval Nuremberg, a young woman finds her strength in the crucible of duty and love. This historical romance traces the quiet, enduring power of faith during a time of war.
The Woodcutter of Gutech
William Henry Giles Kingston
This story of faith and survival follows a humble woodcutter whose life is transformed by the arrival of a forbidden book. Amidst the religious upheavals of Reformation-era Germany, he and his family must navigate a world of shifting loyalties and violent social unrest.
In the Far North: 1901
Louis Becke
Where heat-waves dance over the wastes of North Queensland, drought and financial ruin press a lonely cattleman to the absolute brink of despair until an unexpected act of past mercy returns to him in his darkest hour.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
This historical novel captures the sensory richness of second-century Alexandria on the eve of a momentous imperial visit, weaving a tale of personal dignity against the backdrop of an empire in flux. Through the struggles of a prideful steward and his daughters, it examines the tension between grand history and…
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
HOOK In the vibrant, sun-drenched streets of Roman-era Alexandria, a humble factory girl is thrust into the path of an aging Emperor seeking to recapture his lost youth.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
A ruler obsessed with the secrets of the future finds his own fate inextricably bound to a devoted youth. In the shadow of imperial power, the quiet faith of the marginalized struggles against the iron will of Rome.
The Emperor
Georg Ebers
A volatile Roman Emperor walks the streets of Alexandria in disguise, sparking a dangerous collision between ancient social orders and the unpredictable fury of the urban mob.
The Story of the Little Mamsell
Charlotte Niese
A Danish servant's tale of the French Revolution, love, and sacrifice.