Free summaries
Historical Novels — page 8
697 public-domain historical novels books, summarised. Page 8 of 15.
At the Sign of the Sword: A Story of Love and War in Belgium
William Le Queux
The fires of 1914 transform a quiet romance in the Ardennes into a desperate struggle for survival, as a young lawyer and his beloved navigate the opening horrors of the Great War in Belgium.
In Love With the Czarina, and Other Stories
Mór Jókai
Great historical figures often find their true ends not in triumph, but in the crushing weight of their own legends. These tales explore how the masks of power and the ghosts of the past inevitably dismantle those who wear them.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 979, October 1, 1898
Various
The late Victorian era comes to life in this expansive miscellany, which balances the tension of impending international conflict with the domestic preoccupations and moral guidance expected of a young lady in 1898.
The Wooing of Wistaria
Onoto Watanna
A romance of imperial ambition and divided loyalties unfolds against the backdrop of Japan’s final, tumultuous transition from the feudal shogunate to a new era.
Under the Big Dipper
Desiderius George Dery
A young American adventurer finds his purpose when he risks everything to rescue a distressed noblewoman from political turmoil. Their journey from the shadows of European intrigue to the promise of a new life in America unfolds under a watchful, celestial eye.
A Romance of Toronto (Founded on Fact): A Novel
Annie G. (Annie Gregg) Savigny
This story of late-Victorian social circles and hidden fortunes explores the tension between duty and personal freedom in a rapidly modernizing Canadian city. It offers a window into the domestic anxieties, romantic entanglements, and moral posturing of an era where reputation was a fragile, guarded currency.
Yodogima: In Feudalistic Japan
I. William Adams
The shifting allegiances of feudal Japan provide a tumultuous backdrop for a woman’s struggle to claim her own autonomy. Amidst the rise of legendary shoguns, a daughter of the Taira line navigates a world of absolute power and rigid tradition.
Rainbow's End
Rex Beach
A young adventurer finds his way to a war-torn island to seek his fortune, only to discover that the truest riches are not buried in the earth, but found in the company of those he protects.
Tales of Destiny
Edmund Mitchell
HOOK In the shadows of a 16th-century caravanserai, travelers from across India gather to share chilling, interconnected accounts of fate, hidden identities, and the moral complexities of the human heart.
The Countess Cosel: A Romance of History of the Times of Augustus the Strong
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
A woman of fierce pride finds her life consumed by a reckless king, discovering too late that absolute power demands total surrender.
The Village Notary: A Romance of Hungarian Life
Eötvös, József, báró
A profound, sweeping portrait of 19th-century Hungary, this narrative weaves together the fates of a principled village notary, a desperate outlaw, and a corrupt landed gentry. It offers a bracing, unvarnished look at a society on the precipice of seismic change.
The Making of a Saint
W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham
A young man is pulled into the dangerous, shifting loyalties of a Renaissance Italian city, where political ambition and personal obsession collide with fatal results.
The open sea
Edgar Lee Masters
The restless tide of human history rises and falls through these verses, where the ghosts of ancients and the architects of American power collide in a stark, searching inquiry into freedom and fate.
The red cockade
Stanley John Weyman
The revolution is not a stage play, but a wildfire that consumes the actors alongside the scenery. This account tracks the cost of loyalty when the world decides to burn its foundations.
Her Royal Highness: A Romance of the Chancelleries of Europe
William Le Queux
The setting is the glittering, high-stakes world of early 20th-century European diplomacy, where a British diplomat and a mysterious princess navigate a dangerous web of international espionage and forbidden passion.
The Man in Black: An Historical Novel of the Days of Queen Anne
G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
In a rigid, crumbling world of honor and betrayal, one man’s quiet integrity sparks a ruinous conspiracy that threatens to consume everyone he holds dear.
Lily Pearl and The Mistress of Rosedale
Ida Glenwood
This sweeping Victorian domestic drama follows the long-lost daughter of a wealthy family as she navigates a web of secrets, mistaken identities, and the lingering scars of the American Civil War.
The Gorgeous Isle: A Romance
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
The Caribbean sun and the shadow of a fallen poet’s past collide on the island of Nevis, where a young woman’s romantic devotion meets the reality of a destructive, addictive genius.
A Noble Queen: A Romance of Indian History (Volume 3 of 3)
Meadows Taylor
A noble queen defends her realm against imperial armies and treacherous courtiers, finding that the fiercest battles are fought within her own palace walls.
Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius
A. J. (Augustine J.) O'Reilly
A young woman flees her home in male attire, commits a desperate act of violence in the Alps, and ends up leading a double life as a decorated military officer before finding redemption.
Aucassin & Nicolette, and Other Mediæval Romances and Legends
Eugene Mason
A pair of lovers separate under hostile eyes, taking to the forest and distant lands before fate brings them safely together.
The Sorceress: A Drama in Five Acts
Victorien Sardou
In sixteenth-century Toledo, a Moorish healer and a Christian captain fall into a forbidden romance, only to be torn apart by the ruthless machinery of the Inquisition.
The White Morning: A Novel of the Power of the German Women in Wartime
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
A vision of desperate resistance in wartime, this dramatic narrative imagines the ultimate domestic uprising against tyrannical authority.
Jovinian: A Story of the Early Days of Papal Rome
William Henry Giles Kingston
A gripping tale of faith, corruption, and resilience in early Christian Rome.
Archag, the Little Armenian
Charles H. Schnapps
The story of a young boy coming of age in the shadow of historical catastrophe, this account captures the fragile beauty of a culture poised on the brink of profound, violent transformation.
King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2
Bernhard Severin Ingemann
This sweeping historical narrative captures a kingdom fractured by treachery, where the crown, the church, and the common people collide in the shadow of the Middle Ages. It is a tale of shifting loyalties, dark political intrigue, and the desperate struggle to preserve order against those who would tear it down.
The Eve of All-Hallows
Matthew Weld Hartstonge
The stormy tides of the seventeenth century collide with the intimate lives of Irish nobility, tracing the fateful intersection of personal devotion and national upheaval.
The Scarlet Banner
Felix Dahn
Amid the shifting sands of Vandal-ruled North Africa, a once-invincible kingdom faces its twilight as the Roman Empire maneuvers to reclaim its lost glory.
Between Sun and Sand: A Tale of an African Desert
W. C. (William Charles) Scully
The vast, unforgiving expanses of the South African desert serve as both a stage and a silent character in this vivid portrait of life on the cultural and physical fringes of civilization.
Gustavus Vasa: and other poems
William Sidney Walker
A young poet reimagines the rise of a Swedish hero, crafting an epic vision of national liberation where celestial forces and earthly tyranny collide in the frozen North.
Old Ninety-Nine's Cave
Elizabeth H. Gray
HOOK Set against the backdrop of the New York mountains, this novel weaves together local folklore, industrial ambition, and a journey toward healing after a mysterious, life-altering illness.
The Jester
LM (Leslie Moore)
A wanderer seeks peace in a world of illusion, tracing a path from the gilded cages of nobility to the dark mysteries of the occult. This journey of the heart tests the boundaries between obsession and grace.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 18
Unknown
This volume gathers a diverse collection of tales set against the rugged backdrop of the Scottish Borders, weaving together threads of folklore, historical tragedy, and the domestic struggles of the nineteenth century.
Henry of Guise
G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
In the shadow of the French Wars of Religion, a young nobleman grapples with the crushing weight of his own honor while caught between a dangerous political conspiracy and the woman he loves.
Two Royal Foes
Eva Annie Madden
A young girl’s flight across a war-torn landscape mirrors the crumbling of a kingdom, as the quiet dignity of a besieged Queen stands against the crushing ambition of a conqueror.
Gabriel: A Story of the Jews in Prague
S. (Salomon) Kohn
A man returns to the shadows of the Prague ghetto to settle a haunting debt of honor and love, only to find the threads of his past woven into a wider, tragic tapestry of war and betrayal.
Klytia: A Story of Heidelberg Castle
Adolf Hausrath
HOOK Set against the looming, fortress-like backdrop of Heidelberg Castle, this historical drama navigates the collision between rigid religious zealotry and the desperate, flickering endurance of human love.
Saul of Tarsus: A Tale of the Early Christians
Elizabeth Miller
This novel weaves the grand, turbulent history of the early Church into the intimate, high-stakes lives of those caught in the shadow of imperial Rome and religious zeal. It is a story of faith, vengeance, and the transformative power of forgiveness.
Marie Gourdon: A Romance of the Lower St. Lawrence
Maud Ogilvy
A young man abandons his true love and his humble roots for the promise of inheritance, only to find that prosperity offers no shelter from the ghosts of his past.
A Monk of Fife: Being the Chronicle Written by Norman Leslie of Pitcullo, Concerning Marvellous Deeds That Befell in the Realm of France, in the Years of Our Redemption, MCCCCXXIX-XXXI
Andrew Lang
A young Scottish exile finds his destiny intertwined with the miraculous rise and tragic fall of Joan of Arc, serving as her faithful companion through the perils of the Hundred Years' War.
I Will Maintain
Marjorie Bowen
The rise of a solitary leader and the violent collapse of a republic collide in this sweeping portrait of a nation at war. A young, cold-blooded prince and a weary, principled statesman battle for the soul of the Dutch people.
Mary of Burgundy
G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
The high-stakes political maneuvers of 15th-century Flanders provide the backdrop for this tale of a young man caught between his humble origins and his undeniable influence over the fate of a duchess.
Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Francesca da Rimini
George H. (George Henry) Boker
This tragedy reimagines the iconic doomed romance of the Inferno, transforming Dante’s fleeting, ethereal vision into a visceral, earthbound exploration of jealousy and honor. It is a work that captures the grand, sweeping cadence of mid-19th-century American verse drama.
A King of Tyre: A Tale of the Times of Ezra and Nehemiah
James M. (James Meeker) Ludlow
Ancient Tyre stands as a shimmering, perilous island of commerce and crushing religious orthodoxy, where a restless king seeks to break the chains of tradition. A sweeping narrative of displacement, shifting faith, and the dangerous pursuit of personal freedom unfolds across the fractured landscape of the fifth…
The Duchess of Trajetto
Anne Manning
The life of a sixteenth-century Italian noblewoman serves as the backdrop for this historical narrative, which explores the tension between worldly aristocratic duty and the quiet, dangerous pursuit of spiritual truth during the Reformation.
King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1
Bernhard Severin Ingemann
In a land fractured by church spires, outlawed nobles, and royal ambition, a young king tries to build an empire while his kingdom burns from within.
Yolanda of Cyprus
Cale Young Rice
In a sixteenth-century Cypriot castle, a young woman secretly assumes the burden of another's infidelity to safeguard her betrothed’s noble family from total ruin.
A Blot on the Scutcheon
Mabel Winifred Knowles
A young man strives to redeem his family's honor amid political intrigue, dangerous secrets, and the turbulent shadow of the French Revolution.