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History - British — page 12
986 public-domain history - british books, summarised. Page 12 of 21.
Peeps at Many Lands: England
John Finnemore
From the bustling, fog-shrouded avenues of Edwardian London to the wave-battered rocks of the Cornish coast, this classic travelogue captures the landscapes, traditions, and enduring legends that shaped the heart of early twentieth-century England.
Shakespeare's England
William Winter
A journey through the quiet countryside and storied cities of England reveals how deep reverence for nature, history, and poetry can heal the modern spirit.
The Blocking of Zeebrugge
Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter
A midnight assault against a heavily fortified sea wall, executed under the cover of artificial smoke to trap enemy submarines in their lair.
The Children of Westminster Abbey: Studies in English History
Rose Georgina Kingsley
A grand medieval sanctuary becomes a living classroom, where the tombs of forgotten royal children reveal the human heart of English history.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 349, November, 1844
Various
A mid-nineteenth-century literary miscellany captures the intellectual anxieties, legal debates, and creative currents of Victorian Britain. Through caustic essays, vibrant travel narratives, and high-minded poetry, this collection examines a society grappling with rapid political and cultural transformation.
Parish life in mediæval England
Francis Aidan Gasquet
Before modern centralization, the village church belonged entirely to its people, serving as a hub of shared duty, faith, and local governance.
The Normans in England (1066-1154)
Unknown
A nation changes hands through sword-stroke and parchment, leaving a trail of broken altars, royal disputes, and administrative reckonings.
With the British Army in The Holy Land
H. O. (Henry Osmond) Lock
Desert heat, waterless tracks, and trench networks give way to rocky slopes and ancient roads as a British expeditionary force fights its way out of Egypt toward Jerusalem.
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume I
Thomas Clarkson
A rigorous, eyewitness account details how a handful of dedicated reformers exposed the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and organized a movement that transformed British public conscience and law.
The Manchester and Glasgow Road, Volume 2 (of 2): This Way to Gretna Green
Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
An historical journey across northern England and into Scotland reveals how industrial ambition, bloody rebellions, and the steady march of turnpike roads transformed the British landscape.
An Essay on the Antient and Modern State of Ireland
Henry Brooke
HOOK This historical meditation reclaims the dignity of an ancient kingdom, arguing that true national security lies not in the punitive marginalization of its citizens, but in the unifying power of civic inclusion and shared prosperity.
Bygone Church Life in Scotland
Unknown
The deep shadows of Scotland's religious history hold more than just prayer; they contain the echoes of a people defined by their iron-willed devotion, peculiar superstitions, and the relentless discipline of the Kirk.
How Jerusalem Was Won: Being the Record of Allenby's Campaign in Palestine
W. T. (William Thomas) Massey
The capture of the Holy City stands as a monumental objective, marking an epoch in history that resonates with the gravity of a second birth for the region. This chronicle documents the arduous path taken by British forces to secure this prize and neutralize the threat of Turkish domination.
Soldiers' Stories of the War
Unknown
This collection of firsthand accounts captures the immediate, visceral reality of the British Expeditionary Force during the opening months of the First World War. It preserves the voices of men who lived through the crucible of the early battles in 1914 and 1915.
Brief Account of the English Character
Charles Marjoribanks
This short, earnest pamphlet serves as a bridge between two worlds, offering a nineteenth-century perspective on the virtues of British commerce and the desired nature of Anglo-Chinese relations. It stands as a historical artifact of its time, capturing the tensions of an era when global trade was often mediated…
Historical Record of the Sixth, or Inniskilling Regiment of Dragoons: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1689, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1846
Richard Cannon
This record chronicles the long and storied lineage of a legendary British cavalry regiment, detailing its formation during the Irish conflicts of 1689 through its varied global service in the mid-19th century.
The Blizzard in the West: Being as Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm which Raged Throughout Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset, On the Night of March 9th, 1891
Unknown
A catastrophic blizzard descends upon the West Country in March 1891, paralyzing towns, wrecking historic estates, and claiming lives in a week of unprecedented winter fury.
The German Spy System from Within
Anonymous
Germany’s clandestine efforts to undermine its neighbors from within are exposed as a pervasive, systematic, and long-standing threat to British security. This urgent warning demands a more aggressive response from the government during wartime.
Millbank Penitentiary: An Experiment in Reformation
Arthur Griffiths
Millbank Penitentiary stands as a monumental case study in the evolution of British penal philosophy. This chronicle examines the rise, the institutional struggles, and the eventual dismantling of a facility designed to reconcile punishment with moral reform.
Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer
A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope) Moncrieff
The lush landscapes of Surrey serve as a verdant, historical backyard for the bustling metropolis of London. This guide captures the county's varied character, blending geographical observation with a deep appreciation for its enduring natural beauty.
The Northmen in Britain
Eleanor Hull
The Norse seafaring spirit and the violent, transformative migrations of the ninth through eleventh centuries forever altered the cultural and political map of Britain. This chronicle reconstructs that turbulent era with the clarity of a sagaman.
The Impeachment of the House of Brunswick
Charles Bradlaugh
This polemic systematically dismantles the prestige of the British monarchy, arguing that the Hanoverian line has consistently burdened the nation with fiscal irresponsibility, political meddling, and moral failure.
Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; with Fragmenta regalia
Paul Hentzner
This dual volume captures the fading twilight of the Elizabethan age, blending a foreigner’s detached observations of English life with an insider’s shrewd, often cynical portraits of the Queen’s powerful circle.
Canterbury
Gordon Home
This atmospheric guide offers an immersive journey through the historical layers of England’s most famous cathedral city, blending architectural observation with the dramatic events that shaped its spiritual and cultural identity.
Dartmoor
Arthur L. (Arthur Leslie) Salmon
Dartmoor is a rugged, timeless landscape, described as a "cradle-land of rivers" and a place where ancient history and natural beauty collide in the heart of Devon. It offers a glimpse into a world that feels both untamed and deeply connected to the past.
Ecclesiastical History of England, Volume 5—The Church of the Revolution
John Stoughton
The Glorious Revolution is often remembered as a political triumph, but it was also a profound, messy, and unresolved crisis of conscience for the English Church. This history restores the theological pulse to those monumental events.
The Bushman
Edward Wilson Landor
A sharp-eyed travelogue and political manifesto, this work captures the raw experience of colonial life in Western Australia during the mid-nineteenth century, blending firsthand survival tales with a critique of distant British rule.
Wanderings in London, Piccadilly, Mayfair, and Pall Mall
E. Beresford (Edwin Beresford) Chancellor
This is an intimate, scholarly invitation to walk the historic streets of London’s West End, tracing the ghosts of the poets, politicians, and socialites who once defined the capital.
Four Months Besieged: The Story of Ladysmith
Henry H. S. Pearse
A firsthand chronicle of the grueling 1899–1900 siege of Ladysmith, where trapped British forces endured months of bombardment, disease, and uncertainty while awaiting a relief that seemed perpetually just beyond the horizon.
Glimpses into the Abyss
Mary Higgs
To understand the true face of poverty in turn-of-the-century England, one must look past statistics and walk the cold, hard roads of the dispossessed. This inquiry bridges the gap between official policy and human suffering through radical, firsthand immersion.
Leather for Libraries
Cyril Davenport
This practical handbook serves as a definitive guide for librarians and bookbinders seeking to arrest the rapid decay of modern volumes through the use of sound, chemical-free leather.
Many Fronts
Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman
The world of the Great War is captured through the eyes of an observer tracking conflict from the Mesopotamian sands to the high, frozen peaks of the Italian Alps. These dispatches offer a rare, intimate look at the human cost and the strange, mechanical ingenuity required to survive a global catastrophe.
The March to Magdala
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A seasoned correspondent’s boots-on-the-ground account of the 1868 British expedition to rescue captives from the mountain fortress of King Theodore.
A Calendar of Scottish Saints
Michael Barrett
Across the mist-shrouded landscapes of northern Britain, centuries of quiet devotion left behind a map written in stone, holy wells, and parish names.
Guernsey pictorial directory and stranger's guide
Bellamy, Thomas, of Guernsey
A picturesque island reveals its quiet rhythms through winding lanes, wind-swept cliffs, and the dense, floral richness of its hidden gardens.
A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany-Bay
Watkin Tench
A British marine officer details the 1787 voyage of the First Fleet and the fragile establishment of the first European penal settlement in Australia.
Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. 1 of 6, slice 7 of 9. England, early history
Raphael Holinshed
An ambitious chronicle traces the fragmentation and unification of early England, where pious kings, warring factions, and invading Danes fight for the island's future.
Index Expurgatorius Anglicanus
W. H. (William Henry) Hart
A record of condemned words reveals the boundary lines where English authority once crushed dangerous ideas, punished print, and enforced conformity.
Musketry (.303 and .22 cartridges): Elementary training, visual training, judging distance, fire discipline, range practices, field practices
Unknown
Mastering the service rifle requires a precise understanding of physics, rigorous discipline, and a shared language that transforms individual marksmen into a cohesive unit.
Old times
John Ashton
A meticulous assembly of newspaper extracts captures late-eighteenth-century English life through its everyday gossip, street crimes, political anxieties, and fleeting fashions.
Specimens of British Trench Orders
Army War College (U.S.)
Behind the cold mechanics of military administration lies a raw, meticulous portrait of human survival in the mud of the Western Front.
The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch
Jessie Louisa Moore Rickard
Four bloody engagements on the Western Front transform an eager Irish battalion into a decimated, enduring force, bound together by fierce devotion, shared faith, and tragic sacrifice.
The Curious Case of Lady Purbeck: A Scandal of the XVIIth Century
Thomas Longueville
Forced as a young girl into a loveless match by political ambition, an English noblewoman spends decades evading royal decrees, imprisonment, and accusations of sorcery to claim her own life.
Our Sailors: Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's Reign
William Henry Giles Kingston
Bound to the sea by duty and daring, a nineteenth-century fleet carries its sailors into remote rivers, arctic icefields, and desert sands. They risk everything not for easy glory, but out of sheer habit of mind.
Celebrated naval and military trials
Peter Burke
When authority is pushed to its limits, the courtroom becomes a battleground where military discipline, personal ambition, and national honor collide.
Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. 2 of 6, slice 08 of 12: England, 1216-1272, Henry III
Raphael Holinshed
A young boy inherits a realm torn by rebellion, initiating a fifty-six-year struggle between absolute royal privilege, papacy demands, and the rising power of English barons.
Selections from the Observator (1681-1687)
L'Estrange, Roger, Sir
When a nation fractures, words become weapons, and the printing press transforms into the primary battleground for the soul of the state.
The Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century: With a supplemental chapter on the revival in America
Edwin Paxton Hood
Eighteenth-century England sits frozen in moral decay, its churches dormant and its public life cynical, until a spontaneous spiritual lightning bolt strikes the nation from the field, the inn, and the university.