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History - British — page 17
986 public-domain history - british books, summarised. Page 17 of 21.
The Tunnellers of Holzminden (with a side-issue)
H. G. (Hugh George) Durnford
The Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp, a fortress of concrete and despair, becomes the backdrop for an improbable, claustrophobic game of cat-and-mouse. This account captures the ingenuity of men trapped in the final year of the Great War.
The Visitor's Hand-Book for Holyhead: Comprising a History of the Town, the Antiquities and Sublime Scenery of the Mountain
Thomas Jackson
This guide captures the spirit of a Welsh coastal town during a period of rapid Victorian expansion, blending historical reverence with a pragmatic focus on maritime safety and engineering marvels.
From Aldershot to Pretoria
William E. Sellers
Faith and duty collide on the dusty South African veldt as British soldiers and chaplains carry their spiritual devotion alongside their rifles.
German Influence on British Cavalry
Erskine Childers
Outdated doctrines put armies at risk, and relying on foreign models can blind military leaders to hard-won practical experience.
King Edward's realm: Story of the making of the Empire
C. S. (Charles Sherwill) Dawe
A history of how a small island nation grew into a global realm through naval skill, trading ambition, military force, and relentless colonial enterprise.
Burmah and the Burmese
Kenneth R. H. (Kenneth Robert Henderson) Mackenzie
Rich in natural resources and distinct traditions, nineteenth-century Burma remains a complex, insular kingdom forced into confrontation with global expansion.
Social life in England, 1750-1850
F. J. (Frederick John) Foakes-Jackson
A centuries-old fear of hidden Papistry, a doctor's son writing verse in the Suffolk mud, and a high-society trial that captivated a nation all reveal the hidden machinery of a lost English century.
The Welding of the Race ("449"-1066)
Unknown
Centuries of conflict, religious conversion, and state-building transform scattered Germanic tribes into a single Anglo-Saxon kingdom before the cataclysm of 1066.
German Spies in England: An Exposure
William Le Queux
Rampant international intrigue, complacent government officials, and a hidden network of enemy agents threaten Britain from within during the opening months of the First World War.
Historical record of the Thirteenth, First Somerset, or the Prince Albert's Regiment of Light Infantry: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent services to 1848
Richard Cannon
Forged in the turbulence of 1685 and hardened across two centuries of international conflict, a single British infantry regiment marches from the bogs of Ireland to the mountain passes of Afghanistan.
Reasons Against the Succession of the House of Hanover: With an Enquiry How Far the Abdication of King James, Supposing It to Be Legal, Ought to Affect the Person of the Pretender
Daniel Defoe
Irony becomes a weapon of high political drama when an author sarcastically champions the destruction of his own nation's religious and civil liberties to expose the absurdity of his opponents' party logic.
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 56, December 2, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
This Victorian newsdigest opens a vivid window into global empire, Arctic exploration, and late nineteenth-century world conflicts, making history feel as immediate and urgent as today's breaking headlines.
The Isle of Wight
G. E. (Geraldine Edith) Mitton
An island that feels like a continent in miniature, bounded by white cliffs, soft downs, and deep historical shadows.
The Last Fight of the Revenge
Walter Raleigh
A tiny Tudor warship stands alone against fifty-three Spanish galleons off the Azores, choosing catastrophic battle over a quiet retreat into the Atlantic night.
The Retreat from Mons
George Stuart Gordon
Outnumbered and unexpectedly exposed on the Allied flank in August 1914, British soldiers turn a desperate retreat into a masterclass in discipline.
A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India
Charles Acland
This intimate, observant collection of letters captures the daily realities of a clergyman’s life in 1840s India, documenting a world of stark beauty and profound personal loss.
Grand moving diorama of Hindostan
Fanny Parkes Parlby
This guide to a 19th-century panoramic exhibition offers a vivid, static journey through the geography, architecture, and religious customs of British-occupied India. It serves as both a souvenir of a theatrical experience and a detailed gazetteer of colonial life.
Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. 3 of 6, slice 7 of 9: England, 1485-1509, Henry VII
Raphael Holinshed
HOOK This account chronicles the rise of the first Tudor monarch, charting how a calculated king secured his precarious crown against rebellion and paved the way for a new era in English governance.
The Growth of Parliament and the War with Scotland (1216-1307)
Unknown
This collection of historical documents traces the turbulent evolution of English governance and the crown’s relentless military pursuit of Scotland during the thirteenth century. It serves as a vital repository of primary evidence for understanding the period’s shifting power dynamics.
The Norwegian account of Haco's expedition against Scotland, A.D. MCCLXIII
Sturla Þórðarson
The final great voyage of a Norse king unfolds in this spare, haunting chronicle, capturing the twilight of Viking power as a monarch leads his fleet against Scotland in a last attempt to reclaim the Western Isles.
A history of English poetry
Thomas Warton
This scholarly fragment offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the unfinished ambitions of an eighteenth-century literary giant. It preserves the final, unpolished thoughts on Elizabethan verse that were nearly lost to history.
Augusta Triumphans
Daniel Defoe
This collection of civic proposals serves as a practical blueprint for reforming the social, moral, and administrative landscape of eighteenth-century London. It addresses the city's chaotic growth with a blend of earnest idealism and sharp-eyed skepticism.
Beautiful Lakeland
Ashley Perry Abraham
The rugged peaks and tranquil waters of England’s northwest corner offer a timeless sanctuary where history and geology collide in a landscape of unparalleled natural splendor.
Correspondence of the Family of Haddock, 1657-1719: The Camden Miscellany: Volume the Eighth
Unknown
The sea is a constant, shifting presence in the lives of the Haddock family, whose letters trace the rise and sacrifice of a naval dynasty across seven decades of war and royal service.
With the Scottish Regiments at the Front
Evelyn Charles Vivian
This collection of wartime accounts serves as an immediate, visceral chronicle of the Scottish infantry during the opening months of the First World War. It captures the transition from professional military tradition to the brutal, industrialized reality of the Western Front.
The Open Secret of Ireland
Tom Kettle
A deep-seated historical entanglement defines the relationship between England and Ireland, where justice and freedom are the only pathways to genuine peace. This book explores the endurance of the Irish national idea against centuries of systemic misgovernment.
Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter, March 1829
Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions
The conscience of a nation is on trial as this urgent dispatch exposes the brutal realities of colonial slavery and the systematic resistance to its abolition.
English monasteries
J. Charles (John Charles) Cox
This historical inquiry challenges the traditional narrative of the English Reformation, arguing that the dissolution of the monasteries was driven by state-sanctioned greed rather than the moral failings of the religious orders. Through a meticulous examination of primary records, the text reframes these…
Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway: Illustrative and Descriptive of Places along the Line from Worcester to Shrewsbury
John Randall
This guide captures the spirit of a journey by rail through the heart of England’s Severn Valley. It serves as an observant companion for those traveling between the historic cities of Worcester and Shrewsbury.
Historical Record of the Second, or Queen's Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in the Year 1661, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1837
Richard Cannon
This chronicle traces the lineage and combat history of a distinguished British infantry unit from its seventeenth-century formation to the early Victorian era. It serves as an official testament to the endurance and institutional identity of the Queen’s Royal Regiment of Foot.
History of King Charles the First of England
Jacob Abbott
This historical narrative traces the turbulent reign of a monarch whose belief in absolute power collided violently with the rising demand for parliamentary authority. It is a measured, clear-eyed chronicle of a king’s journey from a grand coronation to a lonely, tragic end on the scaffold.
Ponies past and present
Gilbey, Walter, Sir
The sturdy, resilient pony is a survivor of history, having endured centuries of neglect and legislative attempts to suppress its kind. This volume examines the enduring value of these small, hardy horses across the British Isles.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 48, October, 1861: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A diverse collection of Civil War-era American writing captures a nation in conflict through personal travelogue, historical allegory, dark narrative fiction, and patriotic analysis.
Fifth Report of the Vestry of the Parish of Chelsea in the County of Middlesex, Appointed Under the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1855: 1860-1
Charles Lahee
The rapid urbanization of mid-Victorian London demands a new, rigorous system of local administration, forcing parish officials to balance the mounting pressures of public health, taxation, and infrastructure against the weight of tradition.
Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third
Horace Walpole
Unfairly branded by Tudor chroniclers as a monstrous villain, a medieval king receives a rigorous historical defense that exposes how deeply political bias corrupts standard national histories.
On the Red Chalk of England
Thomas Wiltshire
The Red Chalk of England is a thin, mysterious band of earth, a geological anomaly that defies the conventional understanding of the white chalk cliffs typical of the British landscape.
Some Observations Upon the Civilization of the Western Barbarians, Particularly of the English: made during the residence of some years in those parts
John B. Swazey
This narrative serves as a series of anthropological field notes from a Chinese visitor observing the social landscape of Victorian England. It offers a provocative, satirical mirror to Western customs, religion, and governance.
The British soldier
E. J. (Edward John) Hardy
The British soldier of the Great War is a portrait drawn not by a historian, but by the soldiers themselves. Through their letters home, the stark reality of the trenches meets the undying humor of the ranks.
The River of London
Hilaire Belloc
The Thames is not merely a channel for trade; it is the spiritual and physical artery that determined the survival and supremacy of London through two millennia of shifting fortunes.
The Cornish Riviera
Sidney Heath
HOOK This guide captures the rugged, salt-sprayed essence of the Cornish coast, blending historical lore with the natural splendor of a region defined by its isolation and its enduring mystery.
The Story of the "9th King's" in France
Enos Herbert Glynne Roberts
This account documents the four-year evolution of a Territorial battalion, tracing its transformation from civilian volunteers into hardened infantrymen on the Western Front during the Great War.
Stand Up, Ye Dead
Norman Maclean
Stand up, ye dead." This urgent, thunderous plea serves as both a central metaphor and a rallying cry for a nation the author believes is sleepwalking toward spiritual and biological extinction.
A History of the Four Georges, Volume II
Justin McCarthy
A ruthless political machine defends its power while foreign wars and internal rebellions threaten to tear Great Britain apart.
A Journal of the Expedition to Carthagena, with Notes: In Answer to a Late Pamphlet Entitled, An account of the Expedition to Carthagena
Unknown
A stinging military rebuttal, this anonymous defense strips away the layers of political finger-pointing that followed the catastrophic British failure at the Siege of Cartagena in 1741.
An Abstract of the Proceedings of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, Appointed Session, 1849, to Inquire Into the Contract Packet Service
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
A vital public record of mid-19th-century steam navigation, this collection documents the high-stakes intersection of government policy, private enterprise, and the global expansion of the British mail.
Canterbury
W. Teignmouth (William Teignmouth) Shore
Canterbury is an evocative portrait of a city where the weight of English history rests heavily upon its stones. It serves as both a meditative travelogue and a deep dive into the ecclesiastical past.
London in Modern Times
Unknown
This historical survey traces the evolution of London from the seventeenth century through the eighteenth, chronicling a city defined by its cyclical patterns of commercial prosperity, political upheaval, and moral reform.
His Maiesties Declaration, touching his Proceedings in the late Assemblie and Conuention of Parliament
King of England James I
This royal defense serves as a window into the absolute conviction of a monarch who viewed his authority not as a negotiation, but as a divine stewardship. It captures the friction between a King’s desire to rule by decree and a Parliament’s nascent impulse to assert its own significance.