PDF Books in Historical Fiction
The Last Duchess of Belgarde
by Molly Elliot SeawellIn the great, green old garden of Madame, the Countess of Floramour, sat her granddaughter, little Mademoiselle Trimousette, wondering when she was to be married and to whom. Such an enterprise was afoot, and even then being arranged, but nobody, so far, had condescended to give Trimousette any of the particulars. She was stitching demurely at her ..
Ascanio
by Alexandre DumasVictor Hugo dared to puncture the "legend," when, in the play of "Le Roi s'Amuse," he represented the "knightly king" as being enticed to a low water-side hovel by the charms of a girl of the street; but even the government of the Citizen King, Louis-Philippe, could not brook such an attack upon the "divinity that doth hedge a king," and, after the..
Belshazzar - A Tale of the Fall of Babylon
by William Stearns DavisOn a certain day in the month Airu, by men of after days styled April, a bireme was speeding down the river Euphrates. Her swarthy Phœnician crew were bending to the double tier of oars that rose flashing from the tawny current; while the flute-player, perched upon the upcurved prow, was piping ever quicker, hastening the stroke, and at times stopp..
The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck
by Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyThe story of Perkin Warbeck was first suggested to me as a subject for historical detail. On studying it, I became aware of the romance which his story contains, while, at the same time, I felt that it would be impossible for any narration, that should be confined to the incorporation of facts related by our old Chroniclers, to do it justice.It is ..
The Wolfe of Badenoch
by Thomas Dick-LauderThe “Wolfe of Badenoch” was advertised in June, 1825, at which time it was ready for the press. Since then, certain circumstances, easily guessed at, have subjected it, with many a more important work, to an embargo, from which critics may possibly say it should never have been liberated. The author himself had forgotten it, until now that it has b..
The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment
by James Branch CabellPROBABLY Florian would never have gone into the Forest of Acaire had he not been told, over and over again, to keep out of it. Obedience to those divinely set in authority was in 1698 still modish: none the less, such orders, so insistently repeated to any normal boy of ten, even to a boy not born of the restless house of Puysange, must make the ve..
The Perilous Seat
by Caroline Dale SnedekerThe background and details of this story have been carefully authenticated. The founding of the colony Inessa, however, is not an actual event. It is the union of a number of colony traditions. It is therefore correct in character and spirit. The tale was written at the MacDowell Colony at Peterborough, New Hampshire, and I am constantly mindful of..
Old Ninety-Nine's Cave
by Elizabeth H. GrayTourists in the Shawangunk region are unanimous in pronouncing it one of the most beautiful spots east of the Mississippi, and in some respects unique on this continent. Mokonk and Minnewaska need no eulogy from any pen, Sam’s Point tells its own story, while the entire Rondout Valley has a charm of its own.It has been the author’s good fortune to ..