Historical fiction and non-fiction
Explore captivating historical fiction and non-fiction books that bring the past to life. Discover epic tales, true stories, and must-read classics for history lovers.
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Hereward
by Victor Head
In 1070, England lay prostrate under the heel of William the Conqueror. From the enveloping gloom of Norman oppression only one last centre of resistance remained - the Isle of Ely in the fens of East Anglia. From this refuge emerged a leader who struggled against enormous odds to defend his Saxon homeland; a man whose achievements cast him in the heroic mould, yet whose very existence has until now remained a mystery. Victor Head delves beneath the myth to discover the truth about the legendary 'Hereward the Wake'. He presents the evidence and discusses the various versions and interpretations of the story.
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The Last English King
by Julian Rathbone
Three years after William of Normandy's victory at Hastings in 1066, King Harold's only surviving bodyguard, emotionally and physically scarred by the loss of his king and country, wanders the European continent and tells his tale to his traveling companion, a renegade monk named Quint.
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The Year 1000
by Robert Lacey
As the Shadow of the Millennium Descended Across England and Christendom, it Seemed as if the World was About to End. Actually, it was Only the Beginning... Welcome to the Year 1000. This is What Life was Like. How clothes were fastened in a world without buttons, p.10 The rudiments of medieval brain surgery, p.124 The first millennium's Bill Gates, p.192 How dolphins forecasted weather, p.140 The recipe for a medieval form of Viagra, p.126 Body parts a married woman had to forfeit if she committed adultery, p.171 The fundamental rules of warfare, p.154 How fried and crushed black snails could improve your health, p.127 And much more...
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Eagle in the Snow
by Wallace Breem
The future of Rome is tested as Maximus, the newly appointed "General of the West" must lead his legion in defending their territory, while opposing forces grow in numbers and plan their invasion on the fated empire.
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Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
A powerful narrative which exposes the brutalities and useless suffering caused by war.
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The Winter King
by Bernard Cornwell
It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur. The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant. As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.
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Heretic
by Bernard Cornwell
From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the sequel to The Archer’s Tale and Vagabond—the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family’s honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail. Already a seasoned veteran of King Edward's army, young Thomas of Hookton possesses the fearlessness of a born leader and an uncanny prowess with the longbow. Now, at the head of a small but able band of soldiers, he has been dispatched to capture the castle of Astarac. But more than duty to his liege has brought him to Gascony, home of his forebears and the hated black knight who brutally slew Thomas's father. It is also the last place where the Holy Grail was reported seen. Here, also, a beautiful and innocent, if not pious, woman is to be burned as a heretic. Saving the lady, Genevieve, from her dread fate will brand Thomas an infidel, forcing them to flee together across a landscape of blood and fire. And what looms ahead is a battle to the death that could ultimately shape the future of Christendom.
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Vikings
by William F. Fitzhugh
Replete with color photographs, drawings, and maps of Viking sites, artifacts, and landscapes, this book celebrates and explores the Viking saga from the combined perspectives of history, archaeology, oral tradition, literature, and natural science. The book's contributors chart the spread of marauders and traders in Europe as well as the expansion of farmers and explorers throughout the North Atlantic and into the New World. They show that Norse contacts with Native American groups were more extensive than has previously been believed, but that the outnumbered Europeans never established more than temporary settlements in North America.
