A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales by Jonathan Nield (top books of all time .txt) 📖

for all true learning, is sometimes best fostered by methods outside the ordinary School routine. Thus, as regards History, where the text-book fails in arousing interest, the tale may succeed, and, once the spirit of inquiry has been stimulated, half the battle is gained. In saying this I am far from wishing to imply that the reading of romances can ever take the place of genuine historical study. I know well that such a book as Green's "Short History of the English People" may prove to some more fascinating than any novel. There are, however, cases in which recourse may be had to a high-class work of fiction for the attainment of a truer historic sense; while, taken only as supplement to more strictly Academic reading, such a work may prove to have its uses. Considerable discrimination is required—as I have already hinted—in the choice of suitable books, and, as a help in this direction, I have made out (vide "Suggested courses of Reading" at the end of this volume) two special lists for Boys and Girls respectively, which will, I trust, be found useful. If, besides being of help to teachers, my recommendations should lead in any degree to further appreciation of the great masters of Romance, the labour (by no means inconsiderable) expended on this little compilation will be amply rewarded. J. N.

January, 1902.

NOTE—the order in which the books are placed is, on the whole, according to the periods dealt with; occasionally the grouping decided on has prevented absolute correctness in this respect.

PRE-CHRISTIAN ERA.

SARCHEDON — G. J. Whyte Melville
Ancient Babylon and the Assyrians
W. Thacker & Co., and Ward, Lock, & Co.

UARDA — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Egypt—Rameses Sesostris
Sampson Low & Co.

ZOROASTER — F. Marion Crawford
Zoroaster, the Persian Religious Reformer
Macmillan & Co.

AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Egypt—Amasis and Cambyses, 6th Century B. C.
Sampson Low & Co.

THE FALL OF ATHENS — A. J. Church
Peloponnesian War
Seeley & Co.

A YOUNG MACEDONIAN — A. J. Church
Alexander the Great
Seeley & Co.

SALAMMBO — Gustave Flaubert (trans.)
Rome versus Carthage
G. P. Putnam's Sons, and Grant Richards

THE LION'S BROOD — Duffield Osborne
Rome versus Carthage
W. Heinemann

LORDS OF THE WORLD — A. J. Church
Rome versus Carthage.
Blackie & Son

THE SISTERS — Georg Ehers (trans.)
Egypt—Ptolemy Philometer, and Euergetes
Sampson Low & Co.

THE HAMMER — A. J. Church and R. Seeley
Maccabaean Times
Seeley & Co.

DEBORAH — J. M. Ludlow
Maccabaean Times
J. Nisbet & Co.

HELON'S PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM — F. Strauss (trans.)
Judaism in the Century preceding Christ
J. Mawman, London, 1824

PRUSIAS — Ernst Eckstein (trans.)
The Slave Revolt under Spartacus.
Trubner & Co.

TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO — A. J. Church
Rome—Spartacus and Mithridates
Blackie & Son

WOE TO THE CONQUERED — Alfred Clark
Roman Life, B. C. 73-71
Sampson Low & Co.

A FRIEND OF CAESAR — W. S. Davis
Pompey and Caesar
Macmillan & Co.

CLEOPATRA — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Latter Years of Cleopatra.
Sampson Low & Co.

FIRST CENTURY A.D.

NEAERA — John W. Graham
Rome under Tiberius (A. D. 26)
Macmillan & Co.

PHILOCHRISTUS — Anonymous
Memoirs of a Disciple of Christ
Macmillan & Co.

BEN HUR — Lew Wallace
Rome in the time of Christ
Harper & Brothers, and others

TARRY THOU TILL I COME (Salathiel) — G. Croly
Judaism and Christianity (the early struggle)
Funk & Wagnalls Co.

AS OTHERS SAW HIM — Anonymous
Early Christianity (A. D. 54)
W. Heinemann

BERIC THE BRITON — G. A. Henty
Roman Invasion of Britain
Blackie & Son

ONESIMUS— Anonymous
Memoirs of a Disciple of Paul
Macmillan & Co.

QUO VADIS? — H. Sienkiewicz (trans.)
Rome in the time of Nero
J. M. Dent & Co.

NERO — Ernst Eckstein (trans.)
Rome in the time of Nero
Trubner & Co.

THE BURNING OF ROME — A. J. Church
Rome in the time of Nero
Seeley & Co.

ACTE — Hugh Westbury
Rome in the time of Nero
Bentley

DARKNESS AND DAWN — Dean Farrar
Persecutions under Nero
Longmans, Green, & Co.

THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII — Lytton
Time of Vespasian
Geo. Routledge & Sons

THE GLADIATORS — G. J. Whyte Melville
Fall of Jerusalem
W. Thacker & Co. and Ward, Lock, & Co.

DOMITIA — S. Baring-Gould
Time of Domitian
Methuen & Co.

MASTERS OF THE WORLD — Mary A. M. Hoppus
Time of Domitian
Bentley, 1888

QUINTUS CLAUDIUS — Ernst Eckstein (trans.)
Time of Domitian
W. S. Gottsberger

SECOND CENTURY.

VALERIUS — J. G. Lockhart
Time of Trajan (Rome)
W. Blackwood & Sons

TO THE LIONS — A. J. Church
Christians and the Younger Pliny
Seeley & Co.

ANTINOUS — George Taylor (trans.)
Time of Hadrian
William S. Gottsberger, New York, 1882

MARIUS THE EPICUREAN — W. Pater
Time of Marcus Aurelius
Macmillan & Co.

THIRD CENTURY.

PER ASPERA — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Alexandria in time of Emperor Caracalla
Sampson Low & Co.

PERPETUA — S. Baring-Gould
Nimes—beginning of Third Century
Isbister & Co.

THE CAMP ON THE SEVERN — A. D. Crake
Persecution in Britain
Mowbray & Co.

THE VILLA OF CLAUDIUS — E. L. Cutts
Roman occupation of Britain
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

CALLISTA — J. H. Newman
North Africa persecutions
Longmans, Green, & Co.

*THE EPICUREAN — Thomas Moore
Worship of Isis (Egypt)
Downey & Co.

* This tale, it must be admitted, is given a place mainly on account of its literary interest; as a historical romance it has been very severely criticised.

AURELIAN — W. Ware
Rome—late Third Century
Warne & Co.

THE LAST DAYS AND FALL OF PALMYRA (ZENOBIA) — W. Ware
Zenobia and Longinus
Cassell & Co. ("Red Library," 1890)

FOURTH CENTURY.

HOMO SUM — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Christians in Arabia
Sampson Low & Co.

*OUR FOREFATHERS (Die Ahnen) — Gustav Freytag (trans.)
Germany A. D. 357
Asher & Co., 1873

* The collective title of a series in which the history of a family is made to illustrate successive stages of German Civilisation. The English translation does not extend beyond the first two stories, dealing with the years 357 and 724 respectively; the remaining four stories (published by Hirzel of Leipsic, 1874-80) depict German life in 1226, 1519, 1647, and 1805.

THE LAST ATHENIAN — V. Rydberg (trans.)
Athens A. D. 361
T. B. Peterson & Brothers, Philadelphia

*THE DEATH OF THE GODS — D. Merejkowski (trans.)
The Emperor Julian
Constable & Co.

* No. 1 of the trilogy "Christ and Anti-Christ."

JETTA — George Taylor (trans.)
Heidelberg under the Romans
Trubner & Co., 1886

SERAPIS — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Alexandria A. D. 391
Trubner & Co., 1885

A DUKE OF BRITAIN — Sir Herbert Maxwell
Picts and Romans
W. Blackwood & Sons

FIFTH CENTURY.

GATHERING CLOUDS — Dean Farrar
Chrysostom [late Fourth—early Fifth Century]
Longmans, Green, & Co.

CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER — Mrs. Charles
Jerome [late Fourth—early Fifth Century]
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

FABIOLA — Cardinal Wiseman
Rome early Fifth Century
Burns, 1855

HYPATIA — Charles Kingsley
Alexandria
Macmillan & Co.

THE COUNT OF THE SAXON SHORE — A. J. Church
Departure of Romans from Britain
Seeley & Co.

ATTILA — G. P. R. James
Decline of Roman Empire
Warne & Co.

FELICITAS — Felix Dahn (trans.)
The German Migrations, A. D. 476
Macmillan & Co.

SIXTH CENTURY.

BUILDERS Of THE WASTE — Thorpe Forrest
Britains v. Anglians in Yorkshire
Duckworth & Co.

A STRUGGLE FOR ROME — Felix Dahn (trans.)
The Ostrogoths and Belisarius
R. Bentley, 1878

ANTONINA — Wilkie Collins
Rome in 546
Chatto & Windus

HAVELOK THE DANE — C. W. Whistler
Denmark and England
T. Nelson & Sons

SHAVEN CROWN — M. Bramston
Conversion of the Surrey Border (time of Ethelbert)
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

SEVENTH CENTURY.

THE SON OF AELLA — Gertrude Hollis
Conversion of Northumbria
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

CAEDWALLA — F. Cowper
Saxons in the Isle of Wight
Seeley & Co.

THE BRIDE OF THE NILE — Georg Ebers (trans.)
Egypt, A. D. 643
Trubner & Co.

*EIGHTH CENTURY.

* The second tale in Freytag's "Our Forefathers" (vide Fourth
Century section) illustrates the Germany of A. D. 724.

THE INVASION — G. Griffin
Ireland and Northern Europe in second half of the Eighth Century
Saunders & Otley, London, 1832

NINTH CENTURY.

A THANE OF WESSEX — C. W. Whistler
Ethelwulf (mid Ninth Century)
Blackie & Son

THE WOOING OF OSYTH — Kate T. Sizer
Edmund the Martyr
Jarrold & Sons

*THE KING'S SONS — G. Manville Fenn
Alfred and his times
E. Nister

* A very slight but charming story of Alfred's boyhood, specially suited for the very young.

IN AELFRED'S DAYS and UNDER THE BLACK RAVEN — Paul Creswick
Alfred and his times
E. Nister

GOD SAVE KING ALFRED — E. Gilliat
Alfred and his times
Macmillan & Co.

THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN — G. A. Henty
Alfred and his times
Blackie & Son

KING ALFRED'S VIKING — C. W. Whistler
Alfred and his times
T. Nelson & Sons

A HERO KING — Eliza F. Pollard
Alfred and his times
Partridge & Co.

TWIXT DAYDAWN AND LIGHT — Gordon Stables
Alfred and his times
J. F. Shaw & Co.

A LION OF WESSEX — Tom Bevan
Alfred and his times
Partridge & Co.

TENTH CENTURY.

THE LITTLE DUKE — Charlotte M. Yonge
Normandy—Richard the Fearless
Macmillan & Co.

EKKEHARD — Scheffel (trans.)
Germany—The Huns, &c.
Sampson Low & Co.

EDWY THE FAIR — A. D. Crake
Britain—Dunstan
Longmans, Green, & Co.

THE VIKINGS OF THE BALTIC — G. W. Dasent
The Vikings—last quarter of Tenth Century
Chapman & Hall, 1875

ELEVENTH CENTURY.

OLAF THE GLORIOUS — Robert Leighton
Russia and Norway
Blackie & Son

THE FALL OF ASGARD — Julian Corbett
St. Olaf's Days
Macmillan & Co.

KING OLAF'S KINSMAN — C. W. Whistler
Ethelred the Unready
Blackie & Son

WULFRIC THE WEAPON THANE — C. W. Whistler
Edmund Ironside
Blackie & Son

ALFGAR THE DANE — A. D. Crake
Edmund Ironside
Longmans, Green, & Co.

EDWARD THE EXILE — Mary Davidson
Edward the Confessor's period (abroad)
Hodder & Stoughton

HAROLD — Lytton
The Norman Conquest
George Routledge & Sons

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR — Sir Charles Napier
The Norman Conquest
George Routledge, 1858

THE CAMP OF REFUGE — C. Macfarlane
The Norman Conquest
Constable & Co.

HEREWARD THE WAKE — Charles Kingsley
The Norman Conquest
Macmillan & Co.

THE RIVAL HEIRS — A. D. Crake
The Norman Conquest
Longmans, Green, & Co.

WULF THE SAXON — G. A. Henty
The Norman Conquest
Blackie & Son

RUFUS, OR THE RED KING — Anonymous
William II.
Constable & Co. (reprint announced)

IN THE DAYS OF ST. ANSELM — Gertrude Hollis
William II.
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS — Scott
First Crusade
A. & C. Black

GOD WILLS IT — W. S. Davis
First Crusade
Macmillan & Co.

TWELFTH CENTURY.

PABO THE PRIEST — S. Baring-Gould
Time of Henry I.
Methuen & Co.

A LEGEND OF READING ABBEY — C. Macfarlane
Time of Stephen
Constable & Co.

THE KNIGHT OF THE GOLDEN CHAIN — R. D. Chetwode
Time of Stephen
C. A. Pearson

VIA CRUCIS — F. Marion Crawford
Second Crusade
Macmillan & Co.

THE BETROTHED — Scott
Henry II.
A. & C. Black

FOREST OUTLAWS — E. Gilliat
Henry II.
Seeley & Co.

IN HIS NAME — E. E. Hale
The Waldenses
Seeley & Co.

THE TALISMAN — Scott
Richard I.
A. & C. Black

IVANHOE — Scott
Richard I.
A. & C. Black

RICHARD YEA-AND-NAY — Maurice Hewlett
Richard I.
Macmillan & Co.

MAID MARIAN — Thomas Love Peacock
Richard I.
Macmillan & Co.

THE BLUE BANNER — Leon Cahun (trans.)
Period of Crusades and the Mongol Conquest (late Twelfth to early
Thirteenth Century).
Sampson Low & Co.

THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

ROYSTON GOWER — Thomas Miller
Time of John
Colburn, 1838

RUNNYMEDE AND LINCOLN FAIR — J. G. Edgar
Time of John (the Charter)
Ward, Lock, & Co.

WALDEMAR — B. S. Ingemann (trans.)
Denmark, 1204
Saunders & Otley, 1841

THE MOST FAMOUS LOBA — N. K. Blissett
Persecution of the Albigenses—Carcassonne
Wm. Blackwood & Sons

PHILIP AUGUSTUS — G. P. R. James
France in early Thirteenth Century
Warne & Co.

LA BATTAGLIA DI BENEVENTO — F. D. Guerrazzi
Italy—period of Emperor Frederick II.
Guiseppe Maspero, Milan, 1829

THE COUNTESS TEKLA and THE STRONG ARM — Robert Barr
Germany mid-Thirteenth Century
Methuen & Co.

'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR; OR, THE SCOURGE OF GOD —
Baron Nicolas Josika (trans.)
Hungary—the Tartar Invasion
Jarrold & Sons

A CLERK OF OXFORD — E. Everett Green
Henry III.—Barons' Wars
T. Nelson & Sons

HOW I WON MY SPURS — J. G. Edgar
Henry III.—Barons' Wars
Ward, Lock, & Co.

A STOUT ENGLISH BOWMAN — E. Pickering
Period of Henry III.
Blackie & Son

THE ROBBER BARON OF BEDFORD CASTLE — A. J. Foster and E. C.
Cuthell
Period of Henry III.
T. Nelson & Sons

THE THIRSTY SWORD — Robert Leighton
Norse Invasion of Scotland, 1262-3
Blackie & Son

THE PRINCE AND THE PAGE — Charlotte M. Yonge
8th Crusade
Macmillan & Co.

THE KING'S REEVE — E. Gilliat
Time of Edward I.
Seeley &