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A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales

Jonathan Nield

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A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales

by Jonathan Nield

June, 1998 [Etext #1359]

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A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales

by Jonathan Nield

"These historical novels have taught all men this truth, which

looks like a truism, and yet was as good as unknown to writers

of history and others, till so taught: that the bygone ages of

the world were actually filled by living men, not by protocols,

state-papers, controversies, and abstractions of men."

--Carlyle on the Waverley novels.

Contents

Introduction

Pre-Christian Era

First Century

Second Century

Third Century

Fourth Century

Fifth Century

Sixth Century

Seventh Century

Eighth Century

Ninth Century

Tenth Century

Eleventh Century

Twelfth Century

Thirteenth Century

Fourteenth Century

Fifteenth Century

Sixteenth Century

Seventeenth Century

Eighteenth Century

Nineteenth Century

Supplementary List (Semi-Historical)

Suggested Courses of Reading (Juvenile)

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION.

It is not proposed, in these preliminary remarks, to sketch in

detail the origin and growth of the Historical Novel; this has

already been amply done by Professor Saintsbury and others. I

shall be content to approach the subject on its general side,

offering, at the same time, some critical suggestions which will, I

hope, not be without value to readers of Romance.

But, first of all, I must explain how the List which follows came

to be compiled, and the object I have in offering it. For many

years I have been an assiduous reader of novels and tales in which

the historical element appeared, supplementing my own reading in

this direction by a careful study of all that I could find in the

way of Criticism on such works and their writers. Only in this way

could I venture on a selection involving a survey of several

thousand volumes! With the above understanding, I can say that no

book has been inserted without some reason, while I have made all

possible effort to obtain accuracy of description. And this leads

me to remark, that just in this process of selection do I claim

originality for my List. Nearly twenty years ago an excellent

"Descriptive Catalogue of Historical Novels and Tales" was

published; Mr. H. Courthope Bowen was the compiler,* and I would

here mention my indebtedness to him. In Mr. Bowen's list, however,

one finds good and bad alike--all the works of even such moderately

endowed writers as G. P. R. James, Ainsworth, Grant, etc., are

there set down. It seemed to me that, not only was there room for

a new list of Historical Novels (Stevenson, Marion Crawford, Conan

Doyle, Weyman, Mason, and a number of more or less capable

romancists having come forward in the last twenty years), but,

also, that more than ever was there a need for some sort of clue in

the search for such books. In the last year or two there has been

an almost alarming influx in this department of Fiction, and

teachers in schools, besides readers in general, may be glad to be

saved a somewhat tedious investigation.

* "A Descriptive Catalogue of Historical Novels and Tales, for the

use of School Libraries and Teachers of History," compiled and

described by H. Courthope Bowen, M. A. (Edward Stanford, 1882.)

Having thus attempted to justify the existence of my little

"Guide," I pass on to deal with the subject of Historical Fiction

itself. Most of us, I suppose, at one time or another have

experienced a thrill of interest when some prominent personage,

whom we knew well by repute, came before us in the flesh. We

watched his manner, and noted all those shades of expression which

in another's countenance we should have passed by unheeded. Well,

it seems to me that, parallel with this experience, is that which

we gain, when, reading some first-rank romance, we encounter in its

pages a figure with which History has made us more or less

familiar. And I would remark that the great masters do not, as a

rule, make that mistake which less skilful writers fall into--the

mistake of introducing well-known historical figures too

frequently. The Cromwell of "Woodstock" has an element of mystery

about him, even while he stands out before our mental vision in

bold relief. Had Scott brought him more prominently into the plot,

and thus emphasized the fictional aspect of his figure, our

interest in the story, as such, might have been sustained, but we

should have lost that atmosphere of vraisemblance which, under a

more careful reserve, the hand of the master has wrought for us.

But it is not only this introduction of personalities which

constitutes a novel "historical"; the mere allusion to real events,

or the introduction of dates, may give us sufficient ground for

identifying the period with which a novel deals. Of course the

question as to whether a particular person or event is truly

historical, is not always an easy one to answer. By the adaptation

in it of some purely mythical character or event, a novel is no

more constituted "historical" than is a Fairy-tale by the

adaptation of folklore. King Arthur and Robin Hood are

unhistorical, and, if I have ventured to insert in my list certain

tales which deal with the latter, it is not on that account, but

because other figures truly historical (e.g., Richard I.) appear.

As there has been some dispute on this question of the Historical

Novel proper, I offer the following definition:--A Novel is

rendered Historical by the introduction of dates, personages, or

events, to which identification can be readily given. I am quite

aware that certain well-known novels which give the general

atmosphere of a period--such, for example, as Hawthorne's "Scarlet

Letter" and Mr. Hewlett's "Forest Lovers"--do not come within the

scope of my definition; but this is just why I have added a

"Supplementary List" of semi-historical tales. And, while I am

alluding to this "Supplementary List," I should like to give my

reason for omitting from it one remarkable book which has every

claim to be considered representative of the mid-nineteenth

century. Readers of "John Inglesant" may be reminded that in his

interesting preface Mr. Shorthouse alludes to William Smith's

philosophical novel--"Thorndale." As a picture of Thought

developments in the early Victorian period, the latter work has

special historical interest for the philosophical and theological

student; in this respect it may be likened to Pater's "Marius the

Epicurean," which vividly reproduces the Intellectual ferment of an

earlier age. "Thorndale," however, is primarily didactic, and the

philosophical dialogues (interesting as these are to the

metaphysician) hardly atone to the general reader for an almost

entire absence of plot. The above is, doubtless, an altogether

extreme instance, but the exclusion of several other works from the

category of Romance seems to follow on something like the same

grounds. Becker's "Charicles" and "Gallus" are little more than

school textbooks, while, turning to a less scholarly quarter,

Ainsworth's "Preston Fight," and even his better-known "Guy

Fawkes," may be cited as illustrating what Mr. Shorthouse means

when he speaks of novels "in which a small amount of fiction has

been introduced simply for the purpose of relating History." In

all such cases the average novel-reader feels that he has been

allured on false pretences. I am well aware that not a few of the

books included in my List might be considered to fall under the

same ban, but I think it will be found that in most of them there

is at least a fair attempt to arouse narrative interest.

Coming to the List itself, it will be noticed that I have been

somewhat sparing in the books given under the "Pre-Christian"

heading. Novels dealing with these very far-off times are apt to

be unsatisfactory; the mist in which events and personages are

enveloped, takes away from that appearance of reality which is the

great charm of the historical novel. We are hardly concerned, in

reading "Sarchedon" and similar books, to get away from the purely

imaginary pictures which spring from the Novelist's own brain, and

the danger is that the very elements which add to our interest in

the tale as such, will go far to mislead us in our conception of

the period dealt with. There is none of that sense of familiarity

which we enjoy when reading a sixteenth or seventeenth century

romance; in the latter case, the historical background, being

easily perceptible, merges for us with the creations of the

author's own imagination. Where the writer of an "ancient" romance

happens to be a scholar like Ebers, we feel that--so far at least

as historical presentment goes--we cannot be far wrong, but the

combination of great scholarship and narrative capacity is, alas,

too rare!

I have likewise refrained from giving many tales dealing with

Early-Christian times. We are here, it must be admitted, on

controversial ground, and under the First Century heading I have

endeavoured to insert romances of the highest quality only. For

instance, I think that Dr. Abbott's "Philochristus" and Wallace's

"Ben Hur" ought to satisfy two different types of readers. And

this is the place, doubtless, to say that in my lists will be found

books of widely differing merit and aim. School teachers, and

others in like capacity, will easily discriminate between authors

suitable for juvenile or untrained tastes, and authors whose appeal

is specially to those of maturer thought and experience. Differing

as much in method and style as in choice of period and character

type, Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and George Eliot's "Romola" have at

least this in common--they require a very high degree of

intelligence for their due appreciation. Who, among those of us

with any knowledge of such works, would dream of recommending them

to a youthful reader fresh from the perusal of Miss Yonge's "Little

Duke," or Captain Marryatt's "Children of the New Forest"?

Naturally in a list of this kind there is bound to be very great

inequality; certain periods have been wholly ignored by writers of

the first rank, while in others we have something like an embarras

de richesse. Consequently, I have been compelled, here and there,

to insert authors of only mediocre merit. In other cases, again, I

have not hesitated to omit works by writers of acknowledged

position when these have seemed below the author's usual standard,

and where no gap had to be filled. I would instance the James II.-

William III. period. Here Stanley Weyman and "Edna Lyall" might

have been represented, but, there being no dearth of good novels

dealing with both the above reigns, I did not deem it advisable to

call in these popular writers at the point which has been very

generally considered their lowest. I mention this to show that

omissions do not necessarily mean ignorance, though, in covering

such an immense ground, I cannot doubt that romances worthy of a

place in my list have been overlooked.

I think many will be surprised to find how large a proportion of

our best writers (English and American) have entered the domain of

Historical or Semi-Historical Romance. Scott, Thackeray, Dickens,

George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, George Meredith, R. L. Stevenson,

Hawthorne, Peacock, Charles Kingsley, Henry Kingsley, Charles

Reade, Anthony Trollope, Mrs. Gaskell, Walter Besant, Lytton,

Disraeli, J. H. Newman, J. A. Froude, and Walter Pater--these are a

few of the names which appear in the following pages; while

Tolstoy, Dumas, Balzac, George Sand, Victor Hugo, De Vigny, Prosper

Merimee, Flaubert, Theophile Gautier, Freytag, Scheffel, Hauff,

Auerbach, Manzoni, Perez Galdos, Merejkowski, Topelius,

Sienkiewicz, and Jokai are, perhaps, the chief amongst those

representing Literatures other than our own.

"The Last Days of Pompeii," "The Gladiators," "Hypatia," "Harold,"

"Ivanhoe," "The Talisman," "Maid Marian," "The Last of the Barons,"

"Quentin Durward," "Romola," "The Cloister and the Hearth," "The

Palace of the King," "Westward Ho!", "Kenilworth," "The Chaplet of

Pearls," "A Gentleman of France," "John Inglesant," "The Three

Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," "Woodstock," "Peveril of the

Peak," "Old Mortality," " The Betrothed Lovers" ("I Promessi

Sposi"), "Lorna Doone," "The Refugees," "In the Golden Days," "The

Courtship of Morice Buckler," "Dorothy Forster," "The Men of the

Moss Hags," "Esmond," "The Virginians," "Heart of Midlothian,"

"Waverley," "The Master of Ballantrae," "Kidnapped," "Catriona,"

"The Chaplain of the Fleet," "The Seats of the Mighty," "Barnaby

Rudge," "A Tale of Two Cities," "War and Peace"--what visions do

these mere titles arouse within many of us! And, though most of

the books given in my list cannot be described in the same glowing

terms as the masterpieces just named, yet many "nests of pleasant

thoughts" may be formed through their companionship.

Hitherto allusion has been mainly in the direction of modern

authors, and I would now say a word or two in regard to those of an

earlier period who are also represented. Defoe, Fielding,

Richardson, Goldsmith, Smollett, Frances Burney, Samuel Lover, John

Galt, Maria Edgeworth, Susan Ferrier, William Godwin, Mary Shelley,

Fennimore Cooper, J. G. Lockhart, Leigh Hunt, Thos. Moore, Harriet

Martineau, J. L. Motley, Horace Smith, Charles Lever, Meadows

Taylor, and Wm. Carleton,--these (in greater or less degree)

notable names were bound to have a place; and, coming to less

distinguished writers, I may mention the brothers Banim, Gerald

Griffin, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Lady Morgan, the sisters Porter, W. G.

Simms, George Croly, Albert Smith, G. R. Gleig, W. H. Maxwell, Sir

Arthur Helps, Eliot Warburton, Lewis Wingfield, Thomas Miller, C.

Macfarlane, Grace Aguilar, Anne Manning, and Emma Robinson (author

of "Whitefriars"). To G. P. R. James, Harrison Ainsworth, and

James Grant I have previously alluded. It has been my endeavour to

choose the best examples of all the above-named novelists--a task

rendered specially difficult in some cases by the fact of immense

literary output. Doubtless not a few of the works so chosen are

open to criticism, but they will at least serve to illustrate

certain stages in the growth of Historical Romance. With the

exclusion of Mrs. Radcliffe, Mrs. Marsh, Mrs. Gore, Lady

Blessington, Lady Fullerton, Mrs. Bray, and Mrs. Child, few will, I

imagine, find fault; but writers like Miss Tucker (A. L. O. E.) and

Miss Emily Holt still find so many readers in juvenile quarters,

that it has required a certain amount of courage to place them also

on my Index Expurgatorius! Turning once again to writers of the

sterner sex, I have ruled out C. R. Maturin, G. W. M. Reynolds, and

Pierce Egan, Junr.; and (quitting the "sensational" for the "mildly

entertaining") out of the Rev. J. M. Neale's many historical tales

I have selected only one--"Theodora Phranza," which, besides being

well written, has the merit of dealing with a somewhat neglected

period. Stories possessing a background of History are to be found

in "Tales from Blackwood," as also in "Wilson's Tales of the

Borders," but their extremely slight character seemed scarcely to

justify insertion; while not even the high literary position

attained by him on other grounds reconciled me to either of Allan

Cunningham's novels--"Sir Michael Scott" and "Paul Jones."

Of the Foreign novelists appearing in my list, several have been

already named, but Marchese D'Azeglio, F. D. Guerrazzi, Cesare

Cantu, "W. Alexis" (G. Haring), H. Laube, Louise Mulbach (Klara M.

Mundt), Nicolas Josika, Viktor Rydberg, Hendrik Conscience, Xavier

B. Saintine, Amedee Achard, and "Erckmann-Chatrian" here call for

notice as not coming under strictly Contemporary classification. I

would forestall the criticism that two writers have been passed

over whose fame is greater than any of those just mentioned, viz.:

"Stendhal" (Henri Beyle) and Alphonse Daudet. Beyle's "La

Chartreuse de Parme," though containing the oft-praised account of

Waterloo, is far more Psychological than Historical; and Daudet's

"Robert Helmont," while it depicts (under Diary form) certain

aspects of the Franco-German War, has hardly any plot running

through it. As the Waterloo and Franco-German War periods were

amply illustrated in numerous other novels of more assured

suitability, I had the less hesitation in deciding against the two

works just named. In the selections from Foreign Historical

Fiction nothing more has been attempted than to include the leading

examples; most of these, it will be found, have been translated

into English.

Before leaving the subject of older writers, it may be mentioned

that not a few of the works chosen to represent them are, at the

moment, out of print. To anyone objecting that something ought to

have been done to indicate this in each separate case, I would urge

that the "out of print" line can never be drawn with precision in

view of constant reprints as well as of further extinctions.

Perhaps this introduction may be most fitly concluded by something

in the nature of apology for Historical Romance itself. Not only

has fault been found with the deficiencies of unskilled authors in

that department, but the question has been asked by one or two

critics of standing--What right has the Historical Novel to exist

at all? More often than not, it is pointed out, the Romancist

gives us a mass of inaccuracies, which, while they mislead the

ignorant (i.e., the majority?), are an unpardonable offence to the

historically-minded reader. Moreover, the writer of such Fiction,

though he be a Thackeray or a Scott, cannot surmount barriers which

are not merely hard to scale, but absolutely impassable. The

spirit of a period is like the selfhood of a human being--something

that cannot be handed on; try as we may, it is impossible for us to

breathe the atmosphere of a bygone time, since all those thousand-

and-one details which went to the building up of both individual

and general experience, can never be reproduced. We consider (say)

the Eighteenth Century from the purely Historical standpoint, and,

while we do so, are under no delusion as to our limitations; we

know that a few of the leading personages and events have been

brought before us in a more or less disjointed fashion, and are

perfectly aware that there is room for much discrepancy between the

pictures so presented to us (be it with immense skill) and the

actual facts as they took place in such and such a year. But, goes

on the objector, in the case of a Historical Romance we allow

ourselves to be hoodwinked, for, under the influence of a pseudo-

historic security, we seem to watch the real sequence of events in

so far as these affect the characters in whom we are interested.

How we seem to live in those early years of the Eighteenth Century,

as we follow Henry Esmond from point to point, and yet, in truth,

we are breathing not the atmosphere of Addison and Steele, but the

atmosphere created by the brilliant Nineteenth Century Novelist,

partly out of his erudite conception of a former period, and partly

out of the emotions and thoughts engendered by that very

environment which was his own, and from which he could not escape!

Well, to all such criticisms it seems to me there are ample

rejoinders. In the first place it must be remembered that History

itself possesses interest for us more as the unfolding of certain

moral and mental developments than as the mere enumeration of

facts. Of course, I am aware that the ideal of the Historian is

Truth utterly regardless of prejudice and inclination, but, as with

all other human ideals, this one is never fully realised, and there

is ever that discrepancy between Fact and its Narration to which I

just now alluded. This being so, I would ask--Is not the writer of

Fiction justified in emphasising those elements of History which

have a bearing on life and character in general? There is,

doubtless, a wise and an unwise method of procedure. One novelist,

in the very effort to be accurate, produces a work which--being

neither History nor Fiction--is simply dull; while another, who has

gauged the true relation between fact and imagination, knows better

than to bring into prominence that which should remain only as a

background. After all, there are certain root motives and

principles which, though they vary indefinitely in their

application, underlie Human Conduct, and are common to all ages

alike. Given a fairly accurate knowledge as regards the general

history of any period, combined with some investigation into its

special manners and customs, there is no reason why a truly

imaginative novelist should not produce a work at once satisfying

to romantic and historical instincts.

Again, if it be true that the novelist cannot reproduce the far

past in any strict sense, it is also true that neither can he so

reproduce the life and events of yesterday. That power of

imaginative memory, which all exercise in daily experience, may be

held in very different degrees, but its enjoyment is not dependent

on accuracy of representation--for, were this so, none of us would

possess it. In an analogous manner the writer of Romance may be

more or less adequately equipped on the side of History pure and

simple, but he need not wait for that which will never come--the

power of reproducing in toto a past age. If, in reading what

purports to be no more than a Novel, the struggle between

Christianity and Paganism (for example), or the unbounded egotism

of Napoleon, be brought more vividly before our minds--and this may

be done by suggestion as well as by exact relation, then, I would

maintain, we are to some extent educated historically, using the

word in a large though perfectly legitimate sense.

I recently read a work which here presents itself as admirably

illustrating my meaning. In her too little known "Adventures of a

Goldsmith" Miss M. H. Bourchier has contrived to bring forcibly

before us the period when Napoleon, fast approaching the zenith of

his power, was known in France as the "First Consul." The "man of

destiny" himself--appearing on the scene for little more than a

brief moment--can in no sense be described as one of the book's

characters, and yet the whole plot is so skilfully contrived as to

hinge on his personality. We are made to feel the dominating

influence of that powerful will upon the fears and hopes of a time

brimming over with revolutionary movement. Whether the Chouan

revolt is in this particular story accurately depicted for us in

all its phases, or whether the motives which impelled certain

public characters are therein interpreted aright--both in regard to

these and other points there may be room for doubt, but at least

the general forces of the period are placed before us in such a way

as to drive home the conviction that, be the historical

inaccuracies of detail what they may in the eyes of this or that

specialist, the picture as a whole is one which, while it rivets

our attention as lovers of romance, does no injury to the strictest

Historic sense.

I know well that numerous novels might be cited which, besides

abounding in anachronisms, are harmful in that they present us with

a misleading conception of some personality or period; moreover, I

acknowledge that this defect is by no means confined to romances of

an inferior literary order. That Cromwell has been unreasonably

vilified, and Mary Queen of Scots misconceived as a saintly martyr--

how often are these charges brought against not a few of our

leading exponents of Historical Fiction. Let this be fully

granted, it remains to ask--To whom were our novelists originally

indebted for these misconceptions? Were not the historians of an

earlier generation responsible for these wrong judgments? True,

the real Science of History--the sifting of evidence, and the

discovery and unravelling of ancient documents--may be described as

an essentially modern attainment, so it would be unreasonable to

blame our older historians for errors which it was largely, if not

wholly, beyond their power to overcome. And it is just here that I

would emphasise my defence of the Romancist. If Historians

themselves have differed (and still differ)! may it not be pleaded

on behalf of the Historical Novelist that he also must be judged

according to the possibilities of his time? For, while he may have

too readily adopted false conceptions in the past, there is no

necessity why, in the future, he also--profiting by the growth of

Critical investigation--should not have due regard, in the working

out of his Historical background, for all the latest "results."

And, I would further add, even though it be true that Scott and

others have misled us in certain directions, this does not prevent

our acknowledgment that, given their aspect of a particular period,

it was only fitting that the scheme of their novels should be in

harmony with it. If "Bloody Mary" was a cruel hypocrite, then our

reading of her period will be influenced by that real (or supposed)

fact; but, if further investigation reverses this severe judgment

on the woman herself, then, in Heaven's name, let us mould our

general conception afresh. The fountains of Romance show no sign

of running dry, and, though we may look in vain at the moment for a

genius of the very highest type, the Future has possibilities

within it which the greatest literary pessimist among us cannot

wholly deny. If, then, fault can be found with the older

Romancists for the spreading here and there of false historical

notions, let us look to future workers in the same sphere for

adjustment. I believe, however, that one notable critic has

pronounced the mischief already done to be quite irreparable,

seeing that the only "History" at all widely spread is that derived

from those very romances in which errors are so interwoven with the

sentimental interest of the plot itself that readers inevitably

"hug their delusions!" But I think that this danger need not be

contemplated seriously. The Historical Novel exists primarily as

Fiction, and, even though in our waking moments we may be persuaded

of the unreality of that "dream" which a Scott or a Dumas has

produced for us, we shall still be able to place ourselves again

and again under the spell of their delightful influence. Moreover,

while admitting Dumas' carelessness of exact detail, it would

hardly be contended by the most sceptical that his works (still

less those of Scott) are without any background of Historic

suggestiveness. Scott, indeed, shows signs of having possessed

something of that "detachment" which is one important qualification

in the Historian proper; there is a fairness and prevision in his

historical judgments which we look for in vain when reading the

works of his contemporaries.

And, having thus touched on what I believe to be the true relation

between Romance and History, I may note, as a last word, the use of

the Historical Tale to those who have the training of young folk.

That "desire to know," which is an essential 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 & Co.

THE LORD OF DYNEOVER -- E. Everett Green

Time of Edward I.

T. Nelson & Sons

FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS -- Jane Porter

Scotch Wars--Wallace

J. M. Dent & Co.

IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE -- G. A. Henty

Wallace and Bruce

Blackie & Son

CASTLE DANGEROUS -- Scott

Scotch Wars

A. & C. Black

THE DAYS OF BRUCE -- G. Aguilar

Edward II.--Bruce

Warne & Co. and others

THE CHEVALIER OF THE SPLENDID CREST -- Sir Herbert Maxwell

Edward II.--Bruce

W. Blackwood & Sons

THE WHISTLING MAID -- E. Rhys

Wales in time of Edward II.

Hutchinson & Co.

MARCO VISCONTI -- T. Grossi (trans.)

Italy, early Fourteenth Century

Geo. Routledge & Sons, 1877

MARGHERITA PUSTERLA -- Cesare Cantu

Italy, early Fourteenth Century

Felice Le Monnier, Florence, 1839

RIENZI -- Lytton

Rome, middle of Fourteenth Century

Geo. Routledge & Sons

IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROWN -- M. Bidder

Edward II.--Edward III.

Constable & Co.

*THE COUNTESS ALYS (in "New Canterbury Tales") -- Maurice Hewlett

Period of Edward III.

Constable & Co.

* Mr. Hewlett's volume ought not to be described (I have seen it so

in one quarter) as dealing with the time of Henry VI. The "tales"

are supposed to be told in 1450 by Pilgrims on their way to

Canterbury.

THE WHITE COMPANY -- Conan Doyle

Period of Edward III.

Smith, Elder, & Co.

ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND -- G. A. Henty

Period of Edward III.

Blackie & Son

CRECY AND POICTIERS -- J. G. Edgar

Period of Edward III.

Ward, Lock, & Co.

THE LANCES OF LYNWOOD -- Charlotte M. Yonge

Period of Edward III.

Macmillan & Co.

GOD, THE KING, MY BROTHER -- Mary F. Nixon Roulet

Period of Edward III. (Spain)

Ward, Lock, & Co.

GOD SAVE ENGLAND -- F. Breton

Period of Edward III. (Winchelsea and Rye)

Grant Richards

IN THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY -- E. Everett Green

Crecy, taking of Calais, &c.

T. Nelson & Sons

JOHN STANDISH -- E. Gilliat

Richard II.--Wat Tyler

Seeley & Co.

ROBERT ANNYS, POOR PRIEST -- Annie N. Meyer

Richard II.--Wat Tyler

Macmillan & Co.

THE BANNER OF ST. GEORGE -- M. Bramston

Richard II.--Wat Tyler

Duckworth & Co.

A MARCH ON LONDON -- G. A. Henty

Richard II.--Wat Tyler

Blackie & Son

OTTERBOURNE -- Anonymous

Battle of Otterbourne, 1388

R. Bentley, 1832

KATE CAMERON OF BRUX -- J. E. Muddock

Scotland, late Fourteenth Century

Digby, Long, & Co.

THE LION OF FLANDERS -- Hendrik Conscience (trans.)

France, late Fourteenth Century

Burns & Oates, 1881

THE LION OF ST. MARK -- G. A. Henty

Venice, late Fourteenth Century

Blackie & Son

KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS -- H. Sienkiewicz (trans.)

Poland--The Teutonic Knights

J. M. Dent & Co.

FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC, BY THE SIEUR LOUIS DE CONTE

-- Mark Twain

Joan of Arc

Chatto & Windus

A NOBLE PURPOSE NOBLY WON -- Miss Manning

Joan of Arc

Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co., 1862

A MONK OF FIFE -- A. Lang

Joan of Arc

Longmans, Green, & Co.

THE CAGED LION -- Charlotte M. Yonge

Scotland, early Fifteenth Century

Macmillan & Co.

THE FAIR MAID OF PERTH -- Scott

Scotland, early Fifteenth Century

A. & C. Black

OLD MARGARET -- Henry Kingsley

Ghent, in early Fifteenth Century

Ward, Lock, & Co.

THE GLEAMING DAWN -- C. Baker

The Hussites

Chapman & Hall

ISABELLA ORSINI -- F. D. Guerrazzi

Italy--The Medici

Felice le Monnier, Florence, 1844

BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER -- G. A. Henty

Period of Henry IV.

Blackie & Son

IN THE DAYS OF PRINCE HAL -- H. Elrington

Henry IV.--Henry V.

Blackie & Son

A CHAMPION OF THE FAITH -- J. M. Callwell

Henry IV.--Henry V.

Blackie & Son

AGINCOURT -- G. P. R. James

Henry V.

Warne & Co.

AT AGINCOURT -- G. A. Henty

Henry V.

Blackie & Son

BY WEEPING CROSS -- Lady Laura Ridding

Southern France, 1424

Hodder & Stoughton

NOEMI -- S. Baring Gould

Guienne--Time of Charles VII.

Methuen & Co.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD -- James Grant

James II. of Scotland

Geo. Routledge & Sons

BLACK DOUGLAS -- S. R. Crockett

James II. of Scotland

Smith, Elder, & Co.

THE CARDINAL'S PAGE -- C. Baker

Bohemia, middle of Fifteenth Century

Chapman & Hall

THE PRINCE OF INDIA -- Lew Wallace

Fall of Constantinople, 1453

Harper & Brothers

THEODORA PHRANZA -- J. M. Neale

Fall of Constantinople, 1453

J. Masters, 1857

TWO PENNILESS PRINCESSES -- Charlotte M. Yonge

Period of Henry VI.

Macmillan & Co.

THE LAST OF THE BARONS -- Lytton

Wars of the Roses

Geo. Routledge & Sons

THE BLACK ARROW -- R. L. Stevenson

Wars of the Roses

Cassell & Co.

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