p.287.fictionAuld Licht Idylls" is Barrie's second book and first serious work of fiction, a series of stories centering around a religious sect called Auld Licht in the Scottish community of Thrums.scotland - fiction, scotland - religion

Ill, p.623.fictionThis classic story of two nineteenth-century social climbers is the basis for countless films and TV series, and one of the UK's "Best-Loved Novels." Before the Real Housewives, there were Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Ruthless and cunning, Becky may have been born in a lower class, but now that she's graduated from school, she's ready to climb up to a better life-and do whatever it takes to get there. Her friend Emmy, however, is the opposite. She may have mastered music, dancing, and embroidery like any young woman of her class, but she utterly lacks a backbone. Together these friends navigate the perils of Regency society as they search for love and happiness. Social battles are waged against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, and when the smoke finally clears, there's no telling who will come out victorious.england - fiction, romantic fiction

p.587.In seventeenth-century France, a daring young man defends the queen's honor and tests his skills against the best swordsmen of the day D'Artagnan journeys to Paris armed with nothing but his sword, his courage, and a burning desire to prove his mettle as a member of King Louis XIII's elite guardsmen. A swashbuckling corps of gentlemen rogues, the Musketeers live to antagonize Cardinal Richelieu and sweep every woman in France off her feet. Before d'Artagnan can join their ranks, however, he must distinguish himself on the field of battle. On his first day in the capital, d'Artagnan accidentally offends the honor of three dashing Musketeers--Athos, Porthos, and Aramis--and agrees to duel each one in turn. But before they can match steel, the combatants are interrupted by the cardinal's guards, embroiling d'Artagnan in complex affairs of state, dangerous court intrigues, and a sinister battle against the wily and seductive spy Milady de Winter. A richly detailed historical novel and one of the greatest adventure stories ever told, The Three Musketeers is a masterwork of Western literature.france - fiction, adventure fiction

p.331fictionThis 1861 historical romance was Reade's most popular novel with readers and critics alike. Set in the 15th century, and notable for the author's painstaking fidelity to period detail, the novel concerns the adventures of a young illuminator of manuscripts, Gerard Eliason, as he travels through Europe and embraces then renounces a religious vocation. england - fiction, romantic fiction

p.407.fictionCharles Kingsley's Westward Ho! is the novel after which the English seaside village was named. The story follows the adventures of Amyas Leigh, an obstinate young man who decides to go sailing. He settles for a certain period in the Caribbean islands searching for gold and succeeds in making a little fortune. He then decides to go back to England by the time of the Spanish Armada, a sixteenth-century Spanish fleet that intended to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth I for rivalry over colonies in the Netherlands, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Much of the novel describes the struggles between the two world powers, picturing the continuous naval battles that they engaged in. Amayas becomes greatly concerned when the Spaniards abduct his brother Frank Leigh as well as an admired local beauty named Rose Salterne. Furthermore, Amyas's life turns into a sad tragedy when he is further struck by a thunderbolt that costs him his eyesight. Generally, Kingsley gives the story a religious touch by making the war between England and Spain equally appear like a war between Protestantism and Catholicism, particularly when he shows how English hostages are often burnt at the stake by the Catholic Inquisition. england - fiction, spanish armada

p.373.fictionTells the story of Hereward, a historical Anglo-Saxon figure who led resistance against the Normans from a base in Ely surrounded by fen land.england - fiction, norman england

p.388.fictionThe adventures of Tom, a sooty little chimney sweep with a great longing to be clean, who is stolen by fairies and turned into a water baby. england - fiction, fairytales - english

p.429.fictionPortrays the married life of Henrietta Stuart, known as Minette, who married into the French royal family in the mid-seventeenth century. In particular it focuses on her careful diplomatic relationship with her brother Charles II, climaxing in the Treaty of Doverengland - fiction, historical fiction

p.223.fictionThe Countess of Lochlule marries Sir Hector, owner of the estate next to 'Keepsfield', the palatial Scottish mansion where she lives. But one day she meets someone on a park bench in Edinburgh. This novel is about dreams and the hard world of money and position and their relations to one another.england - fiction, romantic fiction

p.310.non-fictionReminiscences of L'Espionage Centrale, the secret service of the French Foreign Legion.french foreign legion, secret service - france

p.348.fictionNapoleons retreat from Moscow in all its terrible detailengland - fiction, napoleonic wars

p.348.fictionNapoleons retreat from Moscow in all its terrible detailengland - fiction, napoleonic wars

Ill, p.344.fictionThe afternoon sun was lowering towards a heavy bank of clouds hanging still and sullen over the Medite-rranean. A mistral was blowing. The last yellow rays shone fiercely upon the towering coast of Corsica, and the windows of the village of Olmeta glittered like gold. There are two Olmetas in Corsica, both in the north, both on the west coast, both perched high like an eagle's nest, both looking down upon those lashed waters of the Mediterranean, which are not the waters that poets sing of, for they are as often white as they are blue; they are seldom glassy except in the height of summer and sailors tell that they are as treacherous as any waters of the earth. Neither aneroid nor weather-wisdom may, as a matter of fact, tell when a mistral will arise, how it will blow, how veer, how drop and rise, and drop again. For it will blow one day beneath a cloudless sky, lashing the whole sea white like milk, and blow harder to-morrow under racing clouds. england - fiction, fiction - corsica

p.320.non-fictionIndian life as described by a British soldierindia - social life and customs, india - description and travel

p.278.non-fictionAutobiography of a British cavalry officer in pre-war India and on the western front, who later became a member of the Royal flying corps in Mesopotamia. The closing chapters concern his subsequent travels in India and give his interpretation of the Hindu philosophy through the medium of his own personal experience. india - social life and customs, india - description and travel

p.329.fictionA novel of the early Stuart periodengland - fiction, stuart monarchy

p.284.fictionIt is the story of a little American girl, Bud, who has lost her parents and comes to stay with her relatives in a small Scottish town (clearly based on Inveraray). She progresses, thanks to her enlightened but only semi-liberated Aunt Ailie, to become a Shakespearean actress in London's West End - in spite of the negativity of the Scottish education system and the background of social and religious attitudes which regarded the theatre as unsuitable and rather sinful. It is especially interesting because it confronts the problem of the female creative artist in a society whose mores inhibit the expression of her talent.england - fiction, feminism

p.268non-fictionA record of a 1929-30 historical trip by a Baby Austin car from Adelaide to daly Waters in the Northern Territory, then the return journey to Melbourne in a Vauxhall.northern australia - description and travel, australia - social life and customs

p.399.non-fictionThe travels of a music lover in Hungary and Roumaniahungary - music, roumania - music

p.404fictionNo summary recordedscottish fiction, william black

p.322.fictionNo summary recordedaustralian fiction, mrs mm phillips

p.316fictionJust before his regiment sails off to war in the Sudan, British officer Harry Feversham quits the military. He is immediately given four white feathers - symbols of cowardice - one each by his three best friends and one by his fiancee. To disprove this grave dishonor, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proved his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancee. This suspenseful tale movingly depicts a distinctive code of honor that - whether real or imagined - was deeply valued and strongly promoted by the British during the height of their imperial power.england - fiction, cowardice - military

p.312.fictionAmong other things this book narrates how Mrs Bindle caught a chill, how a nephew was born to her and what effect it had upon her outlook.england - fiction, satire - england

Ill, p.403.fictionThe novel follows the story of a group of men who are stranded on a lighthouse located on the Goodwin Sands, a treacherous group of sandbars located in the English Channel. The men must find a way to survive as they are constantly beset by storms and high seas. The novel is an example of naturalist fiction, which focuses on the natural world and its effects on humans.england - fiction, adventure fiction

Ill, map, p.310.fictionBeing the adventures of David Balfour : how he was kidnapped and cast away, his sufferings in a desert isle, his journey in the wild highlands, his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites, with all that he suffered at the hands of his uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-calledscotland - fiction, adventure fiction

p.255.fictionWhen Bert Smallways is accidentally whisked off to Germany in a balloon carrying plans for a top-secret aeroplane, he gets involved in Prince Karl Albert's massive airship raid on New York ... first step in a war which soon flares into world wide catastrophe.air warfare - fiction, science fiction - english

Ill, p.311.fictionPublished in 1904, this forgotten classic is sci-fi and dystopia at its best, written by the creator and master of the genreFollowing extensive research in the field of growth, Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood light upon a new mysterious element, a food that causes greatly accelerated development. Initially christening their discovery The Food of the Gods, the two scientists are overwhelmed by the possible ramifications of their creation. Needing room for experiments, Mr. Besington chooses a farm that offers him the chance to test on chickens, which duly grow monstrous, six or seven times their usual size. With the farmer, Mr. Skinner, failing to contain the spread of the Food, chaos soon reigns as reports come in of local encounters with monstrous wasps, earwigs, and rats. The chickens escape, leaving carnage in their wake. The Skinners and Redwoods have both been feeding their children the compound illicitlytheir eventual offspring will constitute a new age of giants. Public opinion rapidly turns against the scientists and society rebels against the world's new flora and fauna. Daily life has changed shockingly and now politicians are involved, trying to stamp out the Food of the Gods and the giant race. Comic and at times surprisingly touching and tragic, Wells' story is a cautionary tale warning against the rampant advances of science but also of the dangers of greed, political infighting, and shameless vote-seeking. Collapse summary science fiction - england, artificial foods

Ill, p.317.non-fictionAn examination of the history and criticism of 20th century literatureliterature - criticism, literature - history

Ill, p.312.An autobiography of British journalist Henry Collinsjournalists - great britain - biography, reuters - biography

p.192An unmarried by mathematically precise Englishman dismisses his valet for heating his shaving water two degrees cooler than usual. He hires a French valet to replace him and the two of them set off to travel around the world in eighty days - a supposedly possible feat, now that the Indian railways have been built. If they succeed they will win a fortune off the other members of the Reform Club.adventure fiction, voyages - fiction