Best of
18th-Century

2021

A Question of Duty


Jayne Davis - 2021
    Over the course of the Atlantic voyage, he finds himself taken with Miss Clara Harper.Mrs Harper is set on finding husbands for her daughters—but that is not what Clara wants. Doing the bidding of a husband does not appeal in the least; not when there is a world out there she wants to discover. But after spending time with Jack, her feelings on the matter change.There is, of course, a problem. Jack is the second son of the Earl of Marstone and Clara is a merchant’s niece. For one of his background, marrying into trade just isn’t done. Both must move on. Clara busies herself with her new life in London. Jack tries to push his feelings aside. But neither can forget the other.To Jack’s dismay, his brother has arranged a suitable marriage for him in his absence—one that will advance his family’s status and prestige. His duty to the family demands he accept this union, but he cannot dismiss Clara from his heart and mind. Will he refuse his duty and marry for love?A Question of Duty is a prequel novella to the Marstone Series, taking place seventeen years before Sauce for the Gander (Book 1). While it’s perfect for fans of the series, it can also be read as a standalone story.

The Tsarina's Daughter


Ellen Alpsten - 2021
    She is insulated by luxury and spoiled by her father, who dreams for her to marry King Louis XV of France and rule in Versailles. But when a woodland creature gives her a Delphic prophecy, her life is turned upside down. Her volatile father suddenly dies, her only brother has been executed and her mother takes the throne of Russia.As friends turn to foes in the dangerous atmosphere of the Court, the princess must fear for her freedom and her life. Fate deals her blow after blow, and even loving her becomes a crime that warrants cruel torture and capital punishment: Elizabeth matures from suffering victim to strong and savvy survivor. But only her true love and their burning passion finally help her become who she is. When the Imperial Crown is left to an infant Tsarevich, Elizabeth finds herself in mortal danger and must confront a terrible dilemma--seize the reins of power and harm an innocent child, or find herself following in the footsteps of her murdered brother.Hidden behind a gorgeous, wildly decadent façade, the Russian Imperial Court is a viper’s den of intrigue and ambition. Only a woman possessed of boundless courage and cunning can prove herself worthy to sit on the throne of Peter the Great.Ellen Alpsten's stunning new novel, The Tsarina's Daughter, is the dramatic story of Elizabeth, daughter of Catherine I and Peter the Great, who ruled Russia during an extraordinary life marked by love, danger, passion and scandal.

Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781


John Ferling - 2021
    Many, including General George Washington, presumed France's entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner.Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a “southern strategy.” The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its pre-war American empire. Deep into 1780 Britain's new approach seemed headed for success as the U.S. economy collapsed and morale on the home front waned. By early 1781, Washington, and others, feared that France would drop out of the war if the Allies failed to score a decisive victory that year. Sir Henry Clinton, commander of Britain's army, thought “the rebellion is near its end.” Washington, who had been so optimistic in 1778, despaired: “I have almost ceased to hope.”Winning Independence is the dramatic story of how and why Great Britain-so close to regaining several southern colonies and rendering the postwar United States a fatally weak nation ultimately failed to win the war. The book explores the choices and decisions made by Clinton and Washington, and others, that ultimately led the French and American allies to clinch the pivotal victory at Yorktown that at long last secured American independence.

Boston Tea Party: A History from Beginning to End (American Revolutionary War)


Hourly History - 2021
    

Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The Surprising Story of Britain’s Economy from Boom to Bust and Back Again


Duncan Weldon - 2021
    

America's Daughter


Celeste De Blasis - 2021
    Soon, the glittering summers in rural Virginia with her cousins and the plush prosperity of her father’s home in Boston are eclipsed by the fight for American independence.When the British forces lay siege to Boston, Addie’s family is torn in two. Her brothers and her childhood sweetheart Silas leave to become aides to General Washington alongside Alexander Hamilton, while Addie’s English-born, Loyalist father welcomes the British into his home. Just as Addie takes the painful decision to join the fight, she meets enigmatic Scottish Highlander John Traverne. But he’s on the side of the English king, so Addie will not give in to the spark between them.As the bitter war continues, Addie’s life becomes increasingly bound with the fate of America. When Silas is captured by the British, Addie risks all to search for him, but venturing into enemy territory brings her face to face with her Highlander again, and she must make an impossible choice between love, or the future of her nation…An epic, emotional and heartbreaking novel about a woman caught in the struggle for a new America. Readers who love My Dear Hamilton and Flight of the Sparrow will be swept away by America’s Daughter.

In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters


Nancy Goldstone - 2021
    Maria Theresa inherited her father’s thrones at the age of twenty-three and was immediately attacked on all sides by foreign powers confident that a woman would to be too weak to defend herself. Maria Christina, a gifted artist who alone among her sisters succeeded in marrying for love, would face the same dangers that destroyed the monarchy in France. Resourceful Maria Carolina would usher in the golden age of Naples only to face the deadly whirlwind of Napoleon. And, finally, Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen whose stylish excesses and captivating notoriety have masked the truth about her husband and herself for two hundred and fifty years. Vividly written and deeply researched, In the Shadow of the Empress is the riveting story of four exceptional women who changed the course of history.

Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic


Jennifer L. Morgan - 2021
    Morgan draws on the lived experiences of enslaved African women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to reveal the contours of early modern notions of trade, race, and commodification in the Black Atlantic. From capture to transport to sale to childbirth, these women were demographically counted as commodities during the Middle Passage, vulnerable to rape, separated from their kin at slave markets, and subject to laws that enslaved their children upon birth. In this way, they were central to the binding of reproductive labor with kinship, racial hierarchy, and the economics of slavery. Throughout this groundbreaking study, Morgan demonstrates that the development of Western notions of value and race occurred simultaneously. In so doing, she illustrates how racial capitalism denied the enslaved their kinship and affective ties while simultaneously relying on kinship to reproduce and enforce slavery through enslaved female bodies.

The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris


Colin Jones - 2021
    At 12.00 midnight, Maximilien Robespierre, the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety which had for more than a year directed the Reign ofTerror, was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced.By 12.00 midnight at the close of the day, following a day of uncertainty, surprises, upsets and reverses, his world had been turned upside down. He was an outlaw, on the run, and himself wanted for conspiracy against the Republic. He felt that his whole life and his Revolutionary career weredrawing to an end. As indeed they were. He shot himself shortly afterwards. Half-dead, the guillotine finished him off in grisly fashion the next day.The Fall of Robespierre provides an hour-by-hour analysis of these 24 hours.

Pontiac's War: A History from Beginning to End (Native American History)


Hourly History - 2021
    The French, who had initially established a European presence there, were usurped by the British, whose relations with indigenous peoples were notoriously less diplomatic and more destructive. As a result, a Native American chief named Pontiac helped lead a coalition against the British. The outcome of Pontiac’s War was not what either side intended, but it nevertheless helped shape the history of the region for decades to come.Discover a plethora of topics such asThe History of British North AmericaPrelude to WarThe Siege of Fort DetroitThe War EscalatesThe Battle of Bushy RunThe End of Pontiac’s WarAnd much more!

War of the Spanish Succession: A History from Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2021
    During the early modern era, European countries were almost constantly at war, vying for land, resources, power, and wealth. The succession of the Spanish throne—and everything that came with it—had much of all of those things up for grabs; therefore all of Europe had much to gain, or lose, from the new Spanish ruler. By the end of the war, conflict in Europe was hardly over, but a new, dominant power had emerged.Discover a plethora of topics such asThe World in 1700The CombatantsWar Breaks OutQueen Anne’s WarThe War Gets PoliticalThe Peace of Utrecht and Treaties of Baden and RastattAnd much more!

Seminole Wars: A History from Beginning to End (Native American History)


Hourly History - 2021
    Yet to the Spanish, French, and English who traveled from their countries in search of gold and land, the native populations already living on the North American continent were an inferior race. Enslavement, eradication, and imprisonment were the just fates, they felt, for any who could keep them from attaining the wealth they sought. The Seminole Wars, which took place in modern-day Florida in three different phases of the first half of the nineteenth century, were at first glance the battle between the Native Americans who lived in Florida and the settlers who wanted that land for themselves. However, the settlers from Georgia and the Carolinas were also furious because the Seminoles provided a haven for African-American slaves who sought freedom. Andrew Jackson, the military leader and future president of the United States, supported the Indian Removal Act which would force the native peoples to leave their homes to live west of the Mississippi, in the Indian Territory that is now Oklahoma. The Seminoles refused to leave without resistance, and as a result, they were at war with the United States government. In the end, of course, most of them were relocated to the Indian Territory, but a remnant remained behind and their descendants had the hard-won satisfaction of being recognized, in 1957, as the Seminole Tribe of Florida by the U.S. federal government.Discover a plethora of topics such asOrigin of the Seminole TribeA Sanctuary for SlavesThe First Seminole WarThe Second Seminole WarThe Third Seminole WarThe Legacy of the Seminole WarsAnd much more!So if you want a concise and informative book on the Seminole Wars, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!

Cut From The Earth (The Tile Maker Series, #1)


Stephanie Renee Dos Santos - 2021
    He is dedicated to freeing slaves with the proceeds of his art and hiring the freed to work in his tile factory, triggering rage and repercussions from a competitor. Pêro harbors a female artist whose risque creations keep the shop's works in demand by Lisbon's elite. The success of her designs does not sit well with one of Pêro's longtime workers, bringing him and his loved ones under the menacing eye of the Inquisition, with threat of imprisonment and closure of his shop. Risking his life and liberty, Pêro is determined to push forward. But on All Saints Day, November 1st, Portugal is struck by earthquakes, tidal waves and massive fires, and Pêro loses what is most dear to him. Will he escape? Or stay to fight for freedom and the future? A historical novel set in 18th century Lisbon, Cut From The Earth is a riveting story of courage, determination and survival.

What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule


Max Siollun - 2021
    Thanks to this skewed writing of history, many Nigerians today still have Empire nostalgia and view the colonial period through rose-tinted glasses.Max Siollun offers a bold rethink: an unromanticised history, arguing compellingly that colonialism had few benevolent intentions, but many unjust outcomes. It may have ended slavery and human sacrifice, but it was accompanied by extreme violence; ethnic and religious identity were cynically exploited to maintain control, while the forceful remoulding of longstanding legal and social practices permanently altered the culture and internal politics of indigenous communities. The aftershocks of this colonial meddling are still being felt decades after independence. Popular narratives often suggest that the economic and political turmoil are homegrown, but the reality is that Britain created many of Nigeria’s crises, and has left them behind for Nigerians to resolve.This is a definitive, head-on confrontation with Nigeria’s experience under British rule, showing how it forever changed the country—perhaps cataclysmically.

Seven Years' War: A History from Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2021
    The war spanned five continents and divided Europe into two coalitions, one led by Great Britain and the other led by France.By the end of the conflict, Britain would gain control over Canada and Florida, but the war would nearly bankrupt the country as it doubled its national debt. Still, the war marked the beginning of the era of British dominance in North America. France would meanwhile lose all possessions east of the Mississippi River with the exception of two small islands off Newfoundland. The war also had profound consequences for indigenous groups in North America. This book tells the story of the little-known but consequential conflict known as the Seven Years’ War.Discover a plethora of topics such asPrelude to War: The Ohio CountryThe European ConnectionKabinettskriege: War in the Eighteenth CenturyThe North American TheatreWar in Asia, Africa, and South AmericaLegacyAnd much more!

Great Northern War: A History from Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2021
    It also engaged several of the other great powers of Europe at the time, engulfing much of the continent and its colonies in more than two decades of war. It was part of a long and almost constant series of wars fought home and around the world by European nations over control of more land, resources, and wealth. By its end, Russia had firmly established its ascendency, while Sweden would no longer pose a threat as a major empire. The history of the Great Northern War is an important piece of the history of Europe and imperialism. Discover a plethora of topics such asPrelude to WarOutbreak of WarThe Battle of PoltavaWar with Hanover, Prussia, and BritainThe Death of Charles XIIThe End of the Great Northern WarAnd much more!

Corno da Capo: The Life and Adventures of an 18th Century Horn Player


Richard M. Seraphinoff - 2021
    

So, Pigs Can Fly! by Kelvin Smith


Kelvin Smith - 2021
    When a child's Christmas day is coming to a close, and the chocolates have been polished off, the batteries have stopped working in their new gadgets, and playing in an empty box has become boring , what better way is there, than enticing them up the wooden hill to bed, with the promise of reading them some funny rhymes?

The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe


Gábor Ágoston - 2021
    The Last Muslim Conquest transforms our understanding of the Ottoman Empire, showing how Ottoman statecraft was far more pragmatic and sophisticated than previously acknowledged, and how the Ottoman dynasty was a crucial player in the power struggles of early modern Europe.In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Gábor Ágoston captures the grand sweep of Ottoman history, from the dynasty's stunning rise to power at the turn of the fourteenth century to the Siege of Vienna in 1683, which brought an end to Ottoman incursions into central Europe. He discusses how the Ottoman wars of conquest gave rise to the imperial rivalry with the Habsburgs, and brings vividly to life the intrigues of sultans, kings, popes, and spies. Ágoston examines the subtler methods of Ottoman conquest, such as dynastic marriages and the incorporation of conquered peoples into the Ottoman administration, and argues that while the Ottoman Empire was shaped by Turkish, Iranian, and Islamic influences, it was also an integral part of Europe and was, in many ways, a European empire.Rich in narrative detail, The Last Muslim Conquest looks at Ottoman military capabilities, frontier management, law, diplomacy, and intelligence, offering new perspectives on the gradual shift in power between the Ottomans and their European rivals and reframing the old story of Ottoman decline.

Selected Writings


Alexander Hamilton - 2021
    Contents include Hamilton's political essays, selections from the Federalist Papers, First Report on the Public Credit and Report on a National Bank, and personal correspondence with his wife, friends, and political colleagues.

The Acrobats of Agra


Robin Scott-Elliot - 2021