Best of
Historical

1951

Désirée


Annemarie Selinko - 1951
    Désirée is enchanted by the young officer, and he asks her to marry him. But he must leave for Paris, where he meets his eventual wife Josephine. A heartbroken Désirée is unsure she'll ever find anyone again. A love story, but so much more, Désirée is the tale of a simple merchant's daughter who ends up with a kind of royalty she never expected: an unforgettable story just waiting to be reborn.

The Quiet Gentleman


Georgette Heyer - 1951
    Erth at Stanyon. Unscathed from glory at Waterloo, Gervase expected a hero's welcome - instead he's given a frigid cold shoulder. Upon his return only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him--and when he meets his stepmother and half-brother open disdain put a chill on Gervase's welcome, and he detects open regret that he has survived inconveniently two wars. Now he must establish himself as the new head of the house... and ignore his family's rising hostility. Then Gervase's eye is caught by beautiful and charming Mariann Bolderwood, a collector of beaux -- the same young woman already much in favor with his half-brother. Gervase struggles to maintain a gentlemanly balance, but now the brothers are again rivals as they bid for the lady's attentions. But the dangers of the Lincolnshire countryside could never be more unexpected. Gervase finds himself the victim of repeatedly life-threatening accidents. And soon it becomes increasingly clear that someone wants the new Earl cruelly dead. Level-headed Drusilla Morville is captivated by Gervase but knows that she does not stand a chance against the debutantes vying for his affections, until Gervase's life is endangered and free-spirited Drusilla comes to the rescue.

Mist Over Pendle


Robert Neill - 1951
    Against a background of witchcraft in 17th-century rural Lancashire, ROBERT NEILL has woven an extraordinary novel of the power of evil...

Two Centuries of Silence


Abdolhosein Zarrinkob - 1951
    The book is a historical account of the events and circumstances of the first two centuries of Islam in Persia (modern day Iran) following the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century AD. The history covers the events from the invasion of the Arabs to the rise of the Tahirid Dynasty.Zarrinkoub presents a lengthy discussion on the large flux and influence of the Arabs on the literature, language, culture and society of Persia during the two centuries following the Islamic conquest of Iran. Zarrinkoub discusses how the Arab/Islamic conquest was followed by almost "two centuries of silence" socially, culturally and politically by native Persians. Zarrinkoub describes the Arab conquerors as uncivilized, brutal, and unsophisticated during the Iranian "period of silence." Zarrinkoub penned the history during an era of Iranian nationalism and the text is widely recognized as a seminal source of Iranian history.

The Katyn Wood Murders


Józef Mackiewicz - 1951
    

James Henry Moyle: The Story of a Distinguished American and an Honored Churchman


Gordon B. Hinckley - 1951
    Moyle.

The Frenchman and the Lady


Elizabeth Cadell - 1951
    Belchamber was not invited but Mrs. Belchamber came to stay. The changes she introduced into Scotty’s topsy-turvy Kentish farmhouse were past belief. But though Christopher could not help feeling some concern that he had landed on his friend a woman of character as well as three lively French children, the Belchamber influence on his own friendship with Cressida was admittedly an almost unmixed blessing.

Grammar Without Tears


Hugh Sykes Davies - 1951
    

Fast and Loose


Nigel Tranter - 1951
    This story tells of Clan MacColl and the bitter feud that develops between the heirs of the Chief, as they struggle for control of their ancestral lands.