Best of
Historical-Fiction

1952

Twenty and Ten


Claire Huchet Bishop - 1952
    Will the children be able to withstand the interrogation and harassment?

Shiloh


Shelby Foote - 1952
    This fictional re-creation of the battle of Shiloh in April 1862 fulfills the standard set by his monumental history, conveying both the bloody choreography of two armies and the movements of the combatants' hearts and minds.

The Nun's Story


Kathryn Hulme - 1952
    Fortunati, operator of a remote Congo hospital, with whom she gradually builds respect, and again during World War II, when she is ordered not to take sides. Ultimately, Sister Luke is forced to decide whether to remain in the convent or return to the outside world.Gabrielle/Sister Luke is stretched between her desire to be faithful to the rule of her congregation and her desire to be a nurse. As a nun she must remove all vestiges of "Gabrielle Van Der Mal" and sublimate herself into the devoted bride of Christ. As a nun there is no room for her personal desires and aspirations. Ultimately, the conflict between her devotion to the Church and the nursing profession, juxtaposed with her passionate Belgian patriotism and her love of her father (killed by Nazi fighter planes while treating wounded) bring her to an impasse, which serves as the dénouement of the novel.

The Silver Chalice


Thomas B. Costain - 1952
    Basil, a sensitive artisan, is purchased from slavery and commissioned to create a decorative casing for the Chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Basil travels to Jerusalem, Greece, and Rome, meets the apostles, braves the perils of persecution, and finally makes a fateful choice that allows him to “see” Jesus. The dramatic plot, compelling characters, and spiritual depth of The Silver Chalice made it one of the most popular historical novels of the twentieth century.

Boy of the Pyramids: A Mystery of Ancient Egypt


Ruth Fosdick Jones - 1952
    So it was with Kaffe, an Egyptian boy of long ago. With his friend Sari, a slave-girl, Kaffe had many adventures—the harvest feast, the fight of the bulls, the flood. Then came the mystery of the pyramid’s missing jewels and a dark night when Kaffe, his father, and Sari set out to catch the thief.

The Fifteen Streets


Catherine Cookson - 1952
    Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imaginations of readers around the globe. Now, available for the first time in this country, comes one of Cookson's earliest and most stirring historical romances: "The Fifteen Streets." John O'Brien lives in a world where surviving is a continual struggle. He works long hours at the docks to help support his parents' large family. Many other families in the Fifteen Streets have already given up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty, but the O'Briens continue to strive for a world they are only rarely allowed to glimpse.Then John O'Brien meets Mary Llewellyn, a beautiful young teacher who belongs to that other world. What begins as a casual conversation over tea quickly blossoms into a rare love that should have been perfect. Fate steps in, however, when John is accused of fathering the child of a local girl, and Mary's parents forbid her to see him. The couple begins to realize that the gulf of the Fifteen Streets between them is a chasm they could never bridge-or might they still find a way?In these pages Catherine Cookson displays the irresistible plotting, scene-setting, and characterization that have made her a recognized master of historical and romance fiction. Fans of her novels, with their larger themes of romantic love and class conflict, will be delighted to find that even at the beginning of her illustrious career, Cookson had the power to captivate audiences. Filled with passion and compelling drama, "The Fifteen Streets" is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.

The Dark Angel


Mika Waltari - 1952
    But no one knows my true identity and no one ever shall."For it is the year 1453; and here in Constantinople a mighty Christian empire is dying brutally as the Moslem hordes storm its massive wall.

The White Witch


Elizabeth Goudge - 1952
    Divided between her Puritan family at the Oxfordshire village's manor house and her relatives in the Gypsy community, she works using her skill in healing to help those in need. Her cousin Robert , a local squire, is gripped by the prospect of war. Following his boyhood hero, he leaves his family and travels away to fight for the Parliamentarian cause. While his wife Margaret and their twin children wait in the manor house for news about him. Left behind with her brother, Robert's daughter Jenny grows up under the shadow of conflict, until she encounters mysterious royalist Francis Leyland. While Froniga's gypsy cousins sometimes camp near her, and have befriended Yomen, who conceals a grand past, but is now a tinker and royalist spy. The women must choose between family loyalty and their own heart. As their lives entwine, the villagers struggle to stay true to their beliefs as war threatens to tear their community apart.

Giant


Edna Ferber - 1952
    But for Leslie, falling in love with a Texan was a lot simpler than falling in love with Texas. Upon their arrival at Bick's ranch, Leslie is confronted not only with the oppressive heat and vastness of Texas but also by the disturbing inequity between runaway riches and the poverty and racism suffered by the Mexican workers on the ranch. Leslie and Bick's loving union endures against all odds, but a reckoning is coming and a price will have to be paid.A sensational and enthralling saga, Ferber masterfully captures the essence of Texas with all its wealth and excess, cruelty and prejudice, pride and violence.

The Golden Thread: A Novel About St. Ignatius Loyola


Louis de Wohl - 1952
    Ignatius Loyola’s conversion and pilgrimage with the colorful and dangerous history of Spain and Italy in the early sixteenth century. The life of the very human, very great Basque nobleman who founded the Jesuit Order, makes for one of de Wohl’s finest novels.Seriously wounded at the siege of Pamplona in 1521, Don Inigo de Loyola learned that to be a Knight of God was an infinitely greater honor (and infinitely more dangerous) than to be a Knight in the forces of the Emperor. Uli von der Flue, humorous, intelligent and courageous Swiss mercenary, was responsible for the canon shot which incapacitated the worldly and ambitious young nobleman, and Uli became deeply involved in Loyola’s life. With Juanita, disguised as the boy Juan, Uli followed Loyola on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to protect him, but it was the saint who protected Uli and Juan. Through Uli’s eyes we see the surge and violence of the turbulent period in Jerusalem, Spain and Rome.Louis de Wohl has again created an exciting and spiritually inspiring novel for all readers of historical fiction.

The Man on a Donkey


H.F.M. Prescott - 1952
    When the King's men despoil the monasteries and divide the wealth among the royal favorites, rebellion begins to brew in the north--and for a few weeks, the leader held the fate of a nation in his hands.

The Far Country


Nevil Shute - 1952
    When she meets Carl, she has every reason to stay. But the two come from different worlds, and need work to build a life together in a pioneer country.

Bláznova moudrost aneb Smrt a slavné zmrtvýchvstání Jeana Jacquesa Rousseaua ('Tis Folly to be Wise, or Death and Transfiguration of Jean Jacques Rousseau)


Lion Feuchtwanger - 1952
    

The Hidden Flower


Pearl S. Buck - 1952
    Buck's The Hidden Flower centers on the relationship between a Japanese student and an American soldier stationed in post-war Japan. The Japanese student's father worked in the United States as a doctor, but had to flee to Kyoto to avoid imprisonment in an internment camp. The American soldier has inherited his family's estate in Virginia, where interracial marriage is forbidden. Against such forces, and without the help of their families, how can the love between the young pair — and the future of their child — flourish? The Hidden Flower is an emotionally astute and moving exploration of a taboo love across cultures.

Moccasin Trail


Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 1952
    Although Jim finds it difficult to fit in with the family he hasn't seen since childhood, and though they are wary and distrustful of him, Jim feels his duty is at their side. But slowly, as they survive the dangerous trek west, the perils of frontier life, and the kidnapping of their younger brother, Jim and his family realize that the only way to survive is to accept each other and truly reunite the family.

The Bridge Over the River Kwai


Pierre Boulle - 1952
    In a prison camp, British POWs are forced into labor. The bridge they build will become a symbol of service and survival to one prisoner, Colonel Nicholson, a proud perfectionist. Pitted against the warden, Colonel Saito, Nicholson will nevertheless, out of a distorted sense of duty, aid his enemy. While on the outside, as the Allies race to destroy the bridge, Nicholson must decide which will be the first casualty: his patriotism or his pride.

Give Us this Valley


Tom Ham - 1952
    And Wash had seen Lizzie only two or three times- never for than a moment or so at that. But Wash needed a wife to fit into the plan he had; and as for Lizzie, she wouldn't have hurt his feelings for the world.So they married and set out on a long and dangerous winter journey by covered wagon from Pennsylvania down the Valley of Virginia, to establish a home, a farm and a family in the wilderness of Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains.Give Us This Valley is the story of the young couple's adventures, of their quarrel with Rafe Williams who had joined up with them for Georgia, of the terrible storm which almost crippled Wash and of the amazing Yancey family who settled the feud between the Stonecypher and the Williams kin. But most of all it is the tender and entrancing story of how Lizzie came to know and love 'Mr. Stonecypher', as she always called him, and of how at last she made him aware of the depth of her feelings for him.This is a warm, uniquely American novel which owes its quality to the old virtue of storytelling. It is rich in the authentic details of early pioneer life, a novel whose characters glow with the true light of human nature. It is a story to read and remember.

Spy-Catcher


Oreste Pinto - 1952
    When World War II broke out, he was immediately called upon to help screen all aliens coming into England.In September, 1942, at the request of the Dutch Government-in-Exile in London, he was transferred to the Netherlands army to reorganize its Counter-Intelligence Mission attached to SHAEF, thus coming directly under General Eisenhower. During the Normandy campaign, with a staff of seven Dutch officers and men, it was his duty to see to the security of the armies moving up through France and Belgium into Holland. During this period he also worked with the OSS and with the U.S. Navy.At the close of the war he did special investigation work in Hamburg, where he stayed until his "retirement" in 1948. He now makes his headquarters in London.

The Silver Chalice Part 1 of 2


Thomas B. Costain - 1952
    

Courage Is Not Given


Drayton Mayrant - 1952
    She worked at the looms in a London factory and then went as a bond servant to Charleston in the New World.

The Captive Princess


Maxine Shore - 1952
    The story of the first Christian princess of Britain.