Best of
Historical-Fiction

1961

Mila 18


Leon Uris - 1961
    Leon Uris's novel is set in the midst of the ghetto uprising that defied Nazi tyranny, as the Jews of Warsaw boldly met Wehrmacht tanks with homemade weapons and bare fists. Here, painted on a canvas as broad as its subject matter, is the compelling story of one of the most heroic struggles of modern times.

Covenant With Death


John Harris - 1961
    They fought for each other.When war breaks out in 1914, Mark Fenner and his Sheffield friends immediately flock to Kitchener's call. Amid waving flags and boozy celebration, the three men - Fen, his best friend Locky and self-assured Frank, rival for the woman Fen loves - enlist as volunteers to take on the Germans and win glory.Through ramshackle training in sodden England and a stint in arid Egypt, rebellious but brave Fen proves himself to be a natural leader, only undermined by on-going friction with Frank. Headed by terse, tough Sergeant Major Bold, this group of young men form steel-strong bonds, and yearn to face the great adventure of the Western Front.Then, on one summer's day in 1916, Fen and his band of brothers are sent to the Somme, and this very ordinary hero discovers what it means to fight for your life.Stirringly told from the down-to-earth view of everyday soldiers, Covenant with Death is acclaimed as one of the greatest novels about war ever written.

The Game of Kings


Dorothy Dunnett - 1961
    In 1547 Lymond is returning to his native Scotland, which is threatened by an English invasion. Accused of treason, Lymond leads a band of outlaws in a desperate race to redeem his reputation and save his land.

Lay Siege to Heaven: A Novel About Saint Catherine of Siena


Louis de Wohl - 1961
    Catherine of Siena. The daughter of a prosperous dyer in 14th-century Siena, Catherine devoted her life to Christ, persuaded the Pope to move from Avignon to Rome, subdued the warring City-States of Italy, and changed the face of her world.

The Centurions


Jean Lartéguy - 1961
    It was also the basis for the movie, The Lost Command, starring Anthony Quinn. In his autobiography, Larteguy writes that he got the name of the book from when he was traveling with the Foreign Legion in the Sahara and came across an old Roman column at an oasis. Inscribed on the column from 2000 years before was "Titus Caius Germanicus, centurion of the Xth Legion" and underneath it from a more recent time, "Friedrich Germanicus, of the 1st R.E.P. (French Paratroop Regiment)."The story begins in May 1954 with the defeat of the French army at Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese victors march their French prisoners into communist re-education camps. During their time in captivity, the French paratroop officers who survive the ordeal to be repatriated, bond together and try to utilize communist "revolutionary war" tactics in order to win their next war in Algeria. The book ends with the French centurions fighting the Battle of Algiers with propaganda, torture, terror and any tactic in order to win so that the last remnants of their empire could survive. -http://www.geocities.com/jean_lartegu...

A Prologue to Love


Taylor Caldwell - 1961
    It is an inspiring story of the power of love and faith in overcoming evil.

The Reb and the Redcoats


Constance Savery - 1961
    Technically the young prisoner is in Uncle Lawrence's custody, but the children soon forge a forbidden friendship with him after he nearly dies in an attempted escape. He becomes the Reb and they, his Redcoats. But when they learn of some events leading to his coming to Europe, even Uncle Lawrence, embittered by the unjust death of a friend in America, thaws toward him--but this doesn't stop the Reb from scheming to escape. Constance Savery deftly weaves themes of trust and forgiveness into an interesting plot with likeable characters.

Warriors for the Working Day


Peter Elstob - 1961
    The novel is based on events from June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy, to the invasion of Germany in the Spring of 1945. The book describes fighting by the men of a small unit of British tanks during this period, with the focus on one tank crew. The novel is highly realistic, as it is based on Elstob's experience in the war as a tank crewmember.

The Bronze Bow


Elizabeth George Speare - 1961
    –from the Song of David (2 Samuel 22:35) The Bronze Bow, written by Elizabeth George Speare (author of The Witch of Blackbird Pond) won the Newbery Medal in 1962. This gripping, action-packed novel tells the story of eighteen-year-old Daniel bar Jamin—a fierce, hotheaded young man bent on revenging his father’s death by forcing the Romans from his land of Israel. Daniel’s palpable hatred for Romans wanes only when he starts to hear the gentle lessons of the traveling carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth. A fast-paced, suspenseful, vividly wrought tale of friendship, loyalty, the idea of home, community . . . and ultimately, as Jesus says to Daniel on page 224: “Can’t you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy? Not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love.” A powerful, relevant read in turbulent times.

China Court: The Hours of a Country House


Rumer Godden - 1961
    Now one of her most endearing classics is being reissued for a new generation of readers. China Court is the story of the hours and days of a country house in Wales and five generations of the family who inhabited it.

The Way to the Lantern


Audrey Erskine Lindop - 1961
    The Way to the Lantern is a breathtaking historical adventure novel in which an English actor and confidence man, whose interests in France are romantic and financial, becomes violently involved in the French Revolution.

The Daybreakers / Sackett 2ebooks


Louis L'Amour - 1961
    Sackett - Eldest brother William Tell Sackett narrates search in mountains for gold and discovery of orphan Ange Kerry.

Spirit Lake


MacKinlay Kantor - 1961
    A novel of Iowa in the 1850's, culminating in the Spirit Lake Massacre of '57, as seen both from the viewpoint of the Dakota Nation and that of the white pioneers.

The Girl from Johnnycake Hill


Virginia Frances Voight - 1961
    Here begins a stirring adventure of early New England pioneer life.Upon their arrival in the sparsely settled Housatonic Valley, events both puzzling and perplexing begin to take place. The Scaticook Tribe has occupied the land for many years and the sight of newcomers to the territory causes unrest among them.How the lives of the Beech family change in the midst of a land dispute, the threat of crop failure, and personal danger, is an exciting story full of authentic Indian lore.

A Journey to Matecumbe


Robert Lewis Taylor - 1961
    It has taken me several attempts to locate it. It is the story of a boy who takes a trip from Illinois to the Florida Keys. It has everything from hurricans to Seminole in it. Glad I found it again.

Մխիթար Սպարապետ


Sero Khanzadyan - 1961
    Mkhitar (d. 1730), an Armenian national hero, was an 18th-century military commander that played a key role in the struggle to preserve the Armenian heritage in the Syunik region of Armenia. He was instrumental in David Bek's victories over the Turkic tribesmen (under Safavid rule) in Syunik, and later succeeded him in the leadership of the rebelled Armenian noblemen, after David Bek's death in 1728.

Cities of the Flesh


Zoé Oldenbourg - 1961
    The region covered all of present S. France. Its palaces were rich in art, dominated by codes of courtly love. Its tongue was a musical dialect that had given the region a flourishing poetry & was to give it a name—Languedoc (for langue d'oc, lit. language of yes). French kings coveted Languedoc. Innocent III loathed it as the Cathar religion's center, the last great Christian heresy before the Reformation to shake Roman power. Besieging Béziers, the French came in god's name, seeking heretics. Inside, they slaughtered until the red crosses on their white tunics were lost in blood. In 51 hours, they killed the city's population of 20,000. Languedoc's rape, which, under the name of the Albigensian Crusade, took place during 35 years of unparalleled savagery following the slaughter at Béziers, has now preoccupied Oldenbourg thru one remarkable volume of history, Massacre at Montségur, & two historical novels.

Brighty of the Grand Canyon Inscribed


Henry And Dennis - 1961
    

The Lonely Sentinel


Piet Prins - 1961
    

The Story of Knights and Armor


Ernest E. Tucker - 1961
    

Pope Pius XII: The World's Shepherd


Louis de Wohl - 1961