Best of
Historical-Fiction

1964

Little Big Man


Thomas Berger - 1964
    As a "human being", as the Cheyenne called their own, he won the name Little Big Man. He dressed in skins, feasted on dog, loved four wives and saw his people butchered by the horse soldiers of General Custer, the man he had sworn to kill.As a white man, Crabb hunted buffalo, tangled with Wyatt Earp, cheated Wild Bill Hickok and survived the Battle of Little Bighorn. Part-farcical, part-historical, the picaresque adventures of this witty, wily mythomaniac claimed the Wild West as the stuff of serious literature.

When the Lion Feeds


Wilbur Smith - 1964
    The first part of the book deals with his childhood and youth and his longing to become a successful farmer and hard-hitting fighter like his father.The tough life of cattle-farming is brusquely interrupted by the Zulu Wars, when Sean and his brother see fighting for the first time. Wilbur Smith vividly recreates the excitement of the war for the young men-their hope of winning their own cattle, the horror of the massacre at Isandhlwana, the heroism of the defence at Rorkes Drift.'Witwatersrand' is the name of the second part of this book and it tells the story of Sean's fabulous success in the gold rush and his rich life with Duff Charleywood and the beautiful Candy in the new town of Johannesburg, where huge fortunes were made and lost in a morning's dealing on the Exchange.The atmosphere of this feverish, violent time is brilliantly drawn: the heavy drinking, the elaborate houses, the ruthless abandonment of the failure. Sean and Duff are caught at last in a trap laid by their rival, the sinister and clever Hradsky, and leave Johannesburg for the wilderness to seek their fortunes once more.And now the book moves to its climax. At last it seems as though Sean will settle to a quiet married life – but fate has other plans for him. They return to Johannesburg and tragedy strikes quickly. Sean finds himself alone once more...Filled with action scenes in war and the early heady days of the gold rush, and adventure among the vast game herds of the African wilderness, this novel is dominated by the towering compelling personality of Sean, whose life story is continued in The Sound of Thunder and A Sparrow Falls.

Julian


Gore Vidal - 1964
    for ISBN 037572706X.The remarkable bestseller about the fourth-century Roman emperor who famously tried to halt the spread of Christianity, Julian is widely regarded as one of Gore Vidal’s finest historical novels.Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was one of the brightest yet briefest lights in the history of the Roman Empire. A military genius on the level of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, a graceful and persuasive essayist, and a philosopher devoted to worshiping the gods of Hellenism, he became embroiled in a fierce intellectual war with Christianity that provoked his murder at the age of thirty-two, only four years into his brilliantly humane and compassionate reign. A marvelously imaginative and insightful novel of classical antiquity, Julian captures the religious and political ferment of a desperate age and restores with blazing wit and vigor the legacy of an impassioned ruler.

The Land Breakers


John Ehle - 1964
    Five years of struggle to create a community ensue, in which part of the struggle is just to survive. This is the story of late 18th century life in an untamed country.

Katherine Wentworth


D.E. Stevenson - 1964
    Stevenson's characteristic freshness and charm.The thirty-ninth novel from the beloved author of The Blue Sapphire, Bel Lamington, and Fletcher's Eng -- this new work centers around Katherine Wentworth, married at the age of nineteen to a man with whom she was very much in love. Widowed after only four years of happiness with Gerald, Katherine is left to bring up her stepson, Simon, as well as her own twins, Daisy and Denis.Katherine's struggle to raise her children wisely is one which will move every reader deeply. Told in first person, the story sensitively evokes the personality of Katherine's husband, whose many outstanding qualities are now perpetuated in his children. When Simon, growing to manhood, suddenly becomes heir to the family fortunes, he faces the difficult decision of either moving to the estate of his domineering grandfather or giving up the inheritance to remain free, as his father did before him.While Simon wrestles with his problem, Katherine finds romance entering her life in the person of Alec Maclaren, the brother of an old friend. Thrown together on a vacation in the Scottish Highlands, the two realize in each other's company a new zest for living, and soon Katherine is faced with a future that promises she will no longer be alone.As in her many other works, D.E. Stevenson has again created a realistic world of warm, believable people whose company brings delight to the reader.~~from the dust jacket flaps

Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin


Leon Uris - 1964
    Captain Sean O'Sullivan distinguishes himself as a courageous soldier in the closing days of World War II, but what comes next tests his deepest reserves of strength and conviction. Sent to oversee the rebuilding of Berlin, O'Sullivan is exposed to the horrific truths of the Holocaust, a shattered and defeated society, and the new threat of Soviet power as the Iron Curtain begins to shadow the city. When Soviet forces blockade Berlin and the airlift begins, O'Sullivan is faced with profound moral dilemmas in an increasingly complicated world. Armageddon is one of the great fictional portrayals of Europe in the earliest days of the Cold War."Magnificent. The great drama of the Berlin airlift . . ." -The Columbus Dispatch"A vast panorama of people and places . . . dramatic moment after dramatic moment in a throbbing tempo." -New York Herald TribuneLeon Uris (1924-2003) was an author of fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays whose works include numerous best-selling novels. His epic Exodus (1958) has been translated into over fifty languages. Uris's work is notable for its focus on dramatic moments in contemporary history, including World War II and its aftermath, the birth of modern Israel, and the Cold War. Through the massive success of his novels and his skill as a storyteller, Uris has had enormous influence on popular understanding of twentieth-century history.

How Far to Bethlehem?


Norah Lofts - 1964
    With immense care and a superb sense of history she has re-created this most wonderful of tales with compassion, understanding, freshness and faith. It opens in Nazareth where Mary, who has been visited by the Angel Gabriel, prepared for her forthcoming marriage to Joseph and shows with astonishing clarity the fears and joys she felt as she learned of her appointed task. The author has combined all her talents as historian, psychologist and writer to produce a novel which is scholarly, moving and intensely readable.

Wind from the Carolinas


Robert Wilder - 1964
    It is the saga of the Camerons, an impetuous Tory family, who fled South after the American Revolution to rebuild their baronial plantations in the turbulent, wind-swept Bahamas.

The Keepers of the House


Shirley Ann Grau - 1964
    Extraordinary family lore has been passed down to Abigail Howland, but not all of it. When shocking facts come to light about her late grandfather William’s relationship with Margaret Carmichael, a black housekeeper, the community is outraged, and quickly gathers to vent its fury on Abigail. Alone in the house the Howlands built, she is at once shaken by those who have betrayed her, and determined to punish the town that has persecuted her and her kin. Morally intricate, graceful and suspenseful, The Keepers of the House has become a modern classic.

The Hornblower Companion


C.S. Forester - 1964
    Forester wrote this beautifully illustrated book to explain the naval incidents his fictional hero Hornblower experienced during his adventures in the Royal Navy.

The Avenue


R.F. Delderfield - 1964
    And all the hopes, dreams and lives of the people on the Avenue are forged to a fighting force to defend all that they hold dear."

Young Hornblower: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower & Hornblower and the Atropos


C.S. Forester - 1964
    

Ramage


Dudley Pope - 1964
    In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.

Von Ryan's Express


David Westheimer - 1964
    His strict discipline brings order to the camp; it also earns him a derisive "von." When Italy surrenders, German guards herd the men into boxcars for shipment to the Reich. Ryan has other ideas. He reckons to take the train to Switzerland...and freedom."A taut, exciting and well-keyed war novel...Ryan is a difficult hero to like, but he is a hero nonetheless. An exciting, authentic book." (Book Week)

Kirsti


Helen Markley Miller - 1964
    The Finnish family struggles with learning English and surviving in a new land.

Chain of Destiny


Nigel Tranter - 1964
    From those inauspicious beginnings, the inexperienced boy-king was to become one of the finest and most popular kings in Scotland's history, leading his people bravely through some of the nation's most dramatic and colourful years. Bold, vigorous, headstong and romantic, he inspired great loyalty from men, and passionate love from women. So great was his people's affection that the bravest and best of Scotland's young men finally laid down their lives for him - at the tragic Field of Flodden. Accomplished lover, able king, complex personality, James IV of Scotland is brought to memorable life in Nigel Tranter's compelling tale of drama, intrigue and treachery.

Winds of the Day (The Fairwater edition, [12])


Howard Spring - 1964
    Orphaned at the age of twelve, Alice is forced to work as a servant in a class-ridden society. However, her harsh experiences only serve to fire her indomitable spirit. Winds of the Day spans both World Wars and traces Alice's moves between Manchester, Cardiff and London. It is the timeless beauty of Cornwall and Alice's home, Dros-y-Mor that are central to her story as she struggles to come to terms with a rapidly changing modern world.Howard Spring started writing this novel in early January 1963, and finished it in early February 1964.

Knight's Honor


Roberta Gellis - 1964
    Helping - and sometimes hindering Roger, is the great love of his life...Elizabeth of Chester, beautiful, tempestuous, incredibly wayward in an age when most women were little more than chattles. Will the passionate love affair of Roger and Elizabeth save - or doom - their great cause?

The Three Brothers of Ur


J.G. Fyson - 1964
    A story of the three sons of Teresh, a wealthy merchant of 4000 years ago in the city of Ur, with most interest on the youngest son who often gets himself into mischief.

Under A Changing Moon


Margot Benary-Isbert - 1964
    She hasn't been back to the family courthouse home for more than two years, and isn't quite prepared for her five rambunctious brothers, two eccentric maiden aunts, bibliophile uncle, and eighty-nine year old Babbett, not to mention the demands laid on her by energetic Mama. How can she cope with the mess of it all? There is barely time to think each day. Her father, Judge Eisenberth, at first seems to be the only one who understands her frustration. Even Adolf, her favorite brother, cannot fathom why she longs to go back to the convent and become a nun. Paula and Adolf, who is going through his own trials must face her problems and learn how to deal with everyday dilemmas as a part of the growing up process.Age 14-up"

Scarab for Luck: A Story of Ancient Egypt


Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft - 1964
    During a series of adventures young Harkuf of ancient Egypt learns a great deal about his country and its customs.