Best of
Historical-Fiction

1981

Good Night, Mr. Tom


Michelle Magorian - 1981
    Timid, scrawny Willie Beech -- the abused child of a single mother -- is evacuated to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, of the country sounds and sights, even of Mr. Tom, the gruff, kindly old man who has taken him in. But gradually Willie forgets the hate and despair of his past. He learns to love a world he never knew existed, a world of friendship and affection in which harsh words and daily beatings have no place. Then a telegram comes. Willie must return to his mother in London. When weeks pass by with no word from Willie, Mr. Tom sets out for London to look for the young boy he has come to love as a son.

The War of the End of the World


Mario Vargas Llosa - 1981
    Inspired by a real episode in Brazilian history, Mario Vargas Llosa tells the unforgettable story of an apocalyptic movement, led by a mysterious prophet, in which prostitutes, beggars and bandits establish Canudos, a new republic, a libertarian paradise.~publisher's web site

Follow the River


James Alexander Thom - 1981
    For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people.

Creation


Gore Vidal - 1981
    -- and embellishes it with his own ironic humor, brilliant insights, and piercing observations. We meet a vast array of historical figures in a staggering novel of love, war, philosophy, and adventure . . . "There isn't a page of CREATION that doesn't inform and very few pages that do not delight."-- John Leonard, The New York Times

Water Music


T. Coraghessan Boyle - 1981
    Boyle's riotous first novel, now in a new edition for its 25th anniversary Twenty five years ago, T.C. Boyle published his first novel, Water Music, a funny, bawdy, extremely entertaining novel of imaginative and stylistic fancy that announced to the world Boyle's tremendous gifts as a storyteller. Set in the late eighteenth century, Water Music follows the wild adventures of Ned Rise, thief and whoremaster, and Mungo Park, a Scottish explorer, through London's seamy gutters and Scotland's scenic highlands to their grand meeting in the heart of darkest Africa. There they join forces and wend their hilarious way to the source of the Niger.

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page


G.B. Edwards - 1981
    Eighty years old, Ebenezer has lived his whole life on the Channel Island of Guernsey, a stony speck of a place caught between the coasts of England and France yet a world apart from either. Ebenezer himself is fiercely independent, but as he reaches the end of his life he is determined to tell his own story and the stories of those he has known. He writes of family secrets and feuds, unforgettable friendships and friendships betrayed, love glimpsed and lost. The Book of Ebenezer Le Page is a beautifully detailed chronicle of a life, but it is equally an oblique reckoning with the traumas of the twentieth century, as Ebenezer recalls both the men lost to the Great War and the German Occupation of Guernsey during World War II, and looks with despair at the encroachments of commerce and tourism on his beloved island.G. B. Edwards labored in obscurity all his life and completed The Book of Ebenezer Le Page shortly before his death. Published posthumously, the book is a triumph of the storyteller’s art that conjures up the extraordinary voice of a living man.

Blunted Lance (The Goff Family War Thrillers Book 2)


Max Hennessy - 1981
    The Regiment – the 19th Lancers – mattered to the Goffs, generation after generation, more than anything else.From the Sudan to South Africa, from Flanders to Palestine – from the charge and skirmish on the open plain in the last outposts of the Empire, to the mud and stench of the trenches in the First World War, they continue to fight with ferocious intensity.But even as Colby Goff rises to the rank of Field Marshal and Dabney receives the honours of a hero, they witness the decline of their beloved cavalry, as the horse and sword give way to the tank and machine gun.Blunted Lance is the second in a breathtaking trilogy that spans three generations of an army dynasty, perfect for fans of Adrian Goldsworthy, Alistair MacLean and Paul Fraser Collard.

Zemindar


Valerie Fitzgerald - 1981
    A magnificent love story unfolds against a backdrop of exotic splendor and stirring deeds as a young Englishwoman Laura Hewitt journeys to the East to the fabled fiefdom of the Zemindar, Guardian of the Earth.

The Centurions


Damion Hunter - 1981
    Half-brothers, sons of a brilliant general. One, son of a slave woman, is a born warrior destined to excel. The other, nobleman by birth, must struggle relentlessly to succeed. When they both join the Centuriate, a position Flavius has always known he will inherit, and one that Correus has long coveted, it is together that they face the brutal reality of war. Fighting German barbarians will prove dangerous, not only to their bodies, but to their souls as well… The Centurions, book one in this epic Roman adventure trilogy, is perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane

The Flames of Rome


Paul L. Maier - 1981
    A capital city awash with corruption, sensuality, and political intrigue is at the flash point. And caught between the crushing currents of history are a new but growing religious group known as the followers of The Way.Award-winning historian and best-selling author Paul L. Maier has created a compelling style of documentary fiction, using only known historical events and persons to bring to life first-century Rome in all its excess, treachery, and insanity. This is the Rome that the apostle Paul visits, where he’s placed on trial, and which is forever changed by his testimony and witness. Maier takes readers into the courtroom of imperial justice and into the homes of the people struggling with the new faith they’ve encountered to answers questions such as:-How did Christianity first reach Rome?-Why did Paul have to wait two years for trial and was he condemned or set free?-Why does the New Testament account in Acts end so abruptly?-Who set fire to Rome and why did Nero persecute Christians so horribly?Following the family of Flavius Sabinus, mayor of Rome under Nero Maier captures all the drama and tension of the political conflicts that precede and follow the Great Fire of Rome, and the epic political and religious clashes of the world’s capital. This is the sensational story of pagans at their worst—and Christians at their best. Readers won’t want to put it down.

Time of the Dragons


Robert Shea - 1981
    Shike is a novel about two characters: Jebu, a fighting monk of the Order of Zinja, and Taniko, the minor noblewoman with whom he falls in love on his first mission -- escorting her to an arranged marriage with a far older and extremely influential nobleman.

That Scatterbrain Booky


Bernice Thurman Hunter - 1981
    All she knew was that she was hungry all the time, that her parents fought constantly, that the bailiff would soon return to evict her family from their home. Worst of all, she knew that Christmas would be a time of empty stockings instead of presents under the tree, a time of mashed potatoes and turnips instead of turkey and dreassing. But Booky's spunky nature refused to be crushed, even by the Great Depression.

Once upon a Summer


Janette Oke - 1981
    He's a twelve-year-old orphan being raised by his eighteen-year-old aunt. When Grandpa and Uncle Charlie start making plans to find Auntie Lou a husband-and take away the only mother Josh has ever known-he knows something has to be done. His family has shaped the young man he has become. Now, as he grows into manhood, he begins to face important questions about life, love, and faith. How can he find his way when his whole world threatens to come apart?Trying desperately to cling to the life he's always had, Josh does what he can to keep his aunt single. But when a preacher comes along, Josh sees that things are going to get complicated.This heartwarming story is full of love, humor, and inspiring faith.

The Black Mountains


Janet Tanner - 1981
    Charlotte, James and their seven children are independent spirits, united by strong family values.Living in a mining community is never easy, and when the shadow of impending war threatens, they must pull together to face the hardship to come. Can this close-knit family overcome whatever tragedy life throws at them?The Black Mountains, a moving saga of love, happiness and heartbreak, is perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Katie Flynn. ‘Sensitive and exceptionally polished’ Manchester Evening News The Hillsbridge Sagas The Black Mountains The Emerald Valley The Hills and the Valley A Family Affair

The Long Masquerade


Madeleine Brent - 1981
    She is without pretext and assumes that a bright future awaits her as the bride of the wealthy Oliver Foy. Too soon she discovers that her life is a masquerade and pretense her only salvation. No one is whom he or she appears to be.Brushing against the concealed identities and hidden motives of others, Emma quickly acquires secrets of her own. When murder compels Emma to flee her husband's Jamaican plantation, she and her faithful friend find sanctuary wandering the Caribbean. Tragedy cuts short their ocean idyll and delivers Emma from her sea roamings. Once again, she adopts another name, another home, another appearance.

Hiroshima No Pika


Toshi Maruki - 1981
    Hiroshima. JapanA little girl and her parentsare eating breakfast,and then it happened.HIROSHIMA NO PIKA.This book is dedicated to the fervent hope the Flashwill never happen again,anywhere.

Banners of Silk


Rosalind Laker - 1981
    Louise Vemet. Raised in the slums of Paris. Coming of age around the splendor and corruption of the Second Empire. She ruled the world of fashion, clothing the most fabled women of title and of pleasure in a society where even sin had to have style. She took as her lover a nobleman she could never wed -- and gave a name to their child by entering into a passionless marriage. Sweeping from the Paris of Louis Napoleon to the England of Queen Victoria... and from the depths of despair to the heights of joy and fulfillment... this is the unforgettable saga of a woman of daring and destiny -- and the dazzling world of French haute couture she helped create....

Last Standing Woman


Winona LaDuke - 1981
    oral myth and character study...." Publishers Weekly.

The Midwife


Gay Courter - 1981
    She fought her own doubts and fears as she plunged into a forbidden love affair and an even more hazard-filled marriage. She fought the awesome odds facing a Jewish immigrant and the bitter hostility of male doctors in turn-of-the-century New York. She fought for her burning dreams and desires. She fought and she won.This magnificent novel follows the courageous and passionate Hannah Blau from the corridors of the Imperial Palace to the Lower East Side and finally to New York's Fifth Avenue mansions - recreating a whole new world of striving, of love, of lust, of life, death and birth.

The Pride


Judith Saxton - 1981
    However, the consequences of their love affair are terrible for Tina as she is shamed by the father she adores, and Edward is sent away. Against all the odds, Tina and Edward find each other again, and despite great hardship and tragedy, together they build a dynasty strong enough to withstand some of the worst catastrophes Britain has ever known. The Pride is a magnificent start to a stunning family saga.

An Eye of the Fleet


Richard Woodman - 1981
    HMS Cyclops is involved in pursuing American privateers who are a danger to British trade and Drinkwater finds himself part of a prize crew when initiative and courage in a critical situation enable him to survive a dangerous encounter. When the frigate is detached on special service to the swamps of South Carolina, grim actions are fought at sea and by a detachment of the ship's company on land, resulting in violent deaths before CYCLOPS arrives in New York in 1781 and is sent back to Spithead with the news of Lord Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown. Through his experiences both in action and in the hard life on Cyclops, Drinkwater matures and gains the ability to stand up against the tyranny of the midshipmen's mess and the sinister and evil influence of the senior midshipman, Morris. In overcoming his difficulties he is sustained by his growing love for Elizabeth and the contrast of home life with the brutality of naval service.

The Legend of Mammy Jane


Sibyl Jarvis Pischke - 1981
    

Spring Moon: A Novel of China


Bette Bao Lord - 1981
    in an ancient land of breathtaking beauty and exotic surprise ... a courageous woman triumphs over her world's ultimate tragedy.Behind the garden walls of the House of Chang, pampered daughter Spring Moon is born into luxury and privilege. But the tempests of change sweep her into a new world -- one of hardship, turmoil, and heartbreak, one that threatens to destroy her husband, her family, and her darkest secret love. Through a tumultuous lifetime, Spring Moon must cling to her honor, to the memory of a time gone by, and to a destiny, foretold at her birth, that has yet to be fulfilled.

The Old Priory


Norah Lofts - 1981
    Now it belonged to Arthur Tresize, a returning seaman who purchased the house, the land -- and his fate, with gold ill-gotten from a noblewoman veiled in mystery.Tresize and his family grew richer with each passing year. But strange mishaps and tragic misfortunes befell them with the vengeance of a curse unheeded. Death, betrayal, madness, heartbreak, and murderous hatreds worked their evil through three generations. Until the family's pride and prosperity and all they had built were as broken dreams in the dust.Yet in a young man's passion for a beautiful woman was the promise that the sorrow haunting the Old Priory might now give way to the joy of love.

Famous Last Words


Timothy Findley - 1981
    Officers of the liberating army discover his frozen, disfigured corpse and his astonishing testament - the sordid truth that he alone possessed. Fascinated but horrified, they learn of a dazzling array of characters caught up in a scandal and political corruption.Famous Last Words is part-thriller, part-horror story; it is also a meditation on history and the human soul and it is Findley's fine achievement that he has combined these elements into a web that constantly surprises and astounds the reader.

Friend Seeker


Roy F. Chandler - 1981
    Boys were killed, and one was captured. A single youth escaped who vowed to find and free his kidnapped friend. To undertake the monumental task of surviving within a dominant enemy nation, to fight its warriors, to find and free his companion, the boy known as "Squash,” develops mind, body, and spirit until he transforms himself into a complete warrior—a skilled and powerful fighter who can travel far to find and battle to the death those who have enslaved his friend. This is the story of Friend Seeker-Delaware warrior, guardian of the Iroquois Confederacy's Southern Gate, rescuer of Late Star, defender of honor, and provider of safety for his people.

The Luck of Huemac


Daniel J. Peters - 1981
    Spanning a century of Aztec history, this account documents the rise and fall of the Aztec civilization by focusing on three powerful men, particularly Huemac, who faces the marauding Spaniards led by Cortez.

The Chaneysville Incident


David Bradley - 1981
    This is the story of John's relationship with his family, the town, and the woman he loves; and also between the past and the present, between oppression and guilt, hate and violence, love and acceptance.

Hers the Kingdom


Shirley Streshinsky - 1981
    It was here, with her handsome aristocratic husband, Owen, and her crippled sister Lena, that Willa would build her empire.The Malibu, where the mountains meet the sea. A sprawling ranch pounded by the raging Pacific, it would grow to shelter the generations of a might California dynasty.Willa's dynasty. Through the boom days of the railroads, from the dance halls of San Francisco, to the revolutionary fires of China, through the bitter losses of war and the terrible secrets of a forbidden love, Willa would fight. For pride, for passion, for her children and her men...for the vast cherished acres of the Malibu, her kingdom, her home, her destiny.Like GONE WITH THE WIND and THE THORN BIRDS, a once-in-adecade story that will sweep you away into another woman's life.

Charleston


Alexandra Ripley - 1981
    She is a woman who experiences the horrors of life & a passion that comes to but a lucky few.

Fighting Submarine


Edwyn Gray - 1981
    was cashiered from the navy after master-minding a dummy torpedo run during peacetime on the pride of Nazi Germany’s new navy.As far as everyone knew he later died in a racing car accident and the case was forgotten. Except by his First Lieutenant Nick Hamilton, who, by 1940, was commanding his own submarine, HMS Rapier. When Hamilton made an audacious attack on the Nazi prison ship, Norse, he discovered that Cavendish was not dead at all—and he and HMS Rapier were involved in the most terrifying adventure of their career...

Lincoln's Mothers


Dorothy Clarke Wilson - 1981
    Their story is one of survival on the early American frontier, and of the unique love they held for their family, especially son Abraham.

Seventrees


Janice Young Brooks - 1981
    But when she went to England to claim her legacy, her dream turned into a nightmare of temptation and seduction.Three strong-minded women in a stirring epic saga that sweeps from Pennsylvania to Kansas to England -- and lights up three tempestuous generations of American life.

A Jar of Dreams


Yoshiko Uchida - 1981
    She desperately wants to fit in and be like everyone else, but instead she is ridiculed and made to feel different because she is Japanese. But when Aunt Waka comes to visit, and brings with her the old-fashioned wisdom of Japan, she teaches Rinko the importance of her Japanese heritage, and the value of her own strengths and dreams, in this warm and touching story.

Tidewater Dynasty: A Biographical Novel Of The Lees Of Stratford Hall


Carey Roberts - 1981
    Lee, who made the fateful decision to turn from the nation he loved to defend the state he loved more, the Lees of Virginia dominated both their local and our national landscape.

Byzantium Endures


Michael Moorcock - 1981
    Born in Kiev on the cusp of the twentieth century, he discovers the pleasures of sex and cocaine and glimpses a sophisticated world beyond his horizons before the storm of the October Revolution breaks. Still a student at St Petersburg, he is deflected into more immediate concerns, caught up in the rip-tide of history.

Lionheart: A Novel of Richard I


Martha Rofheart - 1981
    He was a King unbeaten in battle. His sword carved out a godlike legend from the battlefields of France to the blood-soaked sands of the Holy Land. He was England’s most romantic and heroic king, a passionate and sensitive man, great warrior, poet and musician, and a charismatic leader, blindly adored by the knights he commanded, deeply loved by more than one woman. But one woman captured his heart. She was a woman unchallenged in the lists of love. Blondelza, as daringly independent as she was beautiful. She lived by her wits and talent on the stage, and refused to yield to any man who was not her equal. In a royal court brimming with political intrigue, delicate alliances, and fierce jealousies, these two came together though all their world conspired to keep them apart — two proud and free spirits held in thrall by a passion that threatened to consume them both… In this masterly novel set in the time of the bloody Crusades and the intricate Courts of Love, the fiery Plantagenet rulers come to life: Richard’s father, the boorish womanizer, King Henry II; his mother, a legendary beauty and a unique woman of the medieval world, Eleanor of Aquitaine; his brothers the princes, vying for land and loyalty and power. And at the very centre is Richard himself and the woman he loved above all others, the talented and free-spirited Blondelza, mother of his illegitimate son, who mocked the laws of God and man. “STIRRING AND DRAMATIC!”- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY  “VIBRANT AND COLOURFUL” – LIBRARY JOURNAL Martha Rofheart (1917–1990) was an American writer of historical novels, an actress and early in her career, a model. She is also the author of ‘Fortune Made His Sword’ and ‘Glendower Country’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

The Running Years


Claire Rayner - 1981
    Through the centuries they'd been forced to separate, to flee Jerusalem to Baghdad and Bombay, to Spain and Holland. The Lammecks and Damonts would establish their own aristocracy as merchant princes and advisors to England's ruling class. But the Lazars seemed doomed to grinding poverty, laboring in London's East End sweatshops.United by faith, blood, and desireIt was chance that chose the beautiful Hannah Lazar for a different fate.Her wealthy marriage would lead to heartbreak. But her own proud, defiant spirit would propel her on to make her own fortune. Hannah - the bold survivor. Her resourcefulness would reunite the family. Her courage would sustain them through two devastating World Wars. She would become a legend, a light in the darkness, illuminating The Enduring Years.

Inheritors of the Storm


Victor Sondheim - 1981
    

March on Moscow


Charles Whiting - 1981
    The 69th Infantry Regiment wear the King’s Cross for the blood they shed during the invasion of Poland. But the Sixty-Ninth, under the command of Major von Dietz, are entirely unprepared for the horrors that await them in Russia.Hitler is determined that his German troops will succeed where Napoleon’s failed, and so the Sixty-Ninth begins a long and deadly march on Moscow. The trek takes them across Russia’s snowbound steppe; starving, freezing, and plagued with desertion, the regiment struggles to pull together to fight Cossacks, wolves, and Stalin’s suicidal ski-troops.But the horrors of the march into Russia slip away compared to what awaits Red Rudi, Private Maltitz and the rest of the regiment once they begin their retreat. Three thousand men made their way into the barbed-wire snowdrifts of the Russian Front; tested to the breaking point and beyond, only a few return… Praise for Charles Whiting ‘Whiting… is a skilled and prolific writer. His comments on the generals are apt… An important book that records one of the most difficult yet least publicised phases of the war’ - Spectator ‘Whiting is a very experienced popular military historian who gets the last ounce of drama from the bloody battles in the West between September 1944 and February 1945’ - The Times >b> Charles Whiting (1926-2007) was one of Britain’s most prolific military writers, with over 300 books to his credit. He saw active service in the Second World War, serving in an armoured reconnaissance regiment attached to both the US and British armies. His books therefore possess the insight and authority of someone who, as a combat soldier, actually experienced the horrors of the Second World War. He authored some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction prior to his death in 2007. March on Moscow is the second book in his Russian series and follows First Blood. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Love's Secret Storm


Leonora Pruner - 1981
    Meg, genteel social butterfly, marries Will, outcast clergyman, only to find she cannot tolerate the life of a rural pastor's wife.

The Lovelock Version


Maurice Shadbolt - 1981
    

Railroad


Graham Masterton - 1981
    Huntington) using the transcontinental rail service as his theme. Collis Edmonds' ambition is to blast a railroad through the heart of America - especially after seeing his family made bankrupt by investing in a similar but worthless scheme. Edmonds is portrayed as a gambler, drinker, chauvinist and arrogant womaniser.