Free/Bargain Historical Fiction in January 2014

[AnemicOak]

We point out free and bargain historical fiction titles to each other. Please don't post any self-published books, and please do a search before posting to avoid duplicates.

Be aware that many freebies are only free for a day, so grab them fast!




The Burning Land: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell is $1.99

Amazon US | B&N | eBooks.com

Hasn't dropped yet at Kobo, Sony, OmniLit, etc. although it probably will soon.

In a clash of heroes, the kingdom is born.

At the end of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in ill health; his heir, an untested youth. His enemy, the Danes, having failed to conquer Wessex, now see their chance for victory. Led by the sword of savage warrior Harald Bloodhair, the Viking hordes attack. But Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, proves his worth, outwitting Harald and handing the Vikings one of their greatest defeats.

For Uhtred, the sweetness of victory is soon overshadowed by tragedy. Breaking with Alfred, he joins the Vikings, swearing never again to serve the Saxon king. Instead, he will reclaim his ancestral fortress on the Northumbrian coast. Allied with his old friend Ragnar—and his old foe Haesten—he aims to invade and conquer Wessex itself.

Yet fate has different plans. The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames.

[AnemicOak]

Master and Commander (Vol. Book 1) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) by Patrick O'Brien is $1.99

Amazon US | Kobo | B&N | Sony | OmniLit

The beginning to the sweeping Aubrey/Maturin series. "The best sea story I have ever read." -- Sir Francis Chichester

This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.

[AnemicOak]

The Kindle daily deal in the US is The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally for $2.99

From the acclaimed author of Schindler’s List comes the epic, unforgettable story of two sisters whose lives are transformed by the cataclysm of the First World War.

IN 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their father’s farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Though they are used to tending the sick, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first on a hospital ship near Gallipoli, then on the Western Front.

Yet amid the carnage, the sisters become the friends they never were at home and find them*selves courageous in the face of extreme danger and also the hostility from some on their own side. There is great bravery, humor, and compassion, too, and the inspiring example of the remarkable women they serve alongside. In France, where Naomi nurses in a hospital set up by the eccen*tric Lady Tarlton while Sally works in a casualty clearing station, each meets an exceptional man: the kind of men for whom they might give up some of their newfound independence—if only they all survive.

At once vast in scope and extraordinarily intimate, The Daughters of Mars brings World War I vividly to life from an uncommon perspec*tive. Thomas Keneally has written a remarkable novel about suffering and transcendence, despair and triumph, and the simple acts of decency that make us human even in a world gone mad.

With Whispersync for Voice the audiobook can be added for another $2.99

[AnemicOak]

The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P.S. Duffy $1.99

From a hardscrabble village in Nova Scotia to the collapsing trenches of France, a debut novel about a family divided by World War I.

In the tradition of Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife and Karl Marlantes’s Matterhorn, P. S. Duffy’s astonishing debut showcases a rare and instinctive talent emerging in midlife. Her novel leaps across the Atlantic, between a father at war and a son coming of age at home without him.

When his beloved brother-in-law goes missing at the front in 1916, Angus defies his pacifist upbringing to join the war and find him. Assured a position as a cartographer in London, he is instead sent directly into the visceral shock of battle. Meanwhile, at home, his son Simon Peter must navigate escalating hostility in a fishing village torn by grief. With the intimacy of The Song of Achilles and the epic scope of The Invisible Bridge, The Cartographer of No Man’s Land offers a soulful portrayal of World War I and the lives that were forever changed by it, both on the battlefield and at home.

Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick $1.99

Nothing worthwhile is easy. Not becoming a knight. Not when you don't fit in anywhere.

Brunin Fitzwarin knows this better than anyone. Lost in his own home, he's now a knight-in-training to the Lord of Ludlow—and still utterly alone. That is, until the youngest daughter of the house befriends him.

But England is in turmoil, and Brunin must fight with his lord to support King Stephen for the English crown.

As the war rages on and his particularly close to home, Brunin must defeat the shadows of his childhood and take on the mantle of knight, confronting the future head on.

A rich tale of coming of age in a world where chivalry is a luxury few can afford. Shadows and Strongholds is a tale of earning your place and finding your way home.

[AnemicOak]

The Last Kingdom (Saxon Tales) by Bernard Cornwell has dropped to $2.99
Amazon US | may drop elsewhere later...

In the middle years of the ninth-century, the fierce Danes stormed onto British soil, hungry for spoils and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until but one realm remained. And suddenly the fate of all England—and the course of history—depended upon one man, one king.

The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur (Warlord Chronicles) by Bernard Cornwell has dropped to $2.99
Amazon US | B&N | Kobo | Sony | OmniLit | eBooks.com

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

[AnemicOak]

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is $2,99 at Amazon US (and probably other stores)

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

[rguion]

Thanks for pointing that out -- I had been waiting for Wolf Hall to go on sale! It was still at $2.99 today. Now let's hope Bringing Up The Bodies will get the same treatment soon.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is $2,99 at Amazon US (and probably other stores)

[Pangolin]

Good series listed under 'mysteries and thrillers' (I've a memory like a goldfish, not as good as a goldfish, I think that's the name of the thread!) set in medieval Glasgow. Good price and excellent reviews, link posted in other thread.
Cheers

[Pangolin]

At £2.48: Meticulous historical research and an interesting gardening take with Tradescant being one of the central characters.
Earthly Joys
By Phillipa Gregory

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...cm_cd_asin_lnk

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Pangolin

At £2.48: Meticulous historical research and an interesting gardening take with Tradescant being one of the central characters.
Earthly Joys
By Phillipa Gregory

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...cm_cd_asin_lnk

was this made into a movie awhile back with Robert Downey Jr. as the lead?

[mimosavj]

Mistress of the Throne by Gupta Ruchir

Amazon US