FREE/BARGAIN - Historical Fiction - 2014

[Fbone]

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is $1.99 [Harper] at all retailers. Also through Overdrive.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=opC3d3ltQ94C

[ATDrake]

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Vultures in the Wind by Peter Rimmer, South Africa-set 1960s-1990s period literary drama novel centering around two friends whose lives are affected by apartheid, originally out from HarperCollins in 1997.

In the peace and paradise of a rural coastal village, two boys are born on the same day, one white, one black.

Their childhood is idyllic and their friendship lasts a life time, but the peace and paradise is short lived. South Africa transcends into anarchy, racism and civil war.

Finding themselves alone in the world, both boys embark on self-education and strive to survive in the ever-changing landscape of South Africa. Matthew Gray succeeds in building a business empire both in England and South Africa whereas Luke Mbeki travels to England to continue his education.

Both men's lives cross over intermittently throughout the years, until the release of Nelson Mandela. Mandela's release is a sign for men like Luke to return home, and when he does, Luke involves himself in the negotiations for a new and free South Africa, and a democratically elected government. But their story doesn't end there.

[Froide]

Today's Open Road Media freebie:

North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell

At:

• Amazon.com
• BN.com

Overview:
North and South tells the story of Margaret Hale, a southerner newly settled in the northern industrial town of Milton, whose ready sympathy with the discontented millworkers sits uneasily with her growing attraction to the charismatic mill owner, John Thornton. The novel poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience, ranging from religious crises of conscience to the ethics of naval mutiny and industrial action. Margaret's internal conflicts mirror the turbulence that she sees all around her. This revised and expanded edition sets the novel in the context of Victorian social and medical debate and explores Gaskell's subtle representations of sexual passion and communal strife.

[Fbone]

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom is £0.59 at Amazon UK. Also available from Overdrive.

Dissolution is an utterly riveting portrayal of Tudor England. The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protégé uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason, and when two other murders are revealed, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dissolution-...ds=dissolution

[Froide]

Today's Open Road Media freebie:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• Amazon.com
• BN.com

[Little.Egret]

My library splits off historical war fiction like Hornblower and Sharpe into 'Adventure' perhaps we should do the same.

Current freebies from Endeavour

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...sher=endeavour


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=searc...sher=endeavour
http://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-a...sher=endeavour


Which includes :-

Nelson: The Dreadful Havoc by Jan Needle

This is the eagerly awaited second episode of Jan Needle's fictionalised life of Nelson as recounted by his friend, the young surgeon Tim Hastie. Nelson has been invalided back from the disastrous San Juan expedition and lies, close to death, in Port Royal, Jamaica

The first episode was (not free) Nelson: The Poisoned River


The Regiment by Christopher Nicole

The Boer War is brewing in South Africa, and the Royal Western Dragoon Guards are bound for the front line.

In their ranks is the young subaltern Murdoch Mackinder, the latest in the long line of Mackinders who have, in their time, commanded the Royal Westerns across the whole of the British Empire.

'The Regiment' is a brilliantly told story of military life that is rich in adventure and period detail.

`...told with smooth authenticity' - Publishers' Weekly [on Amazon]

`...military saga covering the years from the Boer War through WW I. Bosoms still heave and legs still flash, but they're background colour in the story of Murdoch Mackinder and his career in the family regiment' - Kirkus Review

Christopher Robin Nicole (born 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana) is a prolific British writer of over 200 novels and non-fiction books since 1957. He wrote as Christopher Nicole under several pseudonyms including Peter Grange, Andrew York,Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C.R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams,Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He also wrote under the penname Max Marlow co-authoring with his wife, fellow author Diana Bachmann.

At the Going Down of the Sun by Elizabeth Darrell

Summer 1914

In Elizabeth Darrell's richly detailed, mesmeric novel the Sheridans live, love and fight for survival like the sons of all families caught up in a savage war which changed the old ways forever.

Elizabeth Darrell served as an officer in the WRAC. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels, including `Concerto', `And in the Morning' and `We Will Remember'. Under the pen-name Emma Drummond she has written eleven historical novels.

[Froide]

Today's Open Road Media freebie:
Madame Bovary
Gustav Flaubert

Currently free at:

• Amazon.com (not yet)
• BN.com

Overview:
As a provocative tale of passion and complacency, ideals and self-delusions, Madame Bovary (1857) remains a milestone in European fiction. In telling his story of Emma Bovary—a farmer’s daughter who, with girlhood dreams fuelled by sensational novels, marries a provincial doctor—Flaubert inaugurated a literary mode that would be called Realism. But so exacting were Flaubert’s standards of authenticity that his portrayal of the breakdown of Emma’s marriage, and the frankness with which he treats her adulterous liaisons, scandalized many of his contemporaries. Yet to others, the mix of painful introspection, emotional blindness, and cynical self-seeking that distinguishes his characters made the novel instantly recognizable as a work of genius. It is a novel fixed upon the idea of romance—of the need for Romance—in the face of day-to-day banalities. It is a theme that is ironic insofar as the exquisite clarity of Flaubert’s prose serves to hauntingly underline the futility of the heroine’s ultimate tragedy.

[geekaren]

Originally Posted by Froide

Today's Open Road Media freebie:
Madame Bovary
Gustav Flaubert

Currently free at:

• Amazon.com (not yet)
• BN.com

Thanks for posting this, Froide! Title is now free at Amazon.com.

[ATDrake]

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Texas Kingdoms by Robert Broomall, an epic 19th century historical western dramatic saga, originally out from Fawcett in 1989.

"Texas Kingdoms" is the 30-year story of two men, a woman, and a town.

Will Stewart and Chance Evans come to Texas in 1851, on their way to the California gold fields. Will is poor and determined to make something of himself; Chance is a gambler, determined to separate fools from their money. The two men are attacked by Comanches, and Will is so badly wounded that he can travel no further. He and Chance are forced to winter where they are, and by the time spring comes, they’ve decided to stay in Texas and make their fortunes there. Will painstakingly begins to catch the wild cattle that roam the brush, while Chance sets up a tent by the road where he sells whiskey to travelers and takes their money at cards.

Settlers arrive, among them the beautiful Hope Sommerville. Will and Chance both fall in love with Hope, who will get pregnant by one man and marry the other. As the years pass, Will’s handful of cows becomes a cattle empire, and Chance’s tent becomes Kingdom, wildest town on the Great Western Trail. Will, Chance, and Hope face Indian attacks, war, the loss of children, and the lawlessness of the post-Civil War West. Will’s love for Hope drives him to do great things, while Chance’s love casts him into a vortex of self-destruction and crime, and Hope learns what true love really means. Then one shocking act threatens to destroy them all.

[Froide]

Today's Open Road freebie:

The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne

At:

• Amazon.com
• BN.com

Overview:

When it first appeared in 1850, The Scarlet Letter enjoyed scandalous success. New England critics condemned its passionate subject matter. One critic complained that Nathaniel Hawthorne invested adultery with all the fascination of genius, and all the charms of a highly polished style. My preliminary chapter, wryly noted the author, has caused the greatest uproar that has happened here since witch-times.

As she emerges from the prison of a Puritan New England town, Hester Prynne defies the dark gloom much as the rose blooms against the prison door. With her illegitimate baby, Pearl, clutched in her arms and the letter A—the mark of an adulteress—embroidered in scarlet thread on her breast, Hester holds her head high as she faces the malice and scorn of the townsfolk. Her powerful, bittersweet story is an American classic that continues to touch the hearts of modern readers with its timeless themes of guilt, passion and repentance.

In early colonial Massachusetts, a young woman endures the consequences of her sin of adultery and spends the rest of her life in atonement.

[Froide]

Today's Open Road Media freebie:

Whose Body?
by Dorothy L. Sayers

Currently free at:

• Amazon.com
• BN.com
• Probably Kobo.com

Overview:
In the debut mystery in Dorothy L. Sayers’s acclaimed Lord Peter Wimsey series, the case of a dead bather draws Lord Peter into the first of many puzzling mysteries

Lord Peter Wimsey spends his days tracking down rare books, and his nights hunting killers. Though the Great War has left his nerves frayed with shellshock, Wimsey continues to be London’s greatest sleuth—and he’s about to encounter his oddest case yet. A strange corpse has appeared in a suburban architect’s bathroom, stark naked save for an incongruous pince-nez. When Wimsey arrives on the scene, he is confronted with a once-in-a-lifetime puzzle. The police suspect that the bathtub’s owner is the murderer, but Wimsey’s investigation quickly reveals that the case is much stranger than anyone could have predicted.

Published in 1923, during detective fiction’s golden age, Whose Body? introduced a character and a series that would make Dorothy L. Sayers famous. To this day, Lord Peter remains one of his genre’s most beloved and brilliant characters.

[Little.Egret]

The Flowers of Adonis by Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff CBE (14 December 1920 - 23 July 1992) was a British novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. For her contribution as a children's writer Sutcliff was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1974. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novels were specifically written for adults. Her other adult works include `Blood & Sand' and `The Rider of the White Horse'.

The 5th Century BC.

The Greek city-states are engaged in perpetual war.

But one man towers above the chaos.

His name is Alkibiades.

He is at once a pirate, statesman and seducer whose adventures rival those of Odysseus himself.

Citizen of Athens, friend of Socrates, sailor, warrior and inveterate lover, Alkibiades flees persecution in his native city to join the Spartan cause.

However, his brilliant naval and diplomatic victories on their behalf do not save him from the consequences of impregnating the Spartan queen, and once more he takes up the outcast's mantle.

Rosemary Sutcliff's thrilling historical novel charters the life of this Greek warrior, from his military climax to his violent demise.

"A fascinating character study told with skill and erudition" DAILY TELEGRAPH

http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Adonis...dp/B00MW7YJ8S/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flowers-Adon...dp/B00MW7YJ8S/
http://www.amazon.ca/Flowers-Adonis-...dp/B00MW7YJ8S/

[ATDrake]

^

Thanks for that!

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

This Year In Jerusalem by Joel Gross, some kind of historical epic set in proto-Israel in 1947, originally out from Penguin's Putnam imprint in 1983.

They were an explosive and unlikely team -- the beautiful Jewish princess from Beverly Hills; the handsome half-Jewish, half-Italian New York mobster; and the dashing Haganah freedom fighter, whose unyielding spirit was forged in the horror of the Holocaust.

In normal times, in an ordinary place, these three would never have come together, bound by temporal passions and spiritual desires, on a mission of consummate danger. But Jerusalem in 1947 was anything but normal - a tortured city, torn between Arab and Jew, seething with ancient antagonisms, awaiting only the withdrawal of the British forces before bursting into all-out war.

Evoking the violent world of 1947 Jerusalem with remarkable realism. creating a deeply moving love story with characters as epic as they are human, THIS YEAR IN JERUSALEM is both a document of historical relevance and a spellbinding novel of passion and adventure.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

My library splits off historical war fiction like Hornblower and Sharpe into 'Adventure' perhaps we should do the same.

Current freebies from Endeavour

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...sher=endeavour


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=searc...sher=endeavour
http://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-a...sher=endeavour


Which includes :-

Nelson: The Dreadful Havoc by Jan Needle

This is the eagerly awaited second episode of Jan Needle's fictionalised life of Nelson as recounted by his friend, the young surgeon Tim Hastie. Nelson has been invalided back from the disastrous San Juan expedition and lies, close to death, in Port Royal, Jamaica

The first episode was (not free) Nelson: The Poisoned River


The Regiment by Christopher Nicole

The Boer War is brewing in South Africa, and the Royal Western Dragoon Guards are bound for the front line.

In their ranks is the young subaltern Murdoch Mackinder, the latest in the long line of Mackinders who have, in their time, commanded the Royal Westerns across the whole of the British Empire.

'The Regiment' is a brilliantly told story of military life that is rich in adventure and period detail.

`...told with smooth authenticity' - Publishers' Weekly [on Amazon]

`...military saga covering the years from the Boer War through WW I. Bosoms still heave and legs still flash, but they're background colour in the story of Murdoch Mackinder and his career in the family regiment' - Kirkus Review

Christopher Robin Nicole (born 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana) is a prolific British writer of over 200 novels and non-fiction books since 1957. He wrote as Christopher Nicole under several pseudonyms including Peter Grange, Andrew York,Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C.R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams,Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He also wrote under the penname Max Marlow co-authoring with his wife, fellow author Diana Bachmann.

At the Going Down of the Sun by Elizabeth Darrell

Summer 1914

In Elizabeth Darrell's richly detailed, mesmeric novel the Sheridans live, love and fight for survival like the sons of all families caught up in a savage war which changed the old ways forever.

Elizabeth Darrell served as an officer in the WRAC. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels, including `Concerto', `And in the Morning' and `We Will Remember'. Under the pen-name Emma Drummond she has written eleven historical novels.

Link goes to an entirely different offering

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

Link goes to an entirely different offering

The link goes exactly to where it's supposed to, to that publishers current free offerings ("Current freebies from Endeavour"), the books listed on the first of the month just aren't free anymore. Like many freebies particular books often only stay free for a day or two sometimes a week.