Historical genre books (486)


291.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Description:
Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton's masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people "dreaded scandal more than disease." This is Newland Archer's world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life--or mercilessly destroy ... continue

292.

The Aquariums of Pyongyang : Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / North Korea flag North Korea
Description:
Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, one man's suffering gives eyewitness proof to an ongoing sorrowful chapter of modern history.

293.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Country: Asia / China flag China
Description:
Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

294.

The Atom Station by Halldór Laxness EN

Rating: 1 (2 votes)
Country: Europe / Iceland flag Iceland
Description:
From the Nobel Prize–winning author of Independent People: A biting satire of post-WWII Iceland caught between superpowers at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. When the Americans make an offer to buy Icelandic land to build an atomic war base, a storm of protest is provoked throughout the country, and it is here that Laxness finds the catalyst for his story. Told by a country girl from the north, the novel follows her experiences upon taking up employment as a maid in the house of her Member of Parliament. She finds herself in a world very different to that of her upbringing and, marvelling at the ... continue

295.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu : And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
Describes how a group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of destruction at the hands of Al Qaeda militants to the safety of southern Mali.

296.

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem : A Novel by Sarit Yishai-Levi EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Israel flag Israel
Description:
Gabriela's mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though the two women have always struggled to connect. When tragedy strikes, Gabriela senses there's more to her mother than painted nails and lips. Desperate to understand their relationship, Gabriela pieces together the stories of her family's previous generations. But as she uncovers shocking secrets, forbidden romances, and the family curse that links the women together, Gabriela must face a past and present far more complex than she ever imagined.

297.

The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Among the wounded on the day they dropped the bomb on Nagasaki was a young doctor who, though sick himself cared for the sick and dying. Written when he too lay dying of leukemia, The Bells of Nagasaki is the extraordinary account of his experience. It is deeply moving and human story. Among the wounded on the day they dropped the bomb on Nagasaki was a young doctor who, though sick himself cared for the sick and dying. Written when he too lay dying of leukemia, The Bells of Nagasaki is the extraordinary account of his experience. It is deeply moving and human story.

298.

The Beloved by Annah Faulkner EN

0 Ratings
Country: Oceania / Australia flag Australia
Description:
When Roberta 'Bertie' Lightfoot is crippled by polio, her world collapses. But Mama doesn't tolerate self-pity, and Bertie is nobody if not her mother's daughter - until she sets her heart on becoming an artist. But when the family moves to Port Moresby in 1955, Bertie starts to rebel against her mother's strict control.

299.

The Biggest Prison on Earth : A History of the Occupied Territories by Ilan Pappé EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Israel flag Israel
Description:
An in-depth examination of the Israeli occupation of Palestine analyzes the history of one of the world's longest conflicts, drawing on recently declassified materials to assess the legal and security infrastructures that were created to control the population, Palestinian resistance, daily life under occupation, peace efforts, and the potential for reconciliation and peace.

300.

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara, Susan McClelland EN

0 Ratings
Description:
When Mariatu set out for a neighborhood village in Sierra Leone, she was kidnapped and tortured, and both of her hands cut off. She turned to begging to survive. This memoir is a testament to her courage and resilience.