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History - British — page 2
831 public-domain history - british books, summarised. Page 2 of 18.
The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844: with a Preface written in 1892
Friedrich Engels
This searing, foundational inquiry into nineteenth-century industrial life maps the catastrophic human cost of Britain’s economic rise. It remains a vital document for understanding the birth of the modern working class and the systemic inequalities of urban capitalism.
The Library of William Congreve
William Congreve
A meticulous inventory of a classic playwright’s private collection, this record offers a rare, tangible window into the intellectual life and reading habits of a titan of the Restoration stage.
Highways and Byways in Surrey
Eric Parker
This evocative guide explores the hidden corners and quiet lanes of Surrey, tracing the history of a county caught between the expansion of London and the enduring character of its rural landscapes.
The Magna Carta
Anonymous
Born from the friction between an embattled monarch and his defiant nobility, this foundational document outlines the essential rights and legal constraints that would eventually shape the course of modern governance.
The London pleasure gardens of the eighteenth century
Warwick William Wroth
London once hummed with the music of open-air orchestras and the clatter of teacups, as thousands flocked to pleasure gardens that have since vanished into the city’s brick and mortar. These once-vibrant retreats, now largely forgotten, offer a window into the leisure and social habits of a bygone era.
Some Naval Yarns
Mordaunt Hall
Beneath the grey fog of the North Sea, an invisible army of sailors, pilots, and coast watchers risks everything to protect a nation at war. Their quiet courage unfolds in frozen cockpits, submerged steel hulls, and wave-battered lighthouses.
The Noble and Gentle Men of England
Evelyn Philip Shirley
A meticulous catalog of landed lineage records the enduring dynasties of the English gentry, mapping the survival of ancient bloodlines anchored firmly to the soil from the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century.
Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VII
Charles Boswell Norman
A exhaustive, meticulously tabulated record exposes how the British War Office awarded—and often withheld—battle honours, revealing the bureaucratic inconsistencies behind centuries of military sacrifice across global campaigns.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.: From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria
Edward Farr
A centuries-long march from absolute royal power to parliamentary supremacy reaches its climax as a global empire wrestles with freedom, industrial expansion, and the fragile mechanics of constitutional rule.
Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third: From the Original Family Documents, Volume 2
Buckingham and Chandos, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, Duke of
Behind the velvet curtains of Cabinet meetings and the private parlors of Georgian England lies a world of calculating politicians, anxious monarchs, and desperate diplomatic gambits.
British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions
Wirt Sikes
A rich collection of regional myths, haunting omens, and vibrant local customs captures the imagination, mapping the magical topography of Wales through its lingering spectral lore.
Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore, Volume 1 (of 2): A picturesque history of the coaching age
Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
Long before asphalt and locomotives tamed the English landscape, travel meant clinging to a swaying roof above rutted tracks, propelled entirely by horsepower and human stubbornness.
A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time
J. Conway (James Conway) Walter
Tucked into the damp, green belly of Lincolnshire, a quiet market town preserves two thousand years of English life through parish ledgers, forgotten rebellions, and the lingering echoes of everyday folk.
Birds in the Calendar
Frederick G. (Frederick George) Aflalo
Where calendar meets countryside, a year of British birdwatching unfolds through sharp observation, gentle wit, and a naturalist's keen eye for life on the wing.
Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore, Volume 2 (of 2): A picturesque history of the coaching age
Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
Long before locomotives reshaped the landscape, a network of horse-drawn mail coaches pulsed across Britain, defining the pace, architecture, and social rhythm of an era.
Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England
Edward Lewes Cutts
Long before the Reformation transformed the countryside, an intricate network of local priests, noble patrons, and parish guilds shaped the daily spiritual and social rhythms of medieval English life.
Holborn and Bloomsbury
Walter Besant
London’s architectural memory reveals itself through a systematic perambulation, uncovering layers of civic history embedded within ordinary parish streets.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 378, April, 1847
Various
A high-minded Victorian periodical wrestles with the legacy of Oliver Cromwell, the wildness of Irish soldiers, the dread of European vampires, and the economic shocks threatening a rapidly expanding British Empire.
Handbook of Birmingham: Prepared for the Members of the British Association, 1886
British Association for the Advancement of Science
A comprehensive Victorian survey reveals how a midland manufacturing town transformed from an obscure parish into an industrial, intellectual, and scientific powerhouse.
The Book-Hunter in London: Historical and Other Studies of Collectors and Collecting
W. (William) Roberts
A quiet obsession shapes the topography of London, where generations of collectors hunt through dusty barrows, grand auction rooms, and narrow alleys for rare volumes, forgotten tracts, and elusive first editions.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War
Winston Churchill
War along the mountainous edge of British India is rarely a matter of grand strategic sweeps, but rather a violent series of localized actions fought across unforgiving rock, sun-baked nullahs, and isolated outpost fortifications.
The English Constitution
Walter Bagehot
This analysis strips away the myth of the British monarchy to reveal a hidden, highly functional republic. It argues that a successful government requires a delicate balance between theatrical, traditional elements and efficient, practical administration.
The reign of Mary Tudor
James Anthony Froude
This history captures a volatile period where the crown of England hung by a thread, illuminating the desperate, often tragic intersection of personal conviction and cold political necessity.
Discovery of Witches: The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster
Potts, Thomas, active 1612-1618
The cry of a desperate widow reaches heaven, yet remains unheard on earth, as neighbors turn upon neighbors in a fever of accusation and fear.
Sinks of London Laid Open: A Pocket Companion for the Uninitiated, to Which is Added a Modern Flash Dictionary Containing all the Cant Words, Slang Terms, and Flash Phrases Now in Vogue, with a List of the Sixty Orders of Prime Coves
Unknown
This guide offers a rare, unflinching tour into the hidden alleys of 19th-century London, serving as both a field manual for the curious and a comprehensive lexicon for the underworld’s secret language. It strips away the romantic veneer of the era to reveal the brutal, vibrant reality of the city's most desperate…
Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815: A record of their lives, their romance and their sufferings
Francis Abell
This account captures a neglected chapter of history, exploring the lived experiences, escapes, and varied fates of the tens of thousands of captives held in Britain during the Napoleonic era.
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 2 (of 4).—1857-1874
Charles L. (Charles Larcom) Graves
This chronicle captures the Victorian pulse through the biting, brilliant wit of a legendary humor magazine. It is a vivid, opinionated portrait of an empire grappling with its own contradictions between 1857 and 1874.
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718
Wallace Notestein
This rigorous historical survey tracks the shifting legal and cultural tides of English witchcraft from the reign of Elizabeth I to the early eighteenth century. It offers a sober, evidence-based account of a turbulent era.
British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea: With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device
William Gordon Perrin
The flags flown by the British fleet were never mere decorations; they were the essential, evolving language of naval command, maritime law, and national identity upon the high seas.
London and the Kingdom - Volume 1: A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London
Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) Sharpe
London has long stood as a pivotal force in the survival and prosperity of the English crown, acting as both financier and kingmaker throughout the medieval and Tudor eras. This chronicle examines the city's political evolution from the Danish invasions through the death of Elizabeth I, grounding its narrative in…
English Book Collectors
William Younger Fletcher
A quiet passion for printed paper drives men to build vast personal libraries, preserving fragile works across centuries through political upheaval and shifting personal fortunes.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.: Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II
T. (Tobias) Smollett
Crowns change hands, dynasties shift, and global empires collide in a sweeping chronicle of power, war, and political friction. Tobias Smollett paints an expansive, unvarnished portrait of an era that forged modern Britain through continuous conflict and internal strife.
Highways and Byways in Sussex
E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas
The soft munching of grazing cattle, the whistle of the wind over bare chalk downs, and the quiet rustle of old paper in parish chest repositories fill this contemplative journey across southern England.
The History of England, from the Accession of James II
Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
A nation risks losing its constitutional liberties to absolute rule, only for an unstable balance of political ambition, religious zeal, and judicial overreach to precipitate a total transformation of its government.
Nil Darpan
Dinabandhu Mitra
When a powerful foreign industry turns peaceful peasant farmers into impoverished serfs, one courageous family risks everything to stand between their community and total ruin.
London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 2
Henry Mayhew
The standard of living in Victorian London relies on a vast, hidden underclass whose daily labor turns garbage, night-soil, and street rubbish into raw material for the city’s survival.
History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)
active 796 Nennius
A desperate monk scours old rolls and lineage lists to rescue his people's forgotten past before foreign conquerors erase their story entirely.
Witch Stories
E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton
A grim record of human hysteria, this historical survey maps how fear and religious zeal turned neighbor against neighbor across the British Isles.
The Political History of England - Vol XI: From Addington's Administration to the close of William IV.'s Reign (1801-1837)
George C. (George Charles) Brodrick
A nation transforms under the pressure of total war and internal upheaval, mapping thirty-six years that reshaped modern Britain.
A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century
Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers
The nineteenth century did not simply inherit the past; it reimagined it, turning the medieval world into a mirror for its own deepest longings and anxieties.
Wanderings in Wessex: An Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter
Edric Holmes
This immersive travelogue invites the reader to traverse the historic, rolling landscapes of Wessex, bridging the distance between the River Itchen and the distant Otter with a keen eye for architectural detail and folklore.
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 1 (of 4)
Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole chronicles the early, turbulent years of King George III’s reign, capturing a volatile era defined by palace intrigue, shifting ministerial alliances, and the relentless pressure of public opinion.
England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel
Joel Cook
England offers a tapestry of ancient stone and verdant landscapes, serving as both a physical destination for the traveller and a spiritual homecoming for those bound to it by history and language.
The London Burial Grounds: Notes on Their History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Isabella M. Holmes
A sweeping historical survey of London’s sacred soil, this work chronicles the transition of the city’s many forgotten graveyards from sites of quiet interment into the essential public gardens of the Victorian era.
A Short History of English Agriculture
W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts) Curtler
Agriculture is the foundation of every other art, trade, and profession, acting as the great nerve and sinew that holds together the joints of a monarchy.
The regimental records of the British Army
John S. Farmer
This meticulous reference work chronicles the heritage of the British Army by cataloging the evolving identities of its fighting units at the turn of the twentieth century. It serves as an essential index for those tracing the lineage, honors, and unique traditions of the regiments that defined an era of imperial…
The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir
Douie, James McCrone, Sir
A comprehensive survey of a vast, rugged region, this work maps the geography, history, and social fabric of northwestern India under British administration. It serves as a meticulous record of a landscape defined by its mountains, rivers, and diverse tribal populations.
Somerset
G. W. (George Woosung) Wade
Somerset is a meticulously gathered guide to the ecclesiastical, historical, and physical character of one of England’s most storied counties. It serves as a classic companion for the inquisitive traveller or the armchair antiquarian.