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History - European — page 5
459 public-domain history - european books, summarised. Page 5 of 10.
Royalty in All Ages: The Amusements, Eccentricities, Accomplishments, Superstitions and Frolics of the Kings and Queens of Europe
T. F. (Thomas Firminger) Thiselton-Dyer
Behind the gilded doors of European palaces lies a bizarre landscape of private eccentricities, reckless pastimes, and intense personal obsessions. Strip away the official state portraits, and royal history reveals itself as a human chronicle of strange amusements and human frailties.
The Story of Perugia
Lina Duff Gordon
A fortress city carved into the Umbrian hills, Perugia lives by the sword, the brush, and an unyielding instinct for self-rule.
Voyages of Samuel De Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
A direct observer’s map of an untamed coastline, where survival, diplomacy, and the search for passage collide.
The Story of Verona
Alethea Wiel
Standing where northern invaders once poured through the Alps into the fertile plains of Lombardy, a historic fortress city reflects two thousand years of Italian empire, factional violence, and artistic triumph.
Three Frenchmen in Bengal: The Commercial Ruin of the French Settlements in 1757
Samuel Charles Hill
Driven by ambition, corporate rivalries, and royal geopolitics, three French administrators risk everything in eighteenth-century Bengal, only to watch their commercial empire crumble to British military force and shifting local alliances.
The German Terror in Belgium: An Historical Record
Arnold Toynbee
The deliberate devastation of civilian life during the opening months of the Great War serves as a harrowing case study in the breakdown of military discipline and humanity. Through exhaustive documentation, this historical record examines how the German invasion of Belgium transformed from a tactical maneuver into…
Historical Epochs of the French Revolution: With The Judgment And Execution Of Louis XVI., King Of France
Henry Goudemetz
A stark, dispassionate journal of the French Revolution lays bare how theoretical idealism rapidly degenerated into absolute public terror, relentless executions, and state-sanctioned violence.
History of Friedrich II of Prussia
Thomas Carlyle
Across a vast European landscape, a lone monarch fights a relentless multi-front war against overwhelming odds, holding a fragile kingdom together through sheer intellect, iron resolve, and stubborn endurance.
Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 02
Various
Behind the solemn architecture of post-war international law, a newly assembled bench meets to establish historical precedent for defining and prosecuting aggressive war, crimes against humanity, and state-sponsored terror.
"Barbarous Soviet Russia"
Isaac McBride
An American traveler steps behind the blockade into a battered, young Soviet state, recording firsthand how a nation attempts to rebuild its entire society under the pressure of war and isolation.
Titanic
Filson Young
The greatest ship ever built slides into the sea as a testament to human pride, only to meet a swift and icy end that reshapes the world’s understanding of hubris.
The Sunny South: An Autumn in Spain and Majorca
John William Clayton
A seasoned traveler navigates the dusty, sun-drenched landscapes of nineteenth-century Spain and Majorca, armed with a sharp wit, a demand for clean water, and a skeptical eye for local customs.
Early Printed Books
E. Gordon (Edward Gordon) Duff
The birth of the printed word remains one of history’s most profound shifts, transitioning from the labor of the scribe to the mechanical precision of the press. This guide serves as a foundational map for navigating that transformative era.
Behind the veil at the Russian court
Radziwill, Catherine, Princess
A cynical, intimate chronicle of the Russian Imperial court, capturing the fading grandeur and deepening rot of the Romanov dynasty through the eyes of a well-placed, observant insider.
Holland: The History of the Netherlands
Thomas Colley Grattan
A sweeping, meticulous chronicle of a persistent people, this history traces the rise of the Netherlands from a marshy, disputed frontier to a sovereign nation forged through centuries of resistance against empires and the sea.
Through the Land of the Serb
M. E. (Mary Edith) Durham
This travelogue captures a world on the threshold of modernity, where ancient tribal loyalties, religious devotion, and the shadow of the Ottoman Empire intersect in the rugged mountains of the Balkans. It offers a rare, immersive glimpse into the lives of people living in the "ever-simmering" borderlands of early…
The Visigothic code
S. P. (Samuel Parsons) Scott
This collection of ancient legislation offers a stark, unvarnished window into the transition of a nomadic people into a structured, theocratic society governed by the rule of law.
The new frontiers of freedom from the Alps to the Ægean
E. Alexander (Edward Alexander) Powell
The world map is redrawn in the wake of the Great War, and the shifting lines of the new frontiers create a landscape of fragile hope and lingering bitterness. This account captures the restless, chaotic spirit of a continent struggling to find its footing after the collapse of four great empires.
Political Women, Vol. 2
Menzies, Sutherland, active 1840-1883
Women of ambition and intellect navigate the treacherous corridors of European power, wielding influence behind thrones to reshape nations and secure their own legacies. This historical study illuminates the intersection of feminine agency and statecraft across the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
History of Friedrich II of Prussia
Thomas Carlyle
The weight of a crown is never light, but for one eighteenth-century monarch, it becomes a burden measured in territory, shifting alliances, and the relentless, grinding machinery of European war.
History of Friedrich II of Prussia
Thomas Carlyle
This sprawling, eccentric chronicle traces the rise of the Prussian state from its murky, prehistoric beginnings to the emergence of its most formidable architect, Friedrich II. It is a dense, idiosyncratic work of history that blends meticulous scholarship with the author's deeply moralizing, often cranky, and…
The Hispanic Nations of the New World: A Chronicle of Our Southern Neighbors
William R. (William Robert) Shepherd
The long, complex struggle for independence across the Americas remains a defining chapter in the formation of the modern world. This chronicle maps the shift from colonial rule to the tumultuous birth of sovereign nations.
The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan
H. G. (Henry George) Keene
The collapse of the Moghul Empire in the late eighteenth century created a vacuum of power, precipitating a chaotic transition into the era of British colonial rule in India.
Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history
F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford
Across the shallow salt marshes of the Adriatic, a fugitive settlement built of wood and mud slowly transforms into an invincible maritime empire ruled by a jealous, self-electing council of nobles.
History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce
John Lothrop Motley
A forty-year struggle against imperial Spain culminates in an unprecedented victory: a young Protestant republic forces a global superpower to recognize its absolute independence.
Indiscreet Letters From Peking: Being the Notes of an Eye-Witness, Which Set Forth in Some Detail, from Day to Day, the Real Story of the Siege and Sack of a Distressed Capital in 1900—The Year of Great Tribulation
Unknown
The Boxer Rebellion transforms a bustling, ancient capital into a claustrophobic cage, where diplomats and soldiers trade their veneer of civilization for the raw, desperate machinery of survival.
The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, October 1883
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
This vibrant collection of essays, lessons, and cultural dispatches serves as a time capsule for the late nineteenth-century quest for self-improvement and intellectual community.
The Russian Army and the Japanese War, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being Historical and Critical Comments on the Military Policy and Power of Russia and on the Campaign in the Far East
A. N. (Alekseĭ Nikolaevich) Kuropatkin
Failure in the Far East was not born on the battlefield, but engineered in the corridors of imperial governance. A former Russian War Minister dissects how strategic complacency, bureaucratic friction, and political miscalculation doomed a major military campaign.
De Quincey's Revolt of the Tartars
Thomas De Quincey
A grand historical exodus becomes a theatrical spectacle as an entire nation flees Russian oppression across thousands of miles of brutal, unforgiving desert.
A Journey Through France in War Time
Joseph G. (Joseph Green) Butler
An industrialist’s firsthand account of a mission to wartime France, this chronicle captures the resilience of a nation under fire and the deep, historic ties between the French and American people.
Nooks & Corners of Old Paris
Georges Cain
This is an evocative, stroll-through-time chronicle of Paris, mapping the disappearing stones and ghosts of the city’s most storied neighborhoods. It functions as both a personal memoir and a meticulous, scholarly salvage operation of a fading urban landscape.
The New Germany
George Young
This account captures the fragile, volatile months following the German Armistice, mapping a nation caught between the death of an old empire and the uncertain, often violent birth of a new republic.
Behind the Scenes in Warring Germany
Edward Lyell Fox
A correspondent secures rare access to the German front lines during the First World War, recording the machinery of state, the realities of trench life, and the perspectives of a nation at total war.
The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, May 1883
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
This publication serves as a window into the Victorian-era quest for universal education, capturing the earnest intellectual ambitions of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. It stands as a time capsule of nineteenth-century American didactic culture, blending history, physiology, and literature to…
The Discovery of Muscovy
Richard Hakluyt
The northern seas hold mysteries of commerce and survival, where brave men seek new paths to distant empires and often pay the ultimate price for the hope of discovery.
Modern French Prisons: Bicêtre
Arthur Griffiths
The iron gates of French penitentiaries hold more than just the condemned; they shelter a stark, evolving history of how a nation attempts to govern its most desperate and dangerous souls.
The Roman Question
Edmond About
A sharp-eyed travelogue through the Papal States, this critique of nineteenth-century Roman governance exposes the systemic dysfunction and economic stagnation inherent in a country ruled by an absolute religious hierarchy.
France
Gordon Home
The heart of France beats in its ancient architecture, its stubborn rural traditions, and the complex, often misunderstood rhythms of its daily life. This portrait captures a nation poised on the brink of modernity, balancing centuries-old customs against the pressures of a new, industrial age.
The love-affairs of the Condés (1530-1740)
H. Noel (Hugh Noel) Williams
A sweeping chronicle of the Bourbon-Condé dynasty, this account traces two centuries of political intrigue, battlefield valor, and the volatile romantic entanglements that shaped the French monarchy.
The World War and What was Behind It
Louis Paul Bénézet
This primer offers a candid, accessible examination of the complex historical tensions that ignited the First World War, written for students and citizens during the heat of the conflict.
England and Germany
Emile Joseph Dillon
A veteran foreign correspondent diagnoses the systemic failures of the British leadership, arguing that the nation’s lack of foresight and organized planning has allowed Germany to gain a dangerous, long-term advantage in the global order.
Hero Tales of the Far North
Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis
This collection of Nordic biographies gathers the lives of warriors, kings, and scientists, tracing the enduring spirit of a people who shaped history through resilience and faith.
Sutherland and Caithness in Saga-Time
James Gray
This exploration unearths the forgotten history of the far north of Scotland, bridging the gap between Norse saga traditions and the emerging power of the medieval Scottish Crown.
Venice
Clara Erskine Clement Waters
Venice—that white swan of cities—emerges in these pages not merely as a destination, but as a living, breathing entity whose history is a reflection of the unyielding devotion of its people.
What Germany Thinks
Thomas F. A. Smith
The German nation was not merely led by a military elite; it was an active participant in a war it had been told was inevitable, guided by a state-sponsored culture of resentment and self-justification.
History of Friedrich II of Prussia
Thomas Carlyle
A leader of iron will confronts a continent poised to dismantle his kingdom, standing against a tide of shifting alliances and secret conspiracies in an age of absolute power.
Virgin Spain
Waldo David Frank
A search for the soul of a nation, this expansive inquiry captures the geography, history, and spiritual temperament of a country caught between medieval devotion and modern rebirth. It has endured as a seminal, lyrical portrait of a land that is as much a state of mind as a physical place.
History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin. Vol. 2 (of 8)
J. H. (Jean Henri) Merle d'Aubigné
A quiet, steady revolution takes root in the shadows of the sixteenth century, as the shifting loyalties of princes and the quiet courage of scholars prepare the ground for a new spiritual order.