Not until after his death in 1918 was it revealed that Henry Adams was the anonymous author of Democracy, which had been published to great acclaim in 1880. Though the book avoids dates and the characters are fictitious, the setting is no doubt that of Washington in the 1870s, the age of Presidents Grant and Hayes. The young widow, Madeleine Lee, wealthy and independent, is the protagonist, who leaves her New York for Washington to turn her intelligence to politics and to see what makes her country tick...

A new case for barrister and hobby detective Reginald Brett: The imperial diamonds were sent by the Sultan to London, to be cut in Albert Gate mansion by experts, all the while under the especial protection of the British government. One morning, however, the Turkish officials are found dead in the house, and the diamonds have vanished - despite the strict measures taken to protect them. The first suspicion falls on Jack Talbot, a young secretary at the Foreign Office, in whose charge this mission was, because he also disappeared without a trace on the same evening. Convinced that Talbot is innocent, his friend Lord Fairholme turns to Reginald Brett for help...

Lady Dyke disappears mysteriously, and barrister and hobby detective Claude Bruce appears to be one of the last persons to have seen her. A short time later a dead body is found in the river, and Bruce follows the trails. Who is Sydney H. Corbett? Why did the Lady's maid disappear shortly after her Lady? And what business did Lady Dyke have at Sloane Square? If Bruce can find the answer to these questions, he will find the solution to the mystery. (Introduction by Carolin)

The Silent Barrier is a story of mystery and romance with Charles K. Spencer, a well-to-do young American mining engineer, as main character. Drinking his water in a hotel in London one day, he overhears a conversation between two young women, one of whom speaks of going to Switzerland. He decides to play "fairy godfather" and send the comparatively poor, but most amicable other girl there, without her knowing anything of him, under the pretext of furthering her career as a writer for a scientific journal. However, the girl is shadowed on her journey by the mysterious Mr. Mark Bower. Convinced from the first that Bower is a rogue, Mr. Spencer decides to follow them to protect the girl...

A charming mystery story set in the early 1900s which is as much about the townspeople, sleuths and other colorful characters as it is about the murder. Filled with comic antics of Scotland Yard fellows, local police, and residents of the town, keeps the murder ever elusive. The "whodunit" is maintained until the very end and the laughter keeps going even after the mystery is solved.

Another case for Reginald Brett, barrister and hobby detective: David Hume-Frazer is in some trouble. He was the prime suspect in the murder case of his cousin, Alan. Though he was never convicted, suspicion clings to him, and he wishes his name to be cleared before he marries his fiancé, Helen Layton. The case is baffling: Alan was murdered with a Japanese knife on his own grounds, in front of the library windows -- in the same place, where four of his ancestors already died "in their boots"...

A classic ghost story of a haunted house, and the haunted man who lives in it.

Onions wrote several collections of ghost stories, of which the best known is Widdershins (1911). It includes the novella The Beckoning Fair One, widely regarded as one of the best in the genre of horror fiction, especially psychological horror. On the surface, this is a conventional haunted house story: an unsuccessful writer moves into rooms in an otherwise empty house, in the hope that isolation will help his failing creativity. His sensitivity and imagination are enhanced by his seclusion, but his art, his only friend and his sanity are all destroyed in the process...

Ledscha, living in ancient Egypt, has lost her betrothed and all hope of love. But the gods see otherwise. She now loves a Greek sculptor, who only wanted her for a model, but even that will not happen. She has been replaced by another woman for the statue of Arachne. Who do the gods see her with? Is it the Greek, or someone else? This work is the last written and published in German by Georg Ebers before he died in 1898. He wrote many novels set it ancient Egypt, which sparked the general interest in and popularity of Egyptology that still thrives today. This book was translated into English also in 1898.

Hosea is a commander in Pharaoh's army... and a Hebrew. As he returns home from war, he finds that there has been a great pestilence in Egypt and his people are being blamed for it. Hosea receives a message from his father to follow his people to Succoth, but he is hesitant to give up his position in the army. Someone else also sends a message, containing a new name for him from God. There is much intrigue in this retelling of the Exodus, both among the Hebrews and in the court of Pharaoh.

Niels Klim’s Underground Travels, originally published in Latin as “Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum” (1741) is a satirical science-fiction/fantasy novel written by Ludvig Holberg, a Norwegian-Danish dramatist, historian, and essayist, born in Bergen, Norway. It was his first and only novel. It describes a utopian society from an outsider’s point of view, and often pokes fun at diverse cultural and social topics such as moral, science, sexual equality, religion, governments, and philosophy.

“Hymns to the Night” is the last published work of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772-1801), the German philosopher and early Romantic poet whose pen name was simply “Novalis”. The work alternates poetry and prose, exploring a personal mythology of darkness and light, but it is also a free-associative chronicle of a young man rationalizing the untimely death of his fiancé. This version (1897) was translated by influential fantasy author and novelist George MacDonald, who cited it as a great – and early – inspiration.

Authored by Isabella M. Alden under the pen name “Pansy.” Fourth in the Chautauqua Girls series. Alfred Ried (brother of Ester Ried from that series) wants to help the hundreds of poor street boys in his city to come to faith and improve their conditions, but is discouraged and overwhelmed with the task. Enter Flossy (Shipley) Roberts, a willing worker who focuses on 7 such boys and especially on one.

In this short book, Ballou defends the notion that non-resistance (today we call it non-violence) is the superior Christian method, and the one practiced by Jesus himself.

"But the Knyght was a little less than perfect, and his horse did not have a metabolism, and his 'castle' was much more mobile - timewise! - than it had any business being!" In 2178, once time travel had become a simple task, it had also been outlawed. Those who chose to ingnore this law were known as time-thieves, and Tom Mallory was among the best of them. When he learns the precise whereabouts of the Holy Grail in 542, he sets out to obtain it with the intention of returning it to the 22nd century to make a handsome profit and to settle on Get-Rich-Quick Street...

In this anthology of true crime tales, editor Walter Wood interviews those who were touched by the crimes recounted, sometimes as an acquaintance of the deceased or criminal or in the course of their professional duties. This work provides a personal look at some of the most sensational crimes and scandals of late 19th and early 20th century Britain.

The Web of the Golden Spider is a tale of mystery, intrigue and adventure that begins in the city, progresses to a mutinous open sea voyage, eventually leading to the remotest areas on the slopes of the Andes of South America. Wilson, our hero, finds himself in the midst of a battle between a deposed queen and revolutionists who have banded together in an effort to bring their country together as a republic. Wilson, although torn between helping mercenaries, freedom fighters and revolutionaries, is more concerned with the rescuing of the girl he has fallen in love with, but who has been snatched from him by a mysterious priest...

Ward Muir brings us into the heart of an English war hospital, describing scenes of cleanliness, triumph, order and sadness. Through the eyes of the orderly we get to see the processes that kept the wards running, and relive some tales from within the hospital walls.

Katharine E. Dopp was well-known as a teacher and writer of children’s textbooks at the turn of the 20th Century. She was among the first educators to encourage the incorporation of physical and practical activity into the elementary school curriculum at a time when such activities were becoming less commonplace in a child’s home environment. The Tree-Dwellers – The Age of Fear is the first in a series of elementary school texts written by Ms. Dopp that focus on the anthropological development of early human groups...

For the Term of his Natural Life, written by Marcus Clarke, was published in the Australian Journal between 1870 and 1872 (as His Natural Life), appearing as a novel in 1874. It is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history. Described as a “ripping yarn”, and at times relying on seemingly implausible coincidences, the story follows the fortunes of Rufus Dawes, a young man transported for a murder which he did not commit. The harsh and inhumane treatment meted out to the convicts, some of whom were transported for relatively minor crimes, is clearly conveyed...

A survey of the myths and legends concerning lycanthropy from ancient times to the Victorian Era.

The setting, geography and history of this story by Rev'd Sabine Baring-Gould, author of Onward Christian Soldiers and other well-known hymns, are all accurate, or at least as accurate as local lore will allow. Kinver has long been a midlands beauty spot, and the UK National Trust own and open one of the rock-dwellings mentioned. The 'Stewponey' too was an inn until a year or two into the twenty-first century - the present reader having stopped there for a drink and a meal many times.The story, whether...

"Atlantis: The Antediluvian World is a book published during 1882 by Minnesota populist politician Ignatius L. Donnelly, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during 1831. Donnelly considered Plato's account of Atlantis as largely factual and attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from this supposed lost land. Many of its theories are the source of many modern-day concepts we have about Atlantis, like the civilization and technology beyond its time, the origins of all present races and civilizations, a civil war between good and evil, etc."

Recording of Shakspere: Personal Recollections, by John A. Joyce.A fictitious account of a "friend" of William Shakespeare, who accompanies him from his birth to his death and beyond, chronicling Shakespeare's life, adventures, speeches, and impromptu bursts of poetry.

"A novel, with several elements of rather unusual interest. As a tale, it is swift, simple, and absorbing, and one does not willingly put it down until it is finished. It has to do with grain-elevator business, with railways, strikes, and commercial and financial matters generally, woven skilfully into a human story of love." --The Commercial Advertiser "'Calumet "K"' is a novel that is exciting and absorbing, but not the least bit sensational. It is the story of a rush.... The book is an unusually good story; one that shows the inner workings of the labor union, and portrays men who are the bone and sinew of the earth...

This 1904 maritime adventure is set in the Great Lakes region, upon water and in wood. Our hero is caught in a smuggling scheme and may lose his boat and his sweetheart. With a fast pace and interesting plot, the story is made realistic with very modern "bad-guys".

This book takes its origin in a course of lectures on the history and progress of Astronomy arranged for Sir Oliver Lodge in the year 1887. The first part of this book is devoted to the biographies and discoveries of well known astronomers like Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. In the second part, the biographies take a back seat, while scientific discoveries are discussed more extensively, like the discovery of Asteroids and Neptune, a treatise on the tides and others.

For Treasure Bound is one of the earlier novels by Harry Collingwood (William Joseph Cosens Lancaster), published in 1897. We follow the hero, whose name is incidentally also Harry Collingwood, on a quest to the pacific islands for treasure and his marooned father, through all the perils he encounters on his journey, such as pirates, sea monsters, and beautiful young ladies. (Summary by Carolin)