Historical Fiction American History

John Henry Cole is an operative of Ike Kelly's Detective Agency, based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Returning to Cheyenne from what had been a deadly assignment in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Cole has decided that he has no alternative but to resign from the agency and pursue a different line of work. However, in Cheyenne, Cole learns that Ike Kelly has been murdered and his body burned in a fire that destroyed both the agency office and the shop next door.

In the treacherous and uncertain era of war, a haunting secret propels Union spy Hattie Logan deeper into her clandestine work. As her feelings for Lieutenant John Elliott become increasingly entangled, she embarks on a resolute journey to prove her worth on her own terms. Teamed up with former Confederate spy Mollie Pitman, Hattie challenges the authority of the men in charge, persistently cautioning against placing trust in Mollie. But as Hattie dares to peel back the layers of a perilous conspiracy aimed at hijacking a ferry and raiding a Lake Erie island prison, her own loyalties are ...

In the early spring morning light, shortly after seven o’clock, the body looked like a pile of debris covered by brown and black leaves left over from the previous autumn. A decorated war hero with severe amnesia sustained twelve years before, Clifford Dumont has remained lost in the middle of his life until unexpected events challenge him to confront his suppressed fears and the black wall of his past. When he finds the dead body of his co-worker, Jean-Paul, at a national historical battlefield, Clifford is jarred out of his day-to-day routines. His complacency is further challenged by ...

LOVE, AMBITION & SCANDAL COLLIDE AT THE 1893 CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR Dora Chambers may be the newest Lady Manager at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, but it isn't quite the plum position she expected. Instead of afternoon teas and fancy dinner parties, she finds herself on the dusty Midway Plaisance, tasked with overseeing the Egyptian dancers whose shimmies and scant costumes are stirring up a scandal. Fueled by the Fair's progressive spirit and heady enthusiasm, Dora rises above her disappointment and embraces a determination to fulfill her duty and aid her husband's social ambition. But as ...

During the summer of 1823, fortune called from the frontier of North America’s Great Plains. Alternately rowing or tromping along the Missouri River from Saint Louis through Fort Mandan and then beyond to Fort Henry and the Upper Missouri Breaks, countless traders gambled their lives to exploit the bounty of an untamed wilderness. All dreamed of easy profits. Through a hundred years, a plague of such interlopers had traveled there to procure beaver, mink and marten pelts via trap or trade. Herds of buffalo perished to feed them. Whole populations uprooted to serve them. Virulent diseases ...

I really loved this one! The characters have so much depth to them, and I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn't reading! So much going on too! Never boring! — Jackie Logue, Owner JML Copyediting Services. Reading your words, I was stunned at your personal rendition of the setting and situation, as if you had lived it in detail. — D. Hartley A character-driven story of redemption --- An episodic, historical novel filled with adventure, forbidden love, second chances, and the value of having a best friend. A Confederate soldier's journals are found hidden away, and they ...

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean and discovered America. Right? WRONG! Columbus never actually set foot in what is now the United States. His voyages took him to islands in the Caribbean and along the coast of South America. The truth is, when Columbus first arrived, Indigenous peoples, including the Taino, had been living there for thousands of years, raising their families, running their societies, and trading with their neighbors. He didn’t “discover” the lands at all! And his name? Not even really Christopher Columbus!

The Reconstruction era has begun. The country is moving forward. And so is the Bennett Family. With half of their family aboard the long overdue California II, including Jonathan who promised his wife to return home in time for the birth of their child, tension mounts. The family eagerly awaits news of the ship’s arrival, but when they finally receive the telegram, the news is bittersweet. The ship has returned to port, but Jonathan must now race against time to make it home for the momentous event. Meanwhile, Samantha’s brother, Adam, embarks on a mission to find his lost son, born ...

Tink and his sister Bee-Lung are traveling the world via air-canoe, spreading the spores of a mysterious empathy-generating fungus. Through these spores, they seek to build bonds between people and help spread revolutionary sentiments of socialism and equality—the very ideals that led to Everfair's founding.

Two brutal years in America’s civil war have made a veteran of Shire; his younger English self buried beneath scars and unwanted memories. Unable to help, he watches as Tuck – his Union brother-in-arms – retreats from reality. Both the war and Shire’s heart relentlessly circle him back to Clara, his childhood love. He needs to believe they can share a life beyond the war. Clara’s home is in ashes. Shire has left her once again to rejoin the fighting further south. She moves west in search of a new start and a past love. Captain Tod Carter rides with the Confederate Army. He’s ...

A Novel of Love, Loss, and the Fight to Belong 1870s Kansas—On the windswept frontier, where the railroad has yet to arrive and old divisions still run deep, Coldwater is a town caught between its past and an uncertain future. When Alice Payne arrives, she is seeking more than a teaching position. Haunted by loss and driven by quiet defiance, she hopes to forge a new life in this divided town. But her independence and intellect quickly draw suspicion from the town’s elite—and one man’s unexpected attention. Will Mertens is a widowed German immigrant burdened by grief and the weight ...

“Your husband is a landowner,” they told her. “Food and clothing is so plentiful, it grows on trees.” “You will be able to go to school.” Of the three lies the matchmaker told Willow before she left home as a picture bride in 1918, the third hurt the most. Never one to be deterred, Willow does all that she can to make the best of her unexpected circumstance. But it isn't long before her dreams for this new life are shattered.

The best-selling master of historical fiction weaves a grand, sweeping drama of New York from the city's founding to the present day. Rutherfurd celebrates America's greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga that showcases his extraordinary ability to combine impeccable historical research and storytelling flair. As in his earlier, best-selling novels, he illuminates cultural, social, and political upheavals through the lives of a remarkably diverse set of families. Rutherfurd brings to life the momentous events that shaped New York and America.

~An intricate tale of everlasting love that spans the fragile bridge between life and death~ A captivating series showcasing several generations of women with an extraordinary psychic gift as they live their lives in a tumultuous period in America’s history, one that honored the brave and the foolhardy. Independence, Missouri, 1853: Mary and Norton Beecroft have endured their share of heartache and tragedy but a new life awaits them in the promised land of California. Along with their young daughter Lucy and their twin baby sons, Mary and Norton make plans to leave Independence, Missouri ...

Two Wisconsin soldiers stationed in Kentucky escort a runaway girl to Ohio's underground railroad while ruthless slave catchers track them. They must cross 100 miles of unknown territory, outrunning their pursuers, and avoiding John Hunt Morgan’s Thunderbolt Raiders to reach Levi Coffin and the Underground Railroad. This emotional story based on true events during the American Civil War is about finding common ground, overcoming ignorance, and fighting the good fight. Soldier Boy explores the relationship between its title character, who is learning to trust again, and Sgt. Jesse Berch, ...

Based on a true story from the early 1900s, this work of historical fiction gives life to murderer William Kleeman, a handsome young farmer from Southwestern Minnesota who courts the beautiful Maud Petri. After a quick engagement and marriage, the couple produces four children and is joined by boarder Mary Snelling, who teaches at the country school across the road. This addictive story winds through many twists before ending in a deadly rampage that results in one of the most notorious ax murders in American history.

At the close of the Civil War, weary veteran Malcolm Hopeton returns to his home in Western New York State to find his wife and hired man missing and his farm in disrepair. A double murder ensues, the repercussions of which ripple through a community with spiritual roots in the Second Great Awakening. Hopeton has gone from the horrors of war to those far worse, and arrayed around him are a host of other people struggling to make sense of his crime.

His mission was top secret: deliver mysterious components of some superweapon that would end this awful war to the island of Tinian, then return to the fleet to prepare for the invasion of Japan. Little did Captain Charles McVay III know that he would survive his ship's sinking, shark attacks, starvation, and five days adrift in the Pacific Ocean before being rescued. Discover this untold story of Captain McVay and his amazing men of courage: the crew of the USS Indianapolis.

Amidst the nonstop turmoil of the War of 1812, the decisive First Lady takes action and inspires an anxious nation. Dolley Madison faces a bitterly divided Washington City when her husband, James Madison, becomes our fourth president. The prospect of war against Great Britain threatens to tear our fragile republic apart. The "Presidentess" hosts open parties in the new President's House to unite political foes and cultivate an American identity.

Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is perhaps the most well known of the autobiographies that exist. Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give listeners historical context.