Medieval England in the 12th century. The evil Prince John rules England in place of his brother, the noble Richard the Lionheart, who is being held in an Austrian prison by Duke Leopold of Austria, while returning from one of his Crusades. Under the avaricious and Machiavellian John, the Norman aristocrats are in constant conflict with the native Saxon people.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott is set in these turbulent times. The eponymous hero, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the son of a Saxon nobleman has been disinherited by his father for following King Richard into war. Ivanhoe is in love with his father's beautiful ward, Rowena, who is betrothed to a noble Saxon. Ivanhoe returns...

Harold the Dauntless is a rhymed, romantic, narrative-poem by Sir Walter Scott. Written in 1817, it weaves together elements of popular English legends and folklore using dramatic themes.

The poem recounts the exploits and the personal spiritual journey of a doubtful knight errant - Harold the son of Danish Count Witikind: who seeks to recover his lands and wed a suitable spouse.

Fire-breathing Harold is as much a stranger to love as he is addicted to dangerous adventure: yet his own confrontations with the spirit-world shake his faith in supposed omnipotence of the traditional Norse pantheon.

Can a blood-thirsty warrior like Harold ever feel the raptures of love?
...

Scott's The Bridal of Triermain is a rhymed, romantic, narrative poem which weaves together elements of popular English legend using dramatic themes.

This beautiful poem celebrates the exploits of a knight errant - Sir Roland De Vaux - as he seeks to rescue (and hopefully espouse) a beautiful maiden, Gyneth. Gyneth is the illegitimate daughter of King Arthur: doomed by Merlin 500 years previously to an enchanted sleep inside a magic castle. The enchantment can only be broken by a rescuer both brave and noble enough to overcome the temptations used successively to distract and overcome him, namely: fear, wealth, pleasure and pride.

(Introduction by Godsend)

Illegitimacy, false identity, and bankruptcy are the major elements of Sir Walter Scott's 1816 novel, The Antiquary. Set in the period of the French Revolution, the novel's hero, Lovel, struggles to gain repute and the hand of his beloved despite his uncertain parentage. During these pursuits, he befriends the title's antiquary, Johnathan Oldbuck, who finds Lovel a captive audience to his scholarly studies and a tragic likeness to his own disappointments in love. Readers will discover whether Lovel's acts of bravery and courage ultimately earn him the birth and fortunes of a nobleman.

In stunning narrative poetry, the story begins during the time when Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick has been hunted out of Scotland into exile by the English and their allies. Bruce returns over sea from the Island of Rachrin: but is forced to land close to hostile forces at Artonish Castle on the seacoast of Argylshire. Seeking refuge from tempestuous seas, Bruce begs shelter from Ronald, Lord of the Isles: inadvertently on the day of his marriage feast to the beautiful Edith of Lorn.

Bruce's very presence is enough to interrupt the nuptials and to break up the festivities: the guests quickly polarise into two armed and equally matched factions: one ready to raise Bruce to the Scott...

Capt. Robert F. Scott's bid to be the leader of the first expedition to reach the South Pole is one of the most famous journeys of all time. What started as a scientific expedition turned out to be an unwilling race against a team lead by R. Admunsen to reach the Pole. The Norwegian flag already stood at the end of the trail when Scott's party reached their target. All the five men of the Scott expedition who took part in the last march to the Pole perished on their way back to safety.

Robert F. Scott kept a journal throughout the journey, all the way to the tragic end, documenting all aspects of the expedition. The famous last words of the journal were: 'It seems a pity, but I do...

In this book, Schweitzer traces the historical progress of 'Historical Jesus' research, from Hermann Reimarus in the mid 18th century, to William Wrede at the turn of the 20th. Schweitzer showed how Jesus' image had changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of the various authors. He concluded with his own synopsis and interpretation of what had been learned over the course of the previous century. He took the position that the life of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, which he characterized as those of late Jewish eschatology. (Introduction from Wikipedia, modified by JoeD)

Schweinfurth trat 1868 im Auftrag der Humboldt-Stiftung in Berlin eine große Reise nach Afrika an. 1869 reiste er von Khartum aus nilaufwärts nach Faschoda und nach dem Gebiet der Dschur. Mit Sklavenjägern immer weiter vordringend, durchzog er die Länder der Bongo, Schilluk, Nuer und der Dinka, unternahm eine Reise zu den menschenfressenden Niam-Niam, besuchte das Land der Mittu und Madi und entdeckte im Lande der bis dahin noch unbekannten, ebenfalls kannibalischen Monbuttu, den Uellefluß (Uelle-Makua (Ubangi)). Ebenso gewann er sichere Kunde von dem Zwergvolk der Akka. Nach Überwindung der größten Schwierigkeiten traf er im Juli 1871 wieder wohlbehalten in Khartum ein. “Die von ihm e...

Sklepy cynamonowe to pierwszy, debiutancki cykl opowiadań Brunona Schulza, które pierwotnie były postscriptami w listach do Debory Vogel i Władysława Riffa.Utwory te, pisane poetycką prozą, są fantastycznym przetworzeniem realiów przedwojennego miasteczka galicyjskiego, w którym dostrzec można podobieństwo do Drohobycza, rodzinnego miasta pisarza.Zbiór, w sposób wizyjny i oniryczny, opowiada dzieje rodziny kupieckiej, którym to dziejom Schulz nadał walory mityczne.

The novel details the lives of three characters, first as children and then as adults - Waldo, Em and Lyndall - who live on a farm in the Karoo region of South Africa. The story is set in the middle- to late Nineteenth century - the First Boer War is alluded to, but not mentioned by name. The book is semi-autobiographical: in particular, the two principal protagonists (Waldo and Lyndall) display strong similarities to Schreiner's life and philosophy. The book was first published in 1883 in London, under the pseudonym Ralph Iron. It quickly became a best-seller, despite causing some controversy over its frank portrayal of freethought, feminism, premarital sex and pregnancy out of wedlock a...