Other books that might interest you

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  The Spy

  James Fenimore Cooper

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  James Fenimore Cooper's second novel, The Spy  (1821), is based on Sir Walter Scott's Waverly series, and tells an adventure tale about the American Revolution. The protagonist is Harvey Birch, a supposed loyalist who actually is a spy for George Washington, disguised as 'Mr Harper.' The book brought Cooper fame and wealth, and is regarded as the first great success in American fiction. 
  Summary by Gord MacKenzie

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  Sissie - A Novel

  John A. Williams

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  The powerful story of a vibrant African American family torn apart by inner turmoil and the injustices perpetrated by a racist society Sissie Joplin is dying, and her surviving children have come to say good-bye. Estranged from their mother for years, Iris and Ralph have both achieved success—Iris as a jazz singer in Europe and Ralph as a playwright—but the pain of their youth remains forever alive in their memories.   Sissie, too, remembers: the bitter struggles and the devastating tragedies; the indignities, cruelties, and deprivations visited upon a strong-willed black woman—and on the once proud men in her life ultimately defeated by a white society that at times seemed devoted to their destruction. Sissie was not always wise or fair, and her actions often did more harm than good, but she survived. And now, at the end of her life, it is time for a reckoning—and one last opportunity to heal.   A powerfully affecting family saga and a provocative indictment of racism in America, Sissie is a magnificent achievement by John A. Williams, the award-winning author heralded by Ishmael Reed as “the best African American writer of the century.”  

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  Study in Scarlet A (version 3)

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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  A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes to his sidekick Doctor Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." Although Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon. The novel was followed by The Sign of Four, published in 1890. A Study in Scarlet was the first work of fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as an investigative tool. (Summary by Wikipedia)

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  Burning Daylight

  Jack London

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  Burning Daylight, Jack London's fictional novel published in 1910, was one of the best selling books of that year and it was his best selling book in his lifetime.The novel takes place in the Yukon Territory in 1893. The main character, nicknamed Burning Daylight was the most successful entrepreneur of the Alaskan Gold Rush. The story of the main character was partially based upon the life of Oakland entrepreneur "Borax" Smith.

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  I Hogarth

  Michael Dean

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  The great eighteenth century portraitist comes to life in this “gritty, bawdy and funny” rags to riches novel told in the voice of the artist himself (The New York Times).   William Hogarth was London’s artist par excellence, and his work—especially his satirical series of “modern moral subjects”—supplies the most enduring vision of the ebullience, enjoyments, and social iniquities of the eighteenth century.   And in I, Hogarth, he tells a ripping good yarn.   From a childhood spent in a debtor’s prison to his death in the arms of his wife, Hogarth recounts the incredible story of how he maneuvered his way into the household of prominent artist Sir James Thornhill, and from there to become one of England’s best portrait painters.   Through his marriage to Jane Thornhill, his fight for the Copyright Act, his unfortunate dip into politics, and his untimely death, “the voice in which Dean’s Hogarth tells his own story is rich and persuasive . . . Like stepping into a Hogarth painting” (The New York Times).  “A brilliant exercise in imagination and storytelling.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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  Mad King Robin - The Mad Shall...

  James Vella-Bardon

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  "Vella-Bardon has what it takes to become a literary giant" - Yorkshire Evening Post 
  A historical thriller, a gripping tale that you will not put aside until it is finished. 
  Scotland, 1306 – after slaying his lifelong rival to the throne in a chapel, Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scotland at Scone. Yet even his own wife and countrymen laugh at his foolishness, calling him Mad King Robin. For his crowning has enraged the English king, whose army destroys the Bruce’s forces at Methven. The Bruce suddenly finds himself an excommunicated outlaw within his own realm, fleeing his enemies with a handful of loyal men. 
  During the eight years since Methven, the Bruce’s wife Elizabeth de Burgh has hated every day of her captivity by the English. Rumour and gossip reach her that the Bruce is out of hiding and reclaiming Scotland. Yet she has also heard that the English king is marching north, at the head of the largest English army ever assembled. 
  For 1314 is indeed the year when the Bruce, long emerged from hiding, has crushed his enemies and taken every castle in Scotland except Stirling. His rise, inspired by a mere spider, is scarcely believable. Yet it will take all of the Bruce’s ingenuity and insane bravery to attempt to end the English hold on Scotland. The last fight for his people’s future beckons along the Bannockburn, but can the Bruce’s army overcome impossible odds to win freedom? 
  Mad King Robin is a wonderful, riveting page turner, which tells the stirring tale of a nation’s desperate struggle against a much larger, brutal oppressor.

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