The Virginians

The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century (1857-59) is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which forms a sequel to his Henry Esmond and is also loosely linked to Pendennis. It tells the story of Henry Esmond's twin grandsons, George and Henry Warrington. Henry's romantic entanglements with an older woman lead up to his taking a commission in the British army and fighting under the command of General Wolfe at the capture of Quebec. On the outbreak of the American War of Independence he takes the revolutionary side.

The Three Clerks

Henry Norman, with his friends Alaric and Charley Tudor, all of them in government service, were frequent visitors at the suburban home of Mrs. Woodward and her three daughters. Henry loved Gertrude, the eldest daughter, but she refused him as she loved Alaric. Alaric won by competitive examination a place to which Henry aspired but for which he was unwilling to compete and, when he became engaged to Gertrude, Henry felt doubly aggrieved and bitterly angry.

The Caballero's Way by O. Henry

In this short story, O. Henry introduces The Cisco Kid, who is a ruthless caballero on horseback. Cisco warns, “Don't you monkey with my Lulu girl, or I’ll tell you what I'll do…” But you have to listen to the story to find out exactly what he would do.

The Victorian Eighteenth Century: An Intelectual History

The Victorians were preoccupied by the eighteenth century. It was central to many nineteenth-century debates, particularly those concerning the place of history and religion in national life. This book explores the diverse responses of key Victorian writers and thinkers, Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Newman,... to a period which commanded their interest throughout the Victorian era.

Henry V (Bloom's Shakespeare Through the Ages)

The wild and undisciplined child depicted as Prince Hal in the two-part Henry IV grows to become a courageous and deft leader. Based on the life of its title monarch, Henry V chronicles the events surrounding the battle of Agincourt in 1415, part of the Hundred Years' War. In the centerpiece of the play, the Saint Crispin's Day speech, Henry praises the English forces with the well-known words: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."