British History Books for Reading

FINGERTIP RESEARCH BOOKS

By Therese Stenzel

 I asked some very prolific historical authors who write European based stories what books do they keep at their fingertips while writing. Some of these you might just enjoy reading if you are as obsessed with English history as I am!. 

VICTORIAN RESEARCH

Household Management by Margaret Willes

Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by Judith Flanders

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton

The Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette by Thomas E. Hill

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool

 

REGENCY RESEARCH

A Regency Companion. by Laudermilk (Out of print and very expensive--considered the Bible of the Regency period.)

Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders by Josephine Ross

Jane Austen For Dummies by Joan Elizabeth Klingel Ray

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800's by Marc McCuthceon

SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY RESEARCH

 The Seventeenth Century, Everyday Life by Silver Burdett (A children's book)
 Seventeenth Century: Everyday Life by Laurence Taylor

The Story of Civilization VIII, The Age of Louis XIV by Will and Ariel Durant
 The Splendid Century, Life in the France of Louis XIV by W.H. Lewis

 

MEDIEVAL RESEARCH

Culpepper's Color Herbal by Storey Publishing

Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages:The British Isles from 500 to 1500 by    Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fast and Feast:Food in Medieval Society by Bridget Ann Henish

The Black Death by Philip Ziegler

Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages by Frances and Joseph Gies

English Through the Ages by William Brohaugh

Daily Life in the Middle Ages by Paul B. Newman

The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey

Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies

The Ties That Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England by Barbara Hanawalt.

The English Medieval House by Margaret E. Wood

 

PIRATE RESEARCH

A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe

Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast by Lindley S. Butler

The Pirate Primer:Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers & Rogues by George Choundas

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly

 

 SHIPS AND SAILING RESEARCH

Nelson's Navy 1793-1815 by Brian Lavery

Seamanship in the Age of Sail by John Harland

The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms under Sail by Basil W. Bathe

 

COSTUME RESEARCH
20,000 Years of Fashion:  The History of Costume and Personal Adornment by Francois Boucher

Historic Costume for the Stage by Barton

Historic Costume in Pictures by Braun and Schneider

A British Bride by Agreement

 

NEW E-BOOK FOR ANGLOPHILES

A BRITISH BRIDE BY AGREEMENT

A CHRISTIAN CONTEMPORARY

 

 

Widowed at 26, and far from her native England, Emma Banks is beginning to realize the financial devastation created by her husband’s secret addictions. Facing eviction from her cottage on the Steller estate, and morally unable to accept her con-artist parent’s money, she is terrified of being sent to prison. Is a marriage-of convenience proposal from Jonathan Steller, heir to the Steller beverage fortune an answer to her prayers? Still reeling from being jilted at the altar, Jonathan Steller desperately needs a wife and two kids to meet his father’s requirements to be considered the heir apparent to the family business. And prevent his older, ruthless cousin from realizing his dream. Unpretentious Emma strives to adapt to the overwhelming expectations of this socialite lifestyle, but she never expected what would come next...

BUY NOW AT http://amzn.to/13rTXc1

How You Too Can Become an Aristocrat!

I have recently had the distinct pleasure of becoming a Scottish Aristocrat. I am now Lady of Dunans as I have come to own a square foot of land at Dunans Castle in Argyll Scotland and I have the paperwork to prove it!

Actually, the idea came from a clothing catalog called Soft Surroundings. http://www.softsurroundings.com/  I noticed they had this offer for $25.00 to purchase a small plot of land on the grounds of Dunans Castle, the proceeds going to help with the restoration. 

I promptly ripped out the page and handed it to my daughter and suggested it as a Christmas present.  Well, the paper work came and the offer is legitimate. It will be framed and hung in a prominent spot in my home, er castle.

Now my greatest problem is, how should friends and family address me? Lady Dunans? Therese, Lady of Dunans? Lady Mother? Lady Therese of Dunans?

I can even go and visit my plot of land on the castle grounds. I can have a free tour of the castle and I can even fish in the Alt a Chaol Ghleann river with the proprietors.

Now I just need to convince my braw husband he looks good in a kilt and work on my wee Scottish accent!

Sincerely,

Therese Stenzel, Lady of Dunans, of Scotland and Tulsa

FAVORITE CLASSIC BOOK LIST

Here is a collection of the most beloved classic novels as reccomended by His Writers, a group of historical writers who are also avid classic book readers. I combined their reccomendations with Amazon's rankings and this is the list I got.

Happy Reading!

FAVORITE CLASSIC BOOKS compiled by Therese Stenzel

Top Ten in order of recommendation

1.   Jane Eyre

2.   Gone With The Wind

3.    Pride & Prejudice

4.   To Kill a Mocking Bird

5.   Wuthering Heights

6.   Black Beauty

7.   The Count of Monte Cristo

8.    The Secret Garden

9.   Sense and Sensibility

10.                1984

 

Other Top Favorites-Amazon  4 ½ stars and up

Rebecca

Little Women

Crime and Punishment

Anna Karenina

The Phantom of the Opera

Anya Seton

Katherine

Anne of Green Gables

Les Miserables

The Great Gatsby

The Blue Castles

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Woman In White

The Brothers Karamazov

The Three Musketeers

War and Peace

Don Quixote

The Importance of Being Ernest

Wives and Daughters

Emma 

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS FICTION

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS FICTION

Compiled by Therese Stenzel

www.theresestenzel.com 

Top Book Recommendations

The Christkindls Gift by Kathleen Morgan

Forever Christmas by Chris Lynxwiler

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens  

Authors Most Mentioned

Angels Everywhere by Debbie Macomber

The Trouble With Angels by Debbie Macomber

Those Christmas Angels by Debbie Macomber

Where Angels Go by Debbie Macomber

Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury

Maggie's Miracle by Karen Kingsbury

Sarah's Song by Karen Kingsbury

Hannah’s Hope by Karen Kingsbury

The Christmas Candle by Max Lucado

The Christmas Child by Max Lucado 

Christmas Novellas 4 1/2 stars and up

A Bride by Christmas

Montana Mistletoe

Prairie Christmas

Victorian Christmas Quilt  

General Fiction 4 1/2 stars and up

A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

A Texas Christmas Legacy by DiAnn Mills

A Wish For Wings That Work by Berkeley Breathed

Boo Humbug by Rene Gutteridge

Home Another Way by Christa Parrish

Miracle On 34th Street by Valentine Davies

Old Christmas by Washington Irving

One Perfect Gift by Kathleen Morgan

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

The Angel Doll by Jerry Bledsoe

The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere

The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter The Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry

Two from Galilee by Marjorie Holmes

ANGLOPHILE MUSINGS

BRITISH POEM

When I come home

Dear folk o’ mine

We’ll drink a cup

Of olden wine;

And yet however

Rich it be

No wine will taste so go to me

As English air

-Leslie Coulson

 

BRITISH BOOK-Fiction

HEARTS IN THE HIGHLANDS by Ruth Axtell Morren is a delightful read. Set in England and Scotland, the story weaves in an interesting backdrop of archeology and society in the late Victorian era. The romance is refreshingly written in a slow tantalizing manner that will keep you avidly reading to the very end. Warning—don’t start this book late at night, otherwise you might never sleep!

BRITISH BOOK-Non-Fiction

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ENGLAND by Susan Allen Toth is a must read for any self-respecting Anglophile. This true story chronicles a woman’s passion for all things English. Not just another travel memoir, Ms. Toth brings England vividly to life in description and settings but also in that singular passion that all British lovers understand. Come stand in the rain soaked streets of London, walk the paths of the Lake District, and take a trip to the seaside village of Exmoor and fall in love all over again.

BRITISH MOVIE

Elizabeth Gaskell’s WIVES AND DAUGHTERS is a deliciously engaging costume drama in the tradition of Jane Austen. Set in a richly portrayed society, well stocked with eccentric nobles and marriage minded mothers, the story centers around 17 year sold Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a respected country doctor. The well-ordered world of her childhood is complicated by her father’s decision to remarry. Molly’s faltering efforts to cope with an impossible stepmother, a charming stepsister, and a promising romance makes for an absorbing movie.

 

NEW SCOTTISH HISTORICAL

My new Scottish historical e-book, Bride of Thistleloch Castle is out on Amazon! 

Link: http://amzn.to/QOCwsK

 

A young English woman is thrust into the barbaric Highlands of Scotland—to a country that she has been taught to despise. But to stay alive, she must overcome prejudices that have festered for generations. She must accept that the God of heaven loves her. She must wed a Scottish savage.

 

English woman, Laren Stewart travels with her family to visit their relations in Scotland only to be forced into a terrifying situation. She finds herself bartered, wed, and widowed all within forty-eight hours. Now kidnapped by a rival clan, the barbaric MacLennens, and believed to be the wife of another laird, she is dragged further north to be held for ransom. Laren, a despised Outlander desperately clings to the hope that no one will discover her secret—that she was not wed to the clan chief. All she wants is to go home to civilized England and to save her sister from her same fate—but when the truth is revealed about who she is, all that will keep her alive is to agree to a handfasting to yet another Scottish savage.

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Therese Stenzel-British Historical author

Blue Africa

Forever and a Day

Bride of Thistleloch Castle-available on Amazon

Blog-British Missives at www.theresestenzel.com