Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Kristina, the Girl King

by Carolyn Meyer

Upon discovering that their newborn infant was, in fact, female and not male as first thought, Queen Marie Eleonore wailed inconsolably and King Gustavus Adolphus declared, nevertheless, that the child be raised as a prince. At age six, upon the death of her father, the child Kristina, was proclaimed King of Sweden, with regents assigned to council until she assumes the throne at age eighteen. And indeed, her... (more)

Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage

Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage

by Stephen Budiansky

Queen Elizabeth I and England’s First Spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham’s official title was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, but in fact this pious, tight-lipped Puritan was England’s first spymaster. A ruthless, fiercely loyal civil servant, Walsingham worked brilliantly behind the scenes to foil Elizabeth’s rival Mary Queen of Scots and outwit Catholic Spain and France, which had arrayed... (more)

The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

by Jacob Burckhardt

For nineteenth-century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, the Italian Renaissance was nothing less than the beginning of the modern world - a world in which flourishing individualism and the competition for fame radically transformed science, the arts, and politics. In this landmark work he depicts the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice and Rome as providing the seeds of a new form of society, and traces the... (more)

The Cabin Faced West

by Jean Fritz

For Ann Hamilton, life out west was anything but adventurous. In fact, she had never been lonelier. She longed for the ease and comfort of the days with friends back in Gettysburg-until a stranger rode into Hamilton Hill and changed her life forever.

The Shakespeare Stealer (Shakespeare Stealer)

Shakespeare Stealer: Book 1

The Shakespeare Stealer (Shakespeare Stealer)

by Gary Blackwood

Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare's play "Hamlet"--or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare's players perform. As full of twists and turns as a London alleyway, this entertaining novel is rich in period details, colorful characters, villainy, and drama. ... (more)

The World of Captain John Smith

by Genevieve Foster

Spanning the years from 1580-1631 the life of the adventurous John Smith gives a picture of the world just before and during the colonization of America. When Smith was a boy, Shakespeare was on his way to London to become an actor, the Spanish Armada had failed to conquer England, Mary Queen of Scots had lost her head, and Akbar the young prince of India sought to rule his people wisely. Galileo was perfecting... (more)

The Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities (For Kids series)

The Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities (For Kids series)

by Janis Herbert

History explodes in this activity guide spanning the turmoil preceding secession, the first shots fired at Fort Sumter, the fierce battles on land and sea, and finally the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. Making butternut dye for a Rebel uniform, learning drills and signals with flags, decoding wigwag, baking hardtack, reenacting battles, and making a medicine kit bring this pivotal period in our nation's... (more)

Renaissance Diplomacy

by Garrett Mattingly

Famed historian's definitive history of the origins of diplomacy, tracing the diplomat's role as it emerged in the Italian city-states and spread northward in the 16th and 17th centuries. "An important book...carefully and elegantly written." — The Times (London). "Excellent." — New York Herald Tribune . Notes. Bibliography. Index.

Peter the Great

by Diane Stanley

Peter the Great, crowned tsar of Russia at the age of ten, believed that whatever he wanted he should have -- and the sooner the better. What he wanted most was to bring his beloved country into the modem world. He traveled to the West to learn European ways -- the first tsar ever to leave Russia -- disguised as a common soldier. He explored the West with excitement and curiosity and returned home ready to... (more)

Giordano Bruno: Philosopher/Heretic

by Ingrid D. Rowland

Giordano Bruno is one of the great figures of early modern Europe, and one of the least understood. Ingrid D. Rowland’s pathbreaking life of Bruno establishes him once and for all as a peer of Erasmus, Shakespeare, and Galileo, a thinker whose vision of the world prefigures ours. By the time Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 on Rome’s Campo dei Fiori, he had taught in Naples, Rome, Venice,... (more)

History Makers 3500 B.C. to the Present (TRISMS)

Stouthearted SevenNeta Lohnes Frazier

Stouthearted Seven

by Neta Lohnes Frazier

Master Cornhill

by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Peter the Great: His Life and WorldRobert K. Massie

Peter the Great: His Life and World

by Robert K. Massie

The Wives of Henry VIII (Vintage)

by Antonia Fraser

The six-week New York Times bestselling history of the legendary six wives of Henry VIII--from an acclaimed biographer. "Admirably succeed(s) in bringing to life the six women who married England's ruler. . . ."--New York Times Book Review. 16 color plates. 32 pages of illustrations.

Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy

Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy

by Sarah Bradford

The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissance—incest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs. Yet as bestselling biographer Sarah Bradford reveals in this breathtaking new portrait, the truth is far more fascinating than the myth. Neither a vicious monster nor a seductive pawn, Lucrezia... (more)

The Broken Blade (Fiction)

by William Durbin

In 1800, 13-year-old Pierre La Page never imagined he'd be leaving Montreal to paddle 2,400 miles. It was something older men, like his father, did. But when Pierre's father has an accident, Pierre quits school to become a voyageur for the North West Company, so his family can survive the winter. It's hard for Pierre as the youngest in the brigade. From the treacherous waters and cruel teasing to his aching and... (more)

Mary Jones and Her Bible

by Mary Ropes

Heartwarming, real life story of Mary Jones, a young girl living in rural Wales in the late 1700s. Mary was a popular girl who loved her parents, worked hard and was keen to learn but most of all she longed to have a bible of her own. But Mary knew that bibles were hard to come by and if she was fortunate enough to find one, it would be expensive so her dearest wish looked as if it would be an impossible dream! ... (more)

Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley, 1530-1603

Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley, 1530-1603

by Judith Cook

This biography of Grace O'Malley, the unofficial pirate queen of Ireland in the 16th century, will delight readers with its spine-tingling accounts of plunder, piracy, kidnapping, and royal acquaintances. From her early marriage to her near hanging, O'Malley's life is extraordinary and provides for a captivating read.

Louis Braille the Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind

Louis Braille the Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind

by Margaret Davidson

The poignant story of the man who developed the Braille system of printing for the blind.

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Tags: renaissance history