James Lane Allen, The Reign of Law: A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields: This novel is about two revolutions, even though the plot is situated in the Kentucky hemp fields. The first revolution was the social upheaval in the South that followed the Civil War. The second was the moral and intellectual revolution that followed the great scientific discoveries of the mid-19th Century. James Lane Allen writes in a style that accurately portrays the depth and color of 19th Century Kentuckians and their surroundings. Perhaps for this reason, in 1992 he was described as "Kentucky's first important novelist."
Winston Churchill, The Crisis: This novel of the Civil War contains superb and well-researched descriptions of life in the Western theater of the war. Historical characters, such as Grant, Sherman, and Lincoln, are introduced naturally and realistic-ally. It is perhaps for these reasons, plus the riveting twists and turns of the plot, that The Crisis became a number one best seller. The author, Winston Churchill, is not to be confused with the man who would eventually become Britain's prime minister. Indeed, in his day, the American author was by far the more famous of the two.
Emerson Hough, The Mississippi Bubble: In 1716 France was broke. A series of wars waged by Louis XIV had left the economy in ruins, the king in debt, and the government coffers empty. Into this breech stepped John Law, a brilliant Scottish economist, and a man on the run from British justice. He set up a bank and obtained the right to issue "paper money"-- pieces of paper that stood for value, but had no intrinsic worth of its own. Next, he bought a nearly defunct entity called the Mississippi Company, spun stories of gold and gems for the taking in France's Louisiana territories, and issued shares of stock. By 1719, 500 livre shares were selling for 5000 livres. But at some point the bubble had to burst; and, in 1720, it did. Emerson Hough has beautifully captured the triumph and tragedy of that era in this best selling novel.
Mary Johnston, Sir Mortimer: A Novel: Another of Mary Johnston's dazzling novels of fighting, romance, and adventure-this time on the Spanish Main. Sir Mortimer Ferne is a privateer-a legalized pirate-licensed by Queen Elizabeth I to prey on enemy ships. All is going well until Sir Mortimer becomes the victim of an ingenious, but malicious, trick in which he is made out to be a traitor. As a result, he loses everything-his status in court, his friends, his fortune, and worst of all, his honor. This launches him on a quest to gain it all back; but there are forces that do not want him to succeed in that task. It is a story of English sea-dogs on the Spanish Main; but it is done with Mary Johnston's incredible eye for historical detail, and her gift for telling a rollicking good tale.
Mary Johnston, To Have and To Hold: The plot is tailor-made for action. A beautiful maid-of-honor, a ward of King James I, escapes marriage to a libertine nobleman, who is the king's favorite. She flees to colonial Virginia with a cargo of brides sent out by the Virginia Company of London, and marries a rough, hard-working, settler. He turns out to be a former English soldier and a famous swordsman, who must now defend his wife against her former fiancée who has tracked her to Jamestown. (Ernest A. Baker, A Guide to Historical Fiction and The History of the English Novel)
Owen Wister, The Virginian: This classic western novel established the rugged, individualistic, self-dependent, cowboy as a cultural icon in our society. Indeed, it can be said that the western fictional genre began the day this book was published; and it was the best selling book of its day in 1902.
