Literature By Time Period

This classic, by Jean Fritz covers the era of exploration from 1421 to 1522. Like most Jean Fritz books, this one is charmingly illustrated with maps, portraits, and scenes of the period. Jean tells 10 tales of famous explorers and their exploits: Prince Henry the Navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Cabral, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Vasco de Balboa, and Ferdinand Magellan. This book makes an excellent addition to any study of the Renaissance.

The story of King Arthur as it has never been told before. Galwyn, the son of a bankrupt and dishonored aristocrat, has always had an ear for languages. So when Lord Artos--later known as King Arthur--needs an interpreter to help him buy large horses to breed a troop strong enough to carry armed warriors against the Saxon invaders, Galwyn gets a chance to redeem his father's honor and make a name for himself. 

This novel by Sir H. Rider Haggard, first published in 1904, is a classic tale of love and chivalry, unfolding amidst the touching story of two English knights who are in love with the same maiden. The devotion of these men is tested as they are thrust into epic Crusader battles.

When a Roman ship is wrecked off the coast of Britain, an infant, Beric, is the only survivor. He is rescued by a British tribe who raise him as their own until they can no longer ignore his Roman ancestry. Fifteen-year-old Beric feels increasingly bitter isolation when, because of his Roman birth, he is cast out by the Celtic tribe that raised him and, after reaching a Roman settlement, he is sold into slavery and sentenced to serve in a galley for the rest of his life.

On a cold February day, Samuel was studying in his overcoat, rubbing his chilled fingers, when a loud knock at the front door startled him. His good friend Lowell Mason had come to remind Samuel of a promise. A New England pastor, he wrote the lyrics to "America, My Country 'Tis of Thee.

"In a simple, short biography of Columbus she has been extraordinarily successful in extracting the essence of the man." -- "The Horn Book." "Fritz's unconventional look at the great explorer who accidently discovered the New World reveals the navigator's obstinate as well as his visionary side." -- "School Library Journal"