Book list

Books set in the past

Did you ever wish you could travel back in time? Here's how to do it, from the safety of your own armchair!

All books

Highway Robbery by Kate Thompson

A tale of highway robbery, but not necessarily the obvious kind.

Tom Fletcher and the Angel of Death by Sarah Matthias

Year 1220, Tom Fletcher, reluctant chief novice at Saint Wilfred's monastery, turns detective and solves horrifying murder mystery.

The Secret of the Crocodiles by Karen Wallace

Lady Violet, good at being in the right place at the right time. Edwardian sleuth with modern day attitude.

Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean

Noah's Ark - what it was really like on board.

The House of Windjammer by V A Richardson

Seventeenth century Dutch trading family face ruin - unless Adam can take up the burden of leadership.

The Fire-Eaters by David Almond

Another beautiful hymn to humanity from David Almond.

The Smugglers by Iain Lawrence

The pretty little Dragon harbours many secrets . . .

The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence

Surviving the shipwreck but still at the mercy of the wreckers in the village, John Spencer must rescue his father who is being held captive somewhere.

Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan

Edinburgh 1822. To overcome the loss of his mother Robbie must face up to some hard truths about medical research.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Loyalty and treachery among warring Japanese clans.

Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

America in the Depression. Bud on the road, searching for his father.

Death and the Arrow by Chris Priestley

Gruesome murder in eighteenth century London needs investigation.

Stop the Train by Geraldine McCaughrean

There's no point settling a township in the middle of the desert if the train won't stop at your station . . .

The Last Wolf by Michael Morpurgo

Boy and wolf, befriended, escape the murderous English redcoats after the Jacobite Rebellion.

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

Exotic adventure deep in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest.

Daisy Chain War by Joan O'Neill

Growing up pains in Ireland during the Second World War.

The Grave by James Heneghan

He didn't intend to stumble into the great Irish potato famine of 1847, butTom can help the Monaghan family survive. What the Monaghan family can do for him, though, is far more precious . . .

Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo

Antonio and his little bull calf caught up in the dreadful events of the Spanish Civil War.

Remembrance by Theresa Breslin

A love story and a horror story, beautifully told, about life and death during the Great War.

Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French

If Hitler had really had a daughter, how could she have loved him? And how could she live a normal life after his death at the end of the war?

The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean

Haoyou rides his magnificent kite into the skies for the travelling JadeCircus.

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

A trustee of the orphanage offers to send Judy Abbott to college. But he insists on anonymity. All he asks is that she write a letter to him once a month to let him know of her progress through college. She is to address him as JohnSmith, and she is to expect no reply. So, you see, it is a rather one-sided correspondence!

Arthur: The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland

It is 1199. Thirteen-year-old Arthur de Caldicot waits to hear whether his father will arrange for him to be a squire and a knight. And meanwhile, his father's old friend, Merlin, gives him a precious piece of stone - a seeingstone.

Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin

You need a lot of luck to survive the accident of birth in the eighteenth century, especially if you are born into poverty, or illegitimate, or if your path crosses that of Otis Gardiner, Coram man, trader in babies, blackmail and despair . . .

And The Stars Were Gold by Gaye Hicyilmaz

In 1940 a young Polish boy is dragged from his bed, given thirty minutes to pack, and transported with his mother and brother thousands of miles acrossEurope to Kazakhstan.

The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo

Every day is a struggle for survival on the tiny island of Bryher in the Scilly Isles, but storms and wrecks can bring bounty as well as hardship.

Jack Holborn by Leon Garfield

Jack Holborn stows away aboard the Charming Molly and falls into the hands of a pirate crew.

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Away from his deprived and brutal background in London, Willie Beech is thrown a lifeline when he is evacuated to the country.

I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson

The memoir of Elli Friedman, who recounts what it was like to be one of the few teenage inmates of Auschwitz.

Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter

A tale of two boys in Hitler's Germany - one boy is German, the other is a German Jew.

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

The silver sword, a little paper-knife, is a symbol of hope to four children as they make their way across the wastes of post-war Europe from Warsaw to Switzerland in search of their parents.

The Machine-Gunners by Robert Westall

Children capture a German machine-gun, but their dream of defending their fortress against the German invasion turns into a nightmare.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

Anna and her family try to make a new life for themselves as refugees in Europe in 1933.

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden

Life as an evacuee with the difficult Mr Evans is bad enough. But did Carrie also bring down a curse on those she loved, living at Druid's Bottom?

War Dog by Martin Booth

Jet, the poacher's dog, is taken into the army when her owner is sent to prison. She is trained as an infantry patrol dog and sent to France on active service.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Classic tale of treasure and treachery as Jim Hawkins sets sail in the Hispaniola. But what use is a treasure map and an honest heart if your adversary is the cunning Long John Silver?

Troy by Adele Geras

I would never have thought that old story of the wooden horse could be so nerve-wracking.

The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price

It's one thing to live and love on the other side of the time tube, but if a bloody battle develops between the two sides where will Andrea's loyalties lie?

The Kin by Peter Dickinson

Clever creatures, homo sapiens. Will they make a go of it? They are on the knife edge of survival.

Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess

Serious retelling of a Viking saga set in a London of the future. Bloodcurdling.