William Harrison

Ainsworth's last masterpiece, The Lancashire Witches proved a best-seller in its day and influenced many contemporary authors. The Lancashire Witches begins in the 16th century, in Lancashire, England. When a Cistercian monk, Borlace Alvetham, is falsely accused of witchcraft and condemned to death by his rival, Brother Paslew, he sells his soul to Satan and escapes. Years later, granted the powers of a warlock, he returns in the guise of Nicholas...

There were eight watchers by the beacon on Pendle Hill in Lancashire. Two were stationed on either side of the north-eastern extremity of the mountain. One looked over the castled heights of Clithero, the woody eminences of Bowland, the bleak ridges of Thornley, the broad moors of Bleasdale, the Trough of Bolland, and Wolf Crag, and even brought within his ken the black fells overhanging Lancaster. The other tracked the stream called Pendle Water,...

While Jack Sheppard seems marked from birth for a terrible end, his wit and charm might just be able to cheat fate. Fate, however, seems eager to cheat him out of an honest living, when Jack begins visiting the notorious Black Lion, drinking den of the worst criminals in London.

"Old Saint Paul's: A Tale of the Plague and the Fire" is a historical romance that describes the events of the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London.

The Tower of London is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1840. It is a historical romance that describes the history of Lady Jane Grey from her short-lived time as Queen of England to her execution.

Auriol Darcy is surprised attempting to remove the heads of two traitors from the Southwark Gateway of Old London Bridge. He is injured by the warder, Baldred, and carried to the house of Dr. Lamb, an alchemist and Auriol Darcy's grandfather, who is assisted by his faithful dwarf Flapdragon. Lamb, on the point of discovering the elixir of life, has a seizure and dies as his ungrateful grandson consumes the draught.

A rich and complex Gothic-Romance centering on the murky deeds of an ancient family. It is a wonderfully atmospheric piece that combines narrative, poetry, song, and descriptive writing to great effect. The character of Dick Turpin that we know today - the dashing highwaymen and unmatched horseman - can be said to stem directly from this novel, as the most famous part of the book (often published on its own in the past), Turpin's Ride To York, is...

There are several underlying factors that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor. After Japan invaded Manchuria (1931) the League of Nations (1933) condemned the Japanese for their aggressive action that prompted their delegation to walk out of the organization. Ignoring all previous agreements, the Japanese Government (1936) embarked on a massive expansion of their naval force. In December 1937, while escorting American oil tankers along the Yangtze River,...