This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Deborah Alcock's 'The Spanish Brothers: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century' is a historical novel that takes place during the Protestant Reformation in Spain. The book intricately weaves together themes of religious persecution, loyalty, and sacrifice. Alcock's detailed descriptions of the era's political and religious landscape immerse the reader in the turmoil and tension of the sixteenth century. Her writing style is poetic and evocative, capturing the essence of the time period with vivid imagery and rich character development. 'The Spanish Brothers' stands out as a compelling work of historical fiction that sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of European history. Readers will be transported back in time and engrossed in the gripping narrative that unfolds within these pages. Alcock's deep understanding of the Protestant Reformation and her captivating storytelling make this book a must-read for history buffs and fiction lovers alike.

one of the green slopes of the Sierra Morena, shaded by a few cork-trees, and with wild craggy heights and bare brown wastes stretching far above, there stood, about the middle of the sixteenth century, a castle even then old and rather dilapidated. It had once been a strong place, but was not very spacious; and certainly, according to our modern ideas of comfort, the interior could not have been a particularly comfortable dwelling-place. A large proportion of it was occupied by the great hall, which was hung with faded, well-repaired tapestry, and furnished with oaken tables, settles, and benches, very elaborately carved, but bearing evident marks of age. Narrow unglazed slits in the thick wall admitted the light and air; and beside one of these, on a gloomy autumn morning, two boys stood together, watching the rain that pored down without intermission.

Persecution bursts suddenly upon the secret converts in Seville. Carlos was imprisoned and put to the Question, but no tortures could induce him to deny his Lord, or betray his friends. The Inquisition. The Question. The horrors of the auto-da-fe. Through the courageous fortitude of great heroes and heroines of faith, The Spanish Brothers lifts the soul clear above the anguish to the glory that we know and believe in, strengthening our faith and inspiring us to press on. This true account of the Spanish Inquisition will leave you speechless.

In Victorian Reformations: Historical Fiction and Religious Controversy, 1820-1900, Miriam Elizabeth Burstein analyzes the ways in which Christian novelists across the denominational spectrum laid claim to popular genres—most importantly, the religious historical novel—to narrate the aftershocks of 1829, the year of Catholic Emancipation. Both Protestant and Catholic popular novelists fought over the ramifications of nineteenth-century Catholic toleration for the legacy of the Reformation. But despite the vast textual range of this genre, it remains virtually unknown in literary studies. Victorian Reformations is the first book to analyze how “high” theological and historical debates over the Reformation’s significance were popularized through the increasingly profitable venue of Victorian religious fiction. By putting religious apologists and controversialists at center stage, Burstein insists that such fiction—frequently dismissed as overly simplistic or didactic—is essential for our understanding of Victorian popular theology, history, and historical novels. Burstein reads “lost” but once exceptionally popular religious novels—for example, by Elizabeth Rundle Charles, Lady Georgiana Fullerton, and Emily Sarah Holt—against the works of such now-canonical figures as Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot, while also drawing on material from contemporary sermons, histories, and periodicals. Burstein demonstrates how these novels, which popularized Christian visions of change for a mass readership, call into question our assumptions about the nineteenth-century historical novel. In addition, her research and her conceptual frameworks have the potential to influence broader paradigms in Victorian studies and novel criticism.