The Floating Press: 2252 books

In this humorous sketch from William Dean Howells, a refined gentleman attempts to navigate the rough-and-tumble vagaries of the marketplace when he sets out to procure the perfect horse. His early efforts go hilariously awry, but he learns some important lessons along the way.

Though it did not achieve the popular success of novels like The Rise of Silas Lapham, critics regard William Dean Howells' The Landlord at Lion's Head as a masterpiece of literary naturalism. It follows amoral antihero Jeff Durgin as he transforms his humble family farm into an upscale resort property.

Join archaeologist James Grant on a global tour of cultures to discover the often unusual origins behind common beliefs and practices, ranging from fairies and magical creatures, to funerary practices, to the ancient roots of current-day celebrations and observances such as Halloween.

Shortly after getting married, English-born author Ada Cambridge set sail for Australia, where she would live for most of the rest of her life. The experience proved to be a formative one in terms of her literary career, as many of her essays and novels focused on aspects of life "down under." The novel...

Mary Cholmondeley's versatile literary talent is highlighted in this diverse collection of tales. The title story, "The Lowest Rung," is a gripping tale of addiction related by a homeless woman whose once-comfortable lifestyle has been rent asunder by her unshakable craving for morphine.

The third book in his sweeping Clayhanger Family series, These Twain recounts the courtship and marriage of Hilda Lessways and Edwin Clayhanger. It's a nuanced, complex depiction of the ups and downs of long-term intimate relationships, focusing on the ways that marriage can both help and hurt people, often at the same time.

This thrilling action-adventure novel is set in colonial India. At the center of the story is the fearsome creature Badshah, whose reign of terror drives the plot. A one-tusked behemoth of massive size, Badshah is revered as a deity by the locals. Officer Kevin Dermot attempts to protect his charges from the rampaging beast.

Action-adventure fans, you've come to the right place. In ten pulse-pounding episodes, intrepid pilot Tam manages to find his way into a series of increasingly high-stakes scrapes. In the figure of the hard-living but honorable Tam, author Edgar Wallace has created one of the most realistic and endearing...

Like many of Gustave Aimard's classic action-adventure novels, Stoneheart traces long-simmering conflicts between two groups of people: the indigenous tribes that occupied the land for thousands of years, and the more recent arrivals seeking to exploit natural resources and stake their own claims. Set...

Throughout the nineteenth century, Mexico underwent a series of political upheavals, power struggles, wars and revolutions. In Gustave Aimard's pulse-pounding Western The Rebel Chief, a beautiful region of Mexico gripped by political turmoil serves as the backdrop for an unlikely romance.

Though he was born and died in France, action-adventure writer Gustave Aimard was endlessly enamored with the Americas, and he journeyed extensively in the United States, Mexico, and South America over the course of his life. In The Gold-Seekers, Aimard draws on his own time as a miner in nineteenth-century...

This delightful comic novel from Ian Hay follows the irrepressible Tilly Welwyn, a spirited and unique young woman, in her persistent attempts to catch the eye of an affluent suitor. Despite his affection for the girl, his family is dead-set against the match. Will these ill-matched lovers find a way to make it work?

Taking a break from the action-adventure tales that were his forte, Scottish writer Ian Hay presents his tongue-in-cheek views on the political and cultural situation facing England in the World War I era, with a particular focus on the controversy surrounding Ireland and its political autonomy.

Though he comes from a humble Scottish family of farmers, Robert Fordyce has his ambitions set high. He lands a prominent political post in London and tries his hardest to blend in among the British upper crust. Gradually, Robert forms a tight bond with his boss' quirky but kind family, and that relationship helps put him at ease.