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Free Alternative History eBooks
Explore historical speculative writings, unusual cosmologies, hidden-world stories, and polar journeys. Inclusion preserves the source material and does not endorse its claims.
128 books · Page 1 of 6
The Moon Pool
A mysterious shining presence draws visitors toward an opening among Pacific ruins. Dr. Goodwin and his companions follow the disappearances into an underground world with rival powers and a civilization hidden beneath the surface.
The Shadow Kingdom
Kull of Atlantis has won the throne of Valusia, but an unseen enemy remains within his kingdom. Brule the Spear-Slayer draws his attention to serpent beings who use disguise to pass among the people around him.
The Face in the Abyss
Nicholas Graydon’s search in the Andes leads to a hidden civilization and the presence behind a vast golden face. His encounters with Suarra and the powers of Yu-Atlanchi draw him away from the aims of his original expedition.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort gathers reports of unusual falls from the sky, unexplained objects, and observations that resist easy classification. He arranges them into a wide-ranging inquiry into the treatment of inconvenient or neglected information.
The Lost Race
A traveler in ancient Britain encounters a hidden people whose history reaches far beyond the conflicts he knows. His capture leads to a meeting in which the past is preserved through memory and an account of displacement.
Ophiolatreia
This study traces serpent worship through accounts of ceremonies, symbols, and religious traditions in different parts of the world. It brings together descriptions of sacred serpents and their place in ritual and belief.
Serpent-Worship, and Other Essays, with a Chapter on Totemism
C. Staniland Wake examines serpent worship alongside related questions of mythology, symbolism, and early religious practice. Other essays extend the inquiry into cultural traditions and the development of beliefs.
Secret Diplomacy: How Far Can It Be Eliminated?
Paul S. Reinsch examines secret diplomacy, confidential negotiations, and the relationship between foreign policy and public knowledge. Historical examples provide the basis for his discussion of how international decisions are made.
Propaganda
Edward L. Bernays examines how organized communication shapes public opinion. His chapters follow the use of persuasion in business, politics, education, social causes, and the relationship between institutions and their audiences.
Origin of the Anglo-Boer War Revealed: The Conspiracy of the 19th Century Unmasked
C. H. Thomas presents an account of the origins of the Anglo-Boer War, examining political ambitions and the events leading to the conflict. The narrative emphasizes the negotiations, rival interests, and decisions preceding open warfare.
The Metal Monster
An expedition into the Himalayas encounters a valley inhabited by extraordinary metallic beings. Dr. Goodwin and his companions must navigate a world whose life and organization do not fit the expectations they brought with them.
Out of Time's Abyss
Bradley and his companions become separated in Caspak, an isolated land of unexpected life and peoples. His encounters with winged beings and a hidden city reveal another part of the world explored in the earlier Caspak adventures.
Underground Man
Humanity retreats underground as the cooling sun makes life on the surface impossible. The surviving civilization develops new habits, institutions, and relationships in a world where its former conditions of life no longer apply.
Five Thousand Miles Underground; Or, the Mystery of the Centre of the Earth
An inventor and his young companions travel in an extraordinary craft toward an opening leading below the Earth’s surface. Their expedition takes them into immense underground spaces and unfamiliar environments.
Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey
Baron Trump and his dog Bulger set out on a journey guided by an unusual manuscript. Their route carries them into underground lands whose inhabitants and customs repeatedly surprise the young traveler.
The Underground City; Or, The Black Indies
Engineer James Starr returns to a supposedly exhausted Scottish coal mine after receiving a mysterious invitation. What he finds beneath the surface leads to the development of an underground settlement and a series of unsettling events.
The Lost City
An expedition follows clues toward a city concealed from the outside world. Its travelers encounter an unfamiliar people whose customs and interests turn the search for discovery into a struggle to understand the society they have entered.
Yermah the Dorado: The story of a lost race
Yermah’s story unfolds in an ancient civilization associated with a lost world and the distant past of California. Its people pursue love, power, and spiritual ambitions within a richly described society.
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Emory Adams Allen surveys the remains of early peoples, ancient settlements, and vanished civilizations. The chapters bring together accounts of archaeological discoveries, monuments, tools, and the material evidence used to reconstruct distant human life.
The War Myth in United States History
C. H. Hamlin revisits the accounts commonly given of major American wars, from the Revolution through the First World War. He compares their stated purposes with questions about their causes, costs, and results.
Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe
Rowbotham sets out his arguments about the shape and motion of the Earth through observations of water, horizons, perspective, and the sky. The book moves from descriptions of experiments to explanations of daylight, seasons, eclipses, and tides.
One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe
Carpenter presents one hundred numbered arguments about the Earth, drawing on navigation, surveying, rivers, horizons, and everyday observation. His compact presentation also addresses the astronomical explanations he disputes.
The Hollow Earth
Ives develops his account of the Earth’s interior and its relationship to the polar regions. The work brings together his geographical reasoning, proposed explanations, and discussion of earlier writers on the subject.
Symmes’s Theory of Concentric Spheres
This work explains Symmes’s proposal that the Earth consists of concentric spheres with openings near the poles. McBride discusses the observations and arguments offered in support of the idea and the exploration it inspired.