Recommended Nonfiction for Castle Falkenstein

Compiled by Michael Bowman
From recommendations by subscribers of Falken-L
Last updated 21 May 1997

Dates of original book publication are given.

Atlases

Kinder, Hermann, and Werner Hilgemann. dtv - Atlas zur Weltgeschichte: Karten und chronologischer Abriß. Bd. 2. Von der Französischen Revolution bis zur Gegenwart. 1966 = The Anchor Atlas of World History Volume II: From the French Revolution to the American Bicentennial = The Penguin Atlas of World History Volume II: From the French Revolution to the American Bicentennial. 1978

 

McEvedy, Colin. The Penguin Atlas of Recent History: Europe Since 1815. 1982

 

Mould, Thomas. The County Maps of Old England. 1990

A beautiful color reproduction of a series of maps of English counties ca. 1830-40. A bit out of period for CF, but still worth a look. Also has some street maps of a few selected cities. US residents may be able to find a copy at Past Times or Powell's.

 

Parker, Geoffrey, ed. The Times Atlas of World History. 4th ed. 1994

 

Rand McNally and Company. Historical Atlas and Guide. 1993

 

History

Betjeman, John. Victorian and Edwardian London From Old Photographs. 1969

 

Briggs, Asa. Victorian Cities. 1965

Histories of Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Melbourne and London.

 

Briggs, Asa. Victorian Things. 1988

 

Brown, A.E., and H.A. Jeffcott, Jr. Beware of Imitations = Absolutely Mad Inventions. 1932

 

Cheney, Margaret. Tesla: Man Out of Time. 1981

If Tesla doesn't fit the "mad scientist" mold, then no living (and CF contemporary) person does. He was both a genius and an eccentric.

 

Chinn, Thomas W. Bridging the Pacific: San Francisco Chinatown and Its People. 1989

This is a history of Chinatown and the Chinese population, nifty stuff in and of itself, but the prizes are:

1) On p. 26-27 there is a map of the southern half of Chinatown done in 1884. Each individual shop is drawn in, with the function of every building given.

2) On p. 296 there is a business directory of Chinatown from 1876, with names and addresses.

Evans, R.J. The Victorian Age, 1815-1910. 2nd ed. 1968

 

Fort, Charles.

The Book of the Damned. 1919

New Lands. 1923

Lo!. 1931

Wild Talents. 1932

The Complete Books of Charles Fort. 1941

Fort was the early master of the "X-Files." Writing in the first few decades of this century, he prowled the newspaper archives for "the damned," events that were rare, unexplained, and therefore ignored. Most of his references came from the 1880s, and make splendid references for CF.

 

Gildea, Robert. Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914. 1987

 

Harrison, Michael. In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes. 1958

Guidebook to Holmesian London.

 

Harrison, Michael. London by Gaslight, 1861-1911. Rev. ed. 1987

 

Hartman, Mary S. Victorian Murderesses: A True History of Thirteen Respectable French and English Women Accused of Unspeakable Crimes. 1976

More scholarly than the Rumbelow book and more thorough than the brief sketches in the Jones book, this is probably the least "entertaining" of the three. What Hartman offers is a detailed examination of the lives of middle- and upper-class Victorian women, and the social and psychological factors that drove them to murder. Hartman's basic thesis -- that while the fact that these thirteen women resorted to murder makes them unique, the repression, domination and even sexual abuse that they suffered was more-or-less typical -- may not play well against the stated (but so far, unsupported by the text) "equality" of the CF world.

 

Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire. 1981

Headrick discusses nineteenth-century imperialism in terms of technology. Headrick sees imperialism in three stages, each one supported/caused by technological change. Phase 1 (exploration/penetration) was made possible by steam gunboats, able to go up rivers, and quinine, to keep people on those boats from dying of malaria. Phase 2 (conquest) relied on repeating rifles and machine guns. Phase 3 (consolidation) utilized underwater telegraph cables, the Suez canal, steamship lines, and colonial railroads.

Jones, Richard Glyn, ed. The Mammoth Book of Murder = The Mammoth Book of True Murder. 1989

One hundred short pieces on famous real-life murders of the 19th and 20th centuries. (All male. Jones speculates in the introduction that he may do another volume with one hundred murderesses, but as far as I know has not done so yet.) The articles included have all appeared elsewhere previously; many of them are written by well-known authors and reporters (including Alexander Woolcott, Craig Rice, Colin Wilson, Damon Runyon, Ellery Queen, Jimmy Breslin, Julian Symons, Robert Bloch, Sax Rohmer, and H.R.F. Keating). The murders are arranged more-or-less chronologically. The most useful for CF are the first four chapters: Regency Ruffians (1811-1837), Villainous Victorians (1849-1882), Deadly Doctors (1849-1895), and Late-Victorian Villains (1888-1905). You won't find many cases that would have challenged Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, real murder is depressingly straightforward and banal when compared with the fictional variety. Still, the cases offer insight into the state of law enforcement and crime detection at the time, as well as some intriguing "snapshots" of 19th Century life.

 

Peacock, Shane. The Great Farini: The High-Wire Life of William Hunt. 1995

It's a biography of the Canadian adventurer, William Hunt. This guy actually lived the Victorian dream that we all try to capture in our entertainments. He crossed Niagra Falls on a tightrope, he invented the first human cannonball act, he was a spy during the Civil War, he became London's premiere provider of entertainment, he travelled to Africa in search of treasure . . . It's great for source material and a very good read.

 

Rumbelow, Donald. The Complete Jack the Ripper = Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook. 1975

This book gives a good summary of the "Jack the Ripper" murders in London in 1888, including most of the current (as of 1975) theories as to the murderer's identity. The book's high point: several illustrations, including reproductions of newspaper and magazine illustrations and photographs of the major suspects and of the police officials investigating the case. The low point: the final chapter on modern "Ripper-like" serial killers, apparently intended to make the book more "contemporary" or "relevant."

 

Strachey, Lytton. Eminent Victorians. 1918

Biographies of Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Arnold and General Gordon.

 

Taylor, A.J.P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. 1954

The quintessential diplomatic history for the period.

Social Life and Customs

Boyle, Thomas. Black Swine in the Sewers of Hampstead.

Through a study of Victorian newspapers, Boyle shows Victorians were far less priggish than we might suppose, and that the picture we get from literature of the period is inaccurate. Crime in particular was rather common, not to mention child abuse and other tasteless stuff. Not really CF material, I suppose, but still fun, especially for thet descriptions of murders (one fellow hired an attendent for his brother whose job it was to make sure the brother drank himself to death -- several bottles of gin a day for months!).

 

Braun and Schneider The History of Costume = Historic Costume in Pictures. 1861-1890

This is available on the Web or from Dover. The last 35 pages contains contemporary (ca. 1880) folk costumes from most European, Asian and African countries.

 

Houghton, Walter E. The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870.

 

Humphry, Mrs. C.E. Manners for Men. 1897

A guide written for the young gentleman just starting out in society and is stuffed absolutely full of information for what a gentleman should and shouldn't do. The po-faced importance given to these rules of polite behaviour is hilarious (wearing a frock coat with a straw hat is "evil", and in polite society the only way to peel a banana is with a knife and fork).

 

Humphry, Mrs. C.E. Manners for Women. 1910

Not so useful as far as I can see, mostly being concerned with marriages. Most of the useful CF material seems to be in the Manners for Men volume.

 

Humphry, Mrs. C.E. What Shall I Write? [unconfirmed citation]

A set of instructions on how to inform a correspondant of everything from the weather to the death of a loved one. This could provide great inspiration for character diaries and letters home to father or whatever.

 

Jones, Judy, and William Wilson. An Incomplete Education. 1987

This is a "cheat book" of sorts: a quick and dirty overview of a wide range of topics.

 

Lady's Gallery: Fashion, Culture, Antiques. bimonthly publication

This is a mix of re-enactment style costumery, antiques and collectibles and descriptions of what it was like to live "back then." When seems to be anywhere from 1750-1920, but witht a major emphasis on the Victorian era.

 

MacCool, Gail, and Carol McD. Wallace. To Marry an English Lord, or, How Anglomania Really Got Started. 1986

It is chock full of interesting things and tid bits of unique facts. Probably the most interesting stuff is on social mores and the reasons for the marriages. There are a lot of sidebars detailing little known facts about how to act in society entitled Comme il Faut.

 

McCutcheon, Marc. The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s. 1993.

This provides everything from clothing styles to names for different kinds of carriages to when various inventions became available, and much, much more, including slang expressions (complete with examples of usage from period publications). It is utterly fantastic for its state purpose or for gaming. If it has a weakness, it is that it tends to focus primarily on the U.S., and I'm not sure how much of what is says is also true for England or Europe.

 

Perrot, Phillipe. Dessus de les Dessous de la Bourgeoisie: Une Histoire du Vetement au XIXe Siecle. 1981 = Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. 1994

A good overall view of the subject of clothes.

 

Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist -- The Facets of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England. 1993

An excellent source of information on Victorian life and customs for people reading 19th century literature. Has descriptive text and an extensive glossary. The book only covers England but it should be applicable to all of Europa. The book goes into incredible detail (while still remaining readable) -- including such things as the proper etiquette for using stairs (a gentleman precedes the lady when climbing the stairs -- even if he has to run to do so -- and follows her when descending the stairs). Great source material for day to day life

 

Reader, W.J. Life in Victorian England = Victorian England. 1964

 

Sears Roebuck Catalog. 1897 ed. and 1902 ed.

 

Thompson, F.M.L. The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain 1830-1900. 1984

 

Tierney, Tom. Great Fashion Designs of the Belle Epoque: Paper Dolls in Full Color. 1983

 

Tierney, Tom. Great Fashion Designs of the Gilded Age: Paper Dolls. 1995

American fashions from 1880 to 1910.

 

Tierney, Tom. Great Fashion Designs of the Victorian Era: Paper Dolls in Full Color. 1987

 

Tierney, Tom. Paper Doll -- Gibson Girl. 1985

 

Games

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. 23rd Parallel Games

It deals with parallel universes, many of which are Victorian in nature. Based on the comic by Bryan Talbot

.

Aniolowski, Scott, Garrie Hall, Steve Hatherley, Alan Smithee, John T. Snyder and John Tynes. The Golden Dawn. Pagan Publishing, 1996.

A sourcebook on Victorian occult intrigue for Call of Cthulhu.

 

Barton, William A. Cthulhu By Gaslight: Horror Roleplaying in 1890s England for Call of Cthulhu. 2nd ed. Chaosium, 1988

Sourcebook for the H.P. Lovecraft-based game, Call of Cthulhu. An excellent source for horror-based Entertainments.

 

Dark Designs: Occult Terrors in 1890s England for Call of Cthulhu. Chaosium, 1991

Adventure supplement for Cthulhu By Gaslight.

 

Sacraments of Evil. Chaosium, 1993

Adventure supplement for Cthulhu By Gaslight.

 

Caparula, J.M., and Scott Haring. GURPS Horror: The Complete Guide to Horrific Roleplaying. 2nd ed. Steve Jackson Games, 1990.

Has a very brief section on the Victorian era, including a good map of London.

 

Chadwick, Frank. Space 1889. Games Designer Workshop, 1988

Victorian period space-based science fiction role playing game. Excellent feel with clunky rules. There are a variety of adventure supplements.

 

Cook, David "Zeb", Carl E. Sargent, and Karen S. Boomgarden. For Faerie, Queen, & Country. TSR, 1993

Sourcebook for The Amazing Engine rules system. Good source material for Victorian England in the 1870s mixed with Faerie but with very goofy rules.

 

Rowland, Marcus. Forgotten Futures. Collection II -- The Log of the Astronef. 1994

A shareware RPG, which includes a novel (A Honeymoon in Space, by George Griffith), worldbook, adventures, rules, and pictures. In 1901, Lord Smeaton discovers the R-Force, and sets out to take his new bride Zaidie on a tour of the solar system. Wonderful for Victorian and Edwardian detail, and the bibliography is highly recommended for the CF player. Available on several net-sites, or for $22 from Marcus Rowland, 22 Westbourne Park Villas, London W25 EA. A revised edition (incorporating a variant text of A Honeymoon in Space) is planned.

 

Rowland, Marcus. Forgotten Futures. Collection III -- George E. Challenger's Mysterious World. 1995

A shareware RPG, which includes all of the George Challenger stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, worldbook, adventures, rules, and pictures. Available on several net-sites, or for $22 from Marcus Rowland, 22 Westbourne Park Villas, London W25 EA.

 

Skarka, Gareth-Michael. Age of Empire. Epitaph, 1995.

A Victorian roleplaying game. The fantastic elements are those of Victorian fiction.

 

Snead, John R., and Sarah Link. Faeries. 2nd ed. Wizards of the Coast, 1995.

The Faeries supplement for Ars Magica. This is an excellent resource on all aspects of faerie. Most of the book is narrative and not game statistics. Very highly recommended.

Films and Television

The 1930s = The Awesome

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 1954. Fleischer, Richard, director; Felton, Earl, writer.

 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Michael Pondsmith prefers the Basil Rathbone Holmes, I prefer the Jeremy Brett Holmes.

 

The Age of Innocence. 1993. Scorsese, Martin, director; Cocks, Jack, and Martin Scorsese, writers.

 

The Asphyx = Spirit of the Dead. 1972. Newbrook, Peter, director; Comfort, Brian, writer.

 

The Assassination Bureau. 1969. Dearden, Basil, director; Relph, Michael, writer.

Kinda cheesy, but fun to watch nonetheless. Oliver Reed is the head of a secret society of assasins, who accept contracts on people they deemed worthy of assasination. Diana Rigg is a journalist who uncovers the group, and contacts Reed (head of the Bureau), in order to take out a contract on... him. A plot to kill off the crowned heads of Europes is a sub-plot.

 

At the Earth's Core. 1976. Connor, Kevin, director; Subotsky, Milton, writer.

 

The Charge of the Light Brigade. 1936. Curtiz, Michael, director; Jacoby, Michel, and Rowland Leigh, writers.

 

The Charge of the Light Brigade. 1968. Richardson, Tony, director; Wood, Charles, writer.

 

Fabulous World of Jules Verne. Zeman, Carel, director.

 

The First Great Train Robbery = The Great Train Robbery. 1979. Crichton, Michael, writer and director.

 

First Men in the World. 1964. Juran, Nathan, director; Kneale, Nigel, and Jan Read, writers.

 

The Four Feathers. 1939. Korda, Zoltan, director; Sherriff, R.C., Lagos Biro and Arthur Winperis, writers.

 

The Importance of Being Earnest. 1952. Asquith, Anthony, writer and director.

 

The Island at the Top of the World. 1974. Stevenson, Robert, director; Whedon, John, writer.

Airship to the Arctic discovers lost Viking colony. Another Disney film.

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth. 1959. Levin, Henry, director; Brackett, Charles, and Walter Reisch, writers.

 

Kind Hearts and Coronets. 1949. Hamer, Robert, director; Schubert, Bernard, writer.

 

The Land That Time Forgot. 1975. Conner, Kevin, director; Cawthorn, James, and Michael Moorcock, writers.

 

Laputa: The Castle in the Sky. 1987. Miyazaki, Hayao, writer and director.

Japanese anime. The backdrop is a society that hinges heavily on wind and flight: there are all sorts of wonderful Vernean airships throughout. The story is touching and engaging, as well, detailing two children's search for a mythic floating castle. The supporting cast includes some charming air pirates and suitably fascist military villains. I really can't do the film justice. Suffice to say that it is not only interesting viewing for Castle Falkenstein players, but an excellent piece of cinema, as well.

Legend. 1995

Short run televison series on the UPN network. Set in the Wild West. Good protrayal of a Tesla-like character.

 

Little Women. 1994. Anderson, Gillian, director.

 

The Lost World. 1960. Allen, Irwin, director; Allen, Irwin, and Charles Beaumont, writers.

 

The Man Who Would be King. 1975. Huston, John, director; Huston, John, and Gladys Hill, writers.

 

Master of the World. 1961. Witney, William, directory; Matheson, Richard, writer.

This one is pretty damn good. Vincent Price as a mastermind with a giant steam powered airship, tring to force the nations of the world to disarm themselves, in order to bring peace to the world.

 

Murder by Decree. 1979. Clark, Bob, director; Hopkins, John, writer.

 

The Pickwick Papers. 1952. Langley, Noel, writer and director.

 

The Prisoner of Zenda. 1937. Cromuel, John, W.S. Van Dyke, and George Cukor, directors; Balderston, John, Wells Root, and Donald Ogden Stewart, writers.

 

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. 1970. Wilder, Billy, director; Wilder, Billy, and I.A.L. Diamond, writers.

 

Royal Flash. 1975. Lester, Richard, director; Fraser, George MacDonald, writer.

 

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. 1977. Ross, Herbert, director; Meyer, Nicholas, writer.

 

Theft of an Airship. Zeman, Carel, director.

 

Wild Wild West. 1965-69

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