Amos Fortune is the true story of a man who was born in Africa - the son of a great chief - and was kidnapped (along with many people from his tribe) and taken to America, where he was sold into slavery. He was purchased by a Quaker family in New England who treat him more like a son than a slave and teach him to read and help him to embrace the Christian faith. Through an agreement with his first owner, Amos eventually earns his own freedom.

The story of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket (and the last six years of his life) is presented in an intelligent and interesting format by viewing these events through the eyes of twin boys, Simon and Edmund, who are (respectively) in the service of Thomas Becket and King Henry II ( Saint Thomas' friend-turned-enemy). The story begins in the year 1164, while St. Thomas is in exile in France, avoiding the King's wrath for not cooperating with his wishes regarding the King's control over the Church.

A fictional diary of a young Irish-English girl who is raised in a Catholic orphanage in London and is hired as a companion to a wealthy lady for the duration of the Titanic's voyage to America (where she hopes to meet up with her older brother). Margaret, having lived on the streets with her brother for some time before coming to the orphanage, is wise beyond her years with a somewhat cynical streak.

Interesting and fairly simple history of the attempts to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics, and most notably the work performed by many scholars in trying to understand the text inscribed on the Rosetta Stone in hieroglyphics, demotic (a more modern form of Egyptian writing) and Greek. Because the same text was written in these three languages, the Rosetta Stone truly became the "Key to Ancient Egypt" in that it allowed the modern world to unlock the mysteries of Ancient Egypt through the hieroglyphic writing (of which numerous texts have survived on monuments, tombs, etc.