Romola (1862-63) is a historical novel by George Eliot set in the fifteenth century, and is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view." citation needed] It first appeared in fourteen parts published in Cornhill Magazine from July 1862 (vol. 6, no. 31) to August 1863 (vol. 8, no. 44). The story takes place amidst actual historical events during the Italian Renaissance, and includes in its plot several notable figures from Florentine history.

Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) is a social novel written by George Eliot about political disputes in a small English town at the time of the First Reform Act of 1832Set during the time of the Reform Act of 1832, the story centres on an election contested by Harold Transome, a local landowner, in the "Radical cause" ("Radical" because Transome's version of "radicalism" isn't radical at all, but rather an application of the term to his politically stagnate lifestyle), contrary to his family's Tory traditions.

History of German Life. "In Germany, perhaps more than in any other country, it is among the peasantry that we must look for the historical type of the national physique. In the towns this type has become so modified to express the personality of the individual that even "family likeness" is often but faintly marked. But the peasants may still be distinguished into groups, by their physical peculiarities. In one part of the country we find a longer-legged, in another a broader-shouldered race, which has inherited these peculiarities for centuries. ...Between many villages an historical feud,...

30th December 1852:

After an unhappy Christmas, Marian Evans returns to London. Today will mark the first day of a bitter feud between Marian and her brother, Isaac. Indeed, the rift between them will become so great that Marian becomes trapped into an endless repeating-cycle in which she keeps returning to this moment, as many "alternate" futures are played out.
In an "alternate" time-line, Marian Evans resigns her job as Editor of the Westminster Review in 1851. This version of history will remember Marian as a translator, journalist and philosopher - but not as novelist. She will...