I Claudius. About the Roman emperors from the end of the reign of Augustus to the ascension of Claudius. BBC did a fantastic adaptation back in the 70s.
SparklingGrape21 on
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (also pretty much anything else by Lisa See)
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
eliot-rosewater on
John Williams – *Augustus*
Ursula Le Guin – *Lavinia*
and, 20th Century, but I think it still counts…
E.L. Doctorow – *Ragtime*
BooBooDarcySnowy on
Stephanie Dray also wrote a three-book series on Cleopatra’s children. I enjoyed reading those books.
Pithyname8 on
I love Philippa Gregory.
She writes about the Tudors, the Plantagenets, Colonial America, etc.
She brings the history to life.
Color-Me-Redhead on
“I, Claudius” by Robert Graves
“Here Be Dragons” by Sharon K Penman
DoctorGuvnor on
My best historical fiction writers are: Bernard Cornwell, CS Forrester, Patrick O’Brian, Robert Graves, Alfed Duggan, George Shipway Audrey Erskine Lindop (*The Way to the Lantern*) and Annamarie Selinko (*Desiree*)
emdehan on
Will continue to suggest *The Alice Network* to everyone.
Motormouth1995 on
The Killer Angels
ReddisaurusRex on
Lonesome Dove
The Red Tent
Prince of Tides
The Brothers K (by Duncan, not Dostoevsky)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
Edit: adding The Round House
trishyco on
Molokai by Alan Brennert
ander999 on
The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman. Any book by Sharon Kay Penmen.
ChunkyWombat7 on
The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles – the first book in The Morland Dynasty – and several of the subsequent 33 books (there were one or two that were difficult to get through, but for the most part they were great – the first is still my favorite)
Ken Follett’s Knightsbridge books – just got the fifth one in last week – saving it for my trip in two weeks
Do the Chronicles of St Mary’s count as historical fiction? I’m going to say yes, so all of those
Far-Blackberry-7129 on
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
aimeed72 on
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault
The Crystal Cave and sequels by Mary Stewart
Pippin_the_parrot on
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Pheeeefers on
In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkewicz
The Bastard by John Jakes (and the rest of the series)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Last Hours by Minette Waters
The Birth House by Ami McKay
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (most Ken Follett is great, I loved Night Over Water)
Gone with The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Pompeii by Robert Harris
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cromwell
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
ElizaAuk on
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
grynch43 on
A Tale of Two Cities
Pillars of the Earth
Sarum
lovablydumb on
The Ben Weaver series by David Liss
a2b2021 on
The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah
climatelurker on
**Lost City of the Monkey God**
**The Devil in the White City**
**We Die Alone**
​
EDIT: Sorry, you said fiction. So, would **Circe** be considered ‘historical fiction’?
I’ve read some historical fiction, and it was entertaining, but mostly I didn’t feel like the writing quality was good enough to be recommendable, though I really liked Circe.
Downtown_Feature8980 on
The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough
mr444guy on
Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
Speaks the Nightbird – Robert Mcammon
Joyballard6460 on
Wolf Hall
Its-the-Chad82 on
Does The Count of Minte Cristo count? If not, The Killer Angels
bookishlybrilliant on
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
yukiayanami on
Equal of the Sun and The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
I enjoyed each of them IMMENSELY and dream of the day she publishes another.
Accomplished-Care335 on
Moloka’i by Alan Brennart.
It follows the life of a woman from birth to death, many of her years being held captive in the leprosy colony on the island of Molokai, and it shows a really great story that includes the history of the islands throughout her centuries in the book.
JadeeDraven on
The Last Kingdom – Bernard Cornwall
It’s set back in the time of King Alfred the Great
MochaHasAnOpinion on
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. It’s about as far back in time as you can go.
Shogun by James Clavell is unforgettable.
Objective-Being-8597 on
All the Light We Cannot See
zaftigquilter on
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel
sargentmeowstein on
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, I feel like I could have kept reading it if it was twice as long. Beautifully written and an example of generational kindness and love
36 Comments
Shogun by Clavell.
I Claudius. About the Roman emperors from the end of the reign of Augustus to the ascension of Claudius. BBC did a fantastic adaptation back in the 70s.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (also pretty much anything else by Lisa See)
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
John Williams – *Augustus*
Ursula Le Guin – *Lavinia*
and, 20th Century, but I think it still counts…
E.L. Doctorow – *Ragtime*
Stephanie Dray also wrote a three-book series on Cleopatra’s children. I enjoyed reading those books.
I love Philippa Gregory.
She writes about the Tudors, the Plantagenets, Colonial America, etc.
She brings the history to life.
“I, Claudius” by Robert Graves
“Here Be Dragons” by Sharon K Penman
My best historical fiction writers are: Bernard Cornwell, CS Forrester, Patrick O’Brian, Robert Graves, Alfed Duggan, George Shipway Audrey Erskine Lindop (*The Way to the Lantern*) and Annamarie Selinko (*Desiree*)
Will continue to suggest *The Alice Network* to everyone.
The Killer Angels
Lonesome Dove
The Red Tent
Prince of Tides
The Brothers K (by Duncan, not Dostoevsky)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
Edit: adding The Round House
Molokai by Alan Brennert
The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman. Any book by Sharon Kay Penmen.
The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles – the first book in The Morland Dynasty – and several of the subsequent 33 books (there were one or two that were difficult to get through, but for the most part they were great – the first is still my favorite)
Ken Follett’s Knightsbridge books – just got the fifth one in last week – saving it for my trip in two weeks
Do the Chronicles of St Mary’s count as historical fiction? I’m going to say yes, so all of those
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault
The Crystal Cave and sequels by Mary Stewart
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkewicz
The Bastard by John Jakes (and the rest of the series)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Last Hours by Minette Waters
The Birth House by Ami McKay
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (most Ken Follett is great, I loved Night Over Water)
Gone with The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Pompeii by Robert Harris
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cromwell
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
A Tale of Two Cities
Pillars of the Earth
Sarum
The Ben Weaver series by David Liss
The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah
**Lost City of the Monkey God**
**The Devil in the White City**
**We Die Alone**
​
EDIT: Sorry, you said fiction. So, would **Circe** be considered ‘historical fiction’?
I’ve read some historical fiction, and it was entertaining, but mostly I didn’t feel like the writing quality was good enough to be recommendable, though I really liked Circe.
The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough
Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
Speaks the Nightbird – Robert Mcammon
Wolf Hall
Does The Count of Minte Cristo count? If not, The Killer Angels
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
Equal of the Sun and The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
I enjoyed each of them IMMENSELY and dream of the day she publishes another.
Moloka’i by Alan Brennart.
It follows the life of a woman from birth to death, many of her years being held captive in the leprosy colony on the island of Molokai, and it shows a really great story that includes the history of the islands throughout her centuries in the book.
The Last Kingdom – Bernard Cornwall
It’s set back in the time of King Alfred the Great
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. It’s about as far back in time as you can go.
Shogun by James Clavell is unforgettable.
All the Light We Cannot See
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, I feel like I could have kept reading it if it was twice as long. Beautifully written and an example of generational kindness and love
A Gentleman in Moscow- Amor Towles