Great Historical Fiction (see all AvidReader’s lists)
Best of Books » Literature & Fiction » Genre Fiction » Historical
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"Best of" list created by AvidReaderThe list author says:
“Here are the books I consider to be the best the historical fiction genre has to offer.”
Created 3 months ago. This list has 11 books. 49 comments
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Book 1
The Plantagenet SeriesThe Sunne in Splendour
by Sharon Kay Penman
The list author says:
“Full of rich historical detail and fascinating characters right from the pages of history, this novel covers the Wars of the Roses and the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III. I've read lots of fiction set during the Wars of the Roses, but this book is the best. ” -
Book 2
Wolf Hall Trilogy: Book 1Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel
The list author says:
“This award winning novel paints a vivid portrait of life within Henry VIII's court as seen through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. This book is a must read for anyone interested in Tudor history.” -
Book 3
The Plantagenet Series: Book 1When Christ and His Saints Slept
by Sharon Kay Penman
The list author says:
“The first novel in Sharon Kay Penman's Plantagenet series focuses on the struggle between Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois for the English throne, a struggle that resulted in a long, brutal civil war. ” -
Book 4
Three Day Road
by Joseph Boyden
The list author says:
“Set primarily during WWI and featuring two young Native men who served as snipers, this book vividly captures life in the trenches. One of the best WWI-era novels I've ever read. ” -
Book 5
Harold the King
by Helen Hollick
The list author says:
“This novel is the story of Harold Goodwinson, the English King who lost to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Full of compelling characters and rich historical detail that creates a strong sense of time and place, this is a novel not to be missed. ” -
Book 6
Katherine
by Anya Seton
The list author says:
“This lovely novel tells the love story between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. It also vividly describes the age in which this novel is set. ” -
Book 7
Wolf Hall Trilogy: Book 2Bring Up the Bodies
by Hilary Mantel
The list author says:
“The follow-up to Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies is every bit as compelling as its predecessor. Thomas Cromwell is once again the main character, with the focus of this book on the downfall of Anne Boleyn. ” -
Book 8
William Marshal: Book 2The Greatest Knight
The Unsung Story of the Queen's Champion
by Elizabeth Chadwick
The list author says:
“Beautifully written novel of William Marshall, who is known as the greatest knight of the medieval-era. ” -
Book 9
Pillars of the Earth: Book 1The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
The list author says:
“The fascinating novel revolves around the building of a medieval cathedral. ” -
Book 10
Aubrey-Maturin: Book 1Master and Commander
by Patrick O'Brian
The list author says:
“The first in Patrick O'Brian's marvelous Aubrey/Maturin series. A must read for any fans of the Age of Sail. ” -
Book 11
Sarum
The Novel of England
by Edward Rutherfurd
The list author says:
“A multi-generational saga set in Sarum/Salisbury, England. I think this is Rutherfurd's best book. ”
Displaying 1-11 of 11
Comments
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Cheryl K
So glad you have done a list AvidReader. Have just added these to my TBR list. Thanks and best wishes.
posted 3 months ago.
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Bookerson
May I suggest Bernard Cornwell - A possible addition to your list?
Please give a preview.posted 3 months ago.
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AvidReader
I've only read one of Cromwell's novels to date -- Sharpe's Tiger. I enjoyed it and plan to continue with the series. I'm not planning to include any Cornwell books on my list though, as the list is meant to share my favourite works of historical fiction.
posted 2 months ago.
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Joad
Thanks, I will look into the Penman books that you recommend, they appear interesting.
May I suggest you try marguerite Yourcenar ,The Memoirs of Hadrian or The Abyss. Books that are not easy ,will have your reaching for the dictionary (or goggle) often but are extremely rewarding. Written by a woman of towering intellect and often referred to as the standard by which all historical fiction is judged.
On a lighter note try Barry Unsworth's A Ruby in her Navel, a novel set in Sciliy in the 11 th Century a fascinating and romantic story of a multi cultural society ruled by the Normans.posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
I just looked up the Yourcenar books. I'm definitely going to give one a try since they seem like my kind of historical novels.
posted 2 months ago.
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Sue B
One of my all time favorites is "The Quality of Mercy" by Faye Kellerman. Set in England during the Inquisition, Shakespeare is one of the main characters.
posted 2 months ago.
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Mary Ann OKeefe
Faye Kellerman is such an awful writer. Her thrillers are dripping with unnecessary sex scenes and irrelevant Judaism, I shudder to think how she manages to avoid either in a historical novel.
posted 2 months ago.
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Wendy Kendall
Sue B. Thanks so much for your recommendation. I'm really looking forward to reading that. Here are two authors that I'm shocked are not included on the list. Susan MacNeal with her series starting with Mr. Churchill's Secretary. And also Jeffrey Archer and so many of his gripping historical fiction books.
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader removed this reply 2 months ago
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aprillee
My favorites that are not on your list:
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (first book: Game of Kings)
The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian (Master and Commander, etc.)posted 2 months ago.
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Katejoe
I was wondering when someone would bring in one of my favorite authors Dorothy Dunnett. In my opinion her works (esp. Lymond series) are tops on any list!!
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
I can't believe I forgot to include the Aubrey/Maturin books! I love that series.
I'm not a fan of Dunnett, though. Her writing style is not to my taste.
posted 2 months ago.
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DML2112
My favorite historical fiction is The Sparrowhawk Series by Edward Cline. It is a six book series set in England and Virginia before the American Revolutionary War.
posted 2 months ago.
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Saurabh Sonawala
How about the amazing historical novels by James Michener - like Poland, Hawaii & Alaska?
posted 2 months ago.
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Saurabh Sonawala
Also, readers who like Historical fiction may like the books by Edward Rutherfurd - London & Russka.
Both Michener and Rutherfurd have written sagas based spanning the history of a particular place, usually based on the lives of fictional families.
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
I do love Edward Rutherfurd's books. Sarum, London and The Forest are my favourites by him. I think I'll add Sarum to my list.
posted 2 months ago.
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Barbara Heintz
I have won in 2012 Honorable Mention in San Francisco Book Festival and a First in Hollywood for 2012 Book Festival. Aided in Sonoma County Food Bank, selling and giving away books in Autumn, and my book, "Pinkhoneysuckle," will be in Noe Valley Book Festival this Weekend with 42 authors -- One San Francisco community. My book is mixed genre, for I researched to correct dates of involvement with Civil Rights under Dr. King's mantle. I give a full account of the Southern Diaspora which began mid-century forcing small farmers to become white trash in city ghetto, and voices beg that America displaced thousands of Southern Appalachians to be Rust Belt work horses, and those who lived it are ashamed because of the depth of our poverty. I become naked to share one woman's journey, that the thousands still broken to this day may know they were never alone, and our loss of Mountain Laurel and homes to become, 'Poor White Trash," needs acceptance in literature, documentary, and film. How do you help me know how to bring our equivalent to, "Grapes of Wrath," to the forefront. WVXU in Cincinnati will interview me soon, and having been governed by two episodes of blood clots to my lungs has held up my entry in to other events. After 60 years; Is our Holocaust of a way of life still to be hid under our skirts. Northern ghettos always have a population of those of us who left the farm, because The USA saw us as dispensable, so truly; Must we like our parents die knowing that no one gave a damn about we, "Hillbillies," "Rednecke," and "Crackers," because most of us had white skin? Comments appreciated. Barbara Everett Heintz, Amazon, Kindle, Create Space
posted 2 months ago.
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Ron Argo
Barbara, I feel your pain and you have put it out here raw and unnerving to anyone familiar (and possibly to just anyone who lives anywhere in America). It's reassuring that you are getting these accolades and recognition, that PINKHONEYSUCKLE is actually going somewhere. Man, I sure hope you get sales as well. When I say I feel your pain I mean that because I can and do empathize, having grown up in Alabama during the outset of the Civil Rights Movement. I empathize too through the novel I've just recently completed called THE SUM OF HIS WORTH, an historical novel told by a teenage boy who befriends a liberal white dentist and follows the dentist through his trials and tribulations becoming part of that great movement. The book is out in digital form now (at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords) and will be in book form this year.
Again, your journey is amazing and I for one sure am looking forward to reading PINKHONEYSUCKLE.posted 2 months ago.
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Barbara Heintz
Ron, your generosity and understanding is overwhelming, for we were in our fields as little kids dragging cotton sacks, and no one made our pictures; No, they made it look like we all were on that bridge at Selma. Meanwhile, a black family was with us in the fields, just one example, and we played and laughed, and no one had told me that I was going to have more opportunity as a poor white. Dr. King wanted us included and God had mercy, and I would get to be with Mrs. Coretta King in Washington on the Poor People's march, but I had to work harder at anything and everything to find no help most of the time, because I was poor and white. I need help selling my book, for I am not a sale's person, but I ask God Almighty to help me empty the truth of all of us who were torn apart from our folks, and to those who wound up in city ghettos -- The Appalachian Diaspora trashed so many thousands, and I will get the story out. Hear me my long lost angels, for I have told our story, and let us start climbing up that mountain to places like Pisgah where decent people held on. I will not let, "Pinkhoneysuckle," my raw self forget that others cannot speak our truth. It is time Ron. Thank you with all of my heart. Barbara Everett Heintz, "Pinkhoneysuckle," Amazon, Kindle, Create Space
posted 2 months ago.
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Mary Ann OKeefe
I agree that the books of Dorothy Dunnet, sadly deceased, are brilliant, especially the Lymond series. Also those of Phillipa Gregory, are excellent. Most of the list is familiar to me, and I can only endorse the majority of choices.
posted 2 months ago.
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Sandra Ramos O'Briant
I've read all of the major historical novels mentioned, and enjoyed them to a greater or lesser degree. I'd add "People of the Book" to the list for a fascinating trip through history and different locations. And now for something different: http://www.shelfari.com/books/31462799/The-Sandoval-Sisters-Secret-of-Old-Blood set in New Mexico and Texas during the period when Manifest Destiny was the practice if not the rule of law.
posted 2 months ago.
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Susan B
Yes, I'd definitely second "People of the Book". I liked it and it led me to read other books by Geraldine Brooks.
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
I enjoyed People of the Book. It's not a favourite of mine, hence why it's not on my list, but I thought it was enjoyable.
posted 2 months ago.
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Sandra Ramos O'Briant
I love historical fiction, but have learned that it means different things to different people. I couldn't read stories set in the Tudor era endlessly, but some people never get enough. Same thing with any fiction involving royalty. While Brooks' writing is not as lyrical as I would like, she created a new world where the characters and their motivations became real to me. Emphasis on "new."
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
Yes, different readers look for different things from historical fiction. As evidenced by my list, I read a lot of historical novels set in England and never get tired of them even if some time periods are overdone.
posted 2 months ago.
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Bill Smith
Nice list. I'd recommend Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy - the third of which THE GHOST ROAD - won the Booker. Wonderful series about the English hospital Craiglockhart and psychiatrist William Rivers' treatment of the shell-shocked soldiers of WWI (poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen among them).
One of you mentioned Barry Unsworth and any number of his books should make a "best of" list of historical fiction: his Booker-winning SACRED HUNGER, as well as LOSING NELSON and MORALITY PLAY.
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
Thank you for the Pat Barker recommendation. I've been tempted to try the first book since the trilogy is set in a time period I'm interested in.
posted 2 months ago.
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David Achenbach
I'd recommend the empire triology novels of J.G. Farrell: The Siege of Krishnapur, Troubles & the Singapore Grip.
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
Thanks for the recommendation. I do have The Siege of Krishnapur on my TBR pile. I'll get to it one of these days...
posted 2 months ago.
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David Achenbach
True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey is another great one
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
That one I have read. It was pretty good. Have you read The Egyptian by Mika Walteri?
posted 2 months ago.
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David Achenbach
No. I'll look it up. With regard to your list, I haven't read many of them. I think Mantel is great and I am looking forward to the next volume, but I wonder if we are a little too close in time to be putting her so high in the pantheon of greats. I enjoyed reading Sarum, but it was a little too loose for my liking - that said, there are many individual scenes in it which still recall themselves to me even 20 years after reading them. There are so many interesting figures who played big parts in a ton of "history" - like William the Marshall - it's great to see someone take them on in fiction.
posted 2 months ago.
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Linda W
I remember reading books by Jean Plaidy a number of years ago. Much of the history of Tudor England I learned from her books. If the English history is your interest, she would be an author to explore. Not too sure how readily available her books are, but you might try your library to find them
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
I've read a few of Plaidy's novels and, sadly, was not overly impressed. They are good, but not great works of historical fiction, imho. I'll still continue to read her stuff, especially since she was such a prolific writer, but I don't think any of her stuff will every make my best of lists.
posted 2 months ago.
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Barbara Heintz
Much gratitude to you for the suggestion. I am not certain we are speaking of the same experience which I am sharing, for Ron, of Alabama totally understands, but I do not discount the book which you are suggesting. The history which I am sharing is what happened to thousands of us after World War II and how we saw our small farm life taken to fill the greed of our government to brink a compliant, literate, faithful to a flaw group of citizens to fill the factories of the North. Those of us who lived through it have suffered every insult under the sun, most which I have listed many times, the name calling of people who dwell in cities who still have southern accents after 60 years, for folks moved where they could afford and never got out. "Pinkhoneysuckle," is researched as far as the historical parts, but I must repeat that we bore the shame as if we purposefully gave up our farms, purposefully destroyed our beautiful little towns and county seats, and we watched our father's faces fall in shame that they had failed as farmers, because the government was infallible in our folk's eyes, so they took the bait, and now small farms are all the new rage, but the people who lost were thousands of Appalachian citizens and the places we knew as home. Now we are being told that Alice Waters of Berkeley California inspired the garden to table food and food in season, and no one remembers but us that was the only life our parents new. I go over the history of the Scot Irish people in, "Pinkhoneysuckle," which is not even known by most people back in my home county. We were not even allowed our own identity. I have studied it, and I have lived the life of the southern Appalachian, and we were a Diaspora which this country has kept hidden all of this time. A lot of people have place their faith in me for this book to finally tell you what happened especially in Northern Alabama, middle Tennessee, and North Georgia, so I thank you very much, but I think we are speaking different languages here. I have been told that I need to take my book on a speaker's circuit. Give me an audience of 200 and I will come and I will speak for my fathers. My brother Robert wrote an incredible Prologue to my book to speak to the men and to show what a 7 year old was expected to do in our days. People have shown The Civil Rights Movement, The Oklahomans, but never the Southern Appalachian Diaspora. Thank you so much Linda. Does that help?
posted 2 months ago.
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AvidReader
Thank you to those of who you who actually provided comments on my best of list. I put it together to share with other readers those books which I feel are well worth reading within the historical fiction genre Obviously every person's list will be different. I encourage each of you to create your own best of list here just like I've done. That way you can share your favourites with other readers.
posted 2 months ago.
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Dell Isham
Take a look at GOODBYE VIETNAM: WAR, LOVE AND ESPIONAGE IN VIETNAM for more recent historical fiction.
posted 2 months ago.
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Susan
Thanks for the suggestion! And I see yr the author😀 amazon review looks really good. I'm going to order it.
Many years ago I read Fire in the Lake, which was excellent. Not fiction but....so few I knew ever read it.
Thank you for yr service to our country. Looking forward to reading your book.posted 2 months ago.
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Dell Isham
Susan, I hope you enjoy GOODBYE VIETNAM. I have gotten many positive responses. The book is based on interpersonal relationships in Vietnam in 1970-71. This is a part of war that is rarely written about. The first chapter originally was a short story I entered for a contest and was selected for the South Carolina Fiction Project in 2009. The book is more about love than fighting. Dell
posted 2 months ago.
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dustydigger
- @ Avid ReaderMay not be from your favourite periods,but Mary Renault's recreations of the ancient world are excellent,top class.
posted 1 month ago.
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AvidReader
I have one of her books on my shelves, I can't remember the title but I think it's about Alexander the Great. I've heard great things about her historical novels.
posted 1 month ago.
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Susan
I had forgotten about this author, which I read years ago. May have to do a fresh look. I tend to like the 'heavier' historical fictions, tho. Really like your list and discussions. I have so many in my TBR piles.
posted 1 month ago.