# Recommend some historical fiction set in Britian, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215 "2004-02-09T01:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/1 "2004-02-09T01:51:39Z")
I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. I loved it, and especially appreciated all the insight it provided into that period of history. It occurred to me that reading historical fiction might be a painless way for me to learn some British history, so now I am looking for recommendations. We are visiting Yorkshire and Northumberland in May, so anything set in either of those places would be especially welcomed. I am not a history scholar (can’t you tell?) so anything reasonably accurate would suit me fine. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/2 "2004-02-09T04:25:43Z")
Well, I don’t know about “reasonably accurate,” but they’re good reads. [The Crimson Petal and the White](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0156028778/qid=1076298283/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-0700188-5693715) by Michale Faber, [Year of Wonders](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142001430/qid=1076298248/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-0700188-5693715) by Geraldine Brooks, and [Slammerkin](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156007479/qid=1076298155/br=1-1/ref=br_lf_b_1//102-0700188-5693715?v=glance&s=books&n=10177) by Emma Donoghue. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/3 "2004-02-09T08:39:47Z")
There’s [Freedom & Necessity](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812562615/qid=1076315144/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5197529-0355921?v=glance&s=books'), which is dumped into fantasy instead of historical fiction because one of the characters is being pursued by a secret occult society, and maybe because Brust and Bull are both noted fantasy authors. Anyway, it’s set in Victorian England and involves the Chartist movement and reaction against the Corn Acts (I think it’s the Corn Acts). With special and lengthy guest appearance by Frederich Engels! And it’s an epistolary novel! What more could you want? Sex and violence, you say? It’s got that too! And did I mention the intrigue and mulitple conspiracies? This is a children’s book, but [Catherine, Called Birdy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0064405842/qid=1076315765/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5197529-0355921?v=glance&s=books) has always been a favorite of mine. God’s Thumbs! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/4 "2004-02-09T08:50:16Z")
Sharon Kay Penman (if I spelled her name right) has some good stuff about the War of the Roses, as well as some good stuff about the Welsh wars. Very good historic fiction. Dredging my memory, the titles were Here Be Dragons, When Christ and His Saints Slept, The Sunne in Splendor and The Reconning. There were a few more, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. These books give a lot of good historical background about England and Wales, and a bit of Scotland as well. You could check out the Horatio Hornblower books as well if you want a bit later period…this gives some good insights into how the British military worked, with some good background on the people in the Navy especially. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/5 "2004-02-09T11:50:25Z")
I logged in to suggest Slammerkin only to see that **liirogue** has already mentioned it. I thought it was a little-known book too! Well worth a read though and based (somewhat loosely) on a true story of a prostitute in London in the 18th Century. J. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/6 "2004-02-09T11:56:06Z")
If you fancy reading about a dashing cad, the Flashman series is extremely accurate historically, but maybe more about empire than just Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/7 "2004-02-09T15:45:30Z")
_The Pillars of the Earth_ by Ken Follett _London_ by Edward Rutherfurd _Ivanhoe_ by Sir Walter Scott ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/8 "2004-02-09T16:25:03Z")
[The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849690/qid=1076343380/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1211168-8263338?v=glance&s=books) is a great read. It’s a pretty fast read (at least it was for me!) Robin Maxwell has [others](http://www.fetchbook.info/search_Robin_Maxwell/searchBy_Author.html) as well that you may find interesting. Margaret George has two that I’ve read twice each, one on [Henry the VIII](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312194390/ref=cm_bg_f_1/102-1211168-8263338?v=glance&s=books) and one on [Mary Queen of Scots](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312155859/qid=1076343688/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-1211168-8263338?v=glance&s=books). They’re both kind of sloggy books but are great reads! If you want a great biography on Queen Elizabeth I read [The First Elizabeth](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/031216842X/qid=1076343797/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1211168-8263338?v=glance&s=books) by Carolly Erickson. Historical information, great biography AND it reads like a novel! Some great pictures in there as well. Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/9 "2004-02-09T19:13:39Z")
_Sarum: The Novel of England_ by Edward Rutherfurd. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/10 "2004-02-09T23:37:17Z")
Thanks, everyone. These sound great. Keep 'em coming. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/11 "2004-02-09T23:46:56Z")
A second vote here for _The Pillars of the Earth_ by Ken Follet. Loved that book. _Sarum_ by Edward Rutherford is quite good, but also quite long. I think it would work nicely as reading material on the flight to the U.K. ---
**Author:** ![chicksdigscars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@chicksdigscars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicksdigscars)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/12 "2004-02-10T00:09:56Z")
If you like mysteries, you may also consider Anne Perry. She writes Victorian mysteries, and her books always have historical figures and events woven into the plot. You may also learn a fact or two about the Crimean war. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/13 "2004-02-10T00:32:41Z")
Roberta Gellis has a whole historical romance series set in the time period of Richard I through Henry (whichever it was who succeeded John). She has a degree in medieval literature and works pretty hard to get the details right. In order, the books are [ul] [li]_Roselynde_[/li][li]_Alinor_[/li][li]_Joanna_[/li][li]_Gillian_[/li][li]_Rhiannon_[/li][li]_Sybelle_.[/ul][/li]I can highly recommend them. They’re good stories, the women are strong characters, the history and politics are explained pretty well, and the societal details are interesting. As an aside, I bought a whole batch of Anne Perry books after seeing PBS’s adaptation of _The Cater Street Hangman_. I’m selling them off/giving them to the local used bookstore because I feel weird having books written by her in my home. She’s one of the two girls from Peter Jackson’s _Heavenly Creatures_. I don’t know why it weirds me out, it just does. ---
**Author:** ![chicksdigscars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@chicksdigscars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicksdigscars)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/14 "2004-02-10T00:57:23Z")
Yes, she did commit a horrific crime, but I do believe that she is remorseful. Doesn’t change the facts, however. If anyone saw the adaptation of _Cater Street Hangman_ , don’t let that steer you off Anne Perry if you have never read her books. The movie did an awful job of the book, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/15 "2004-02-10T01:01:25Z")
Hmm. It actually takes place with the English army in France (though they’re in Brittany, which was part of England at the time, or something)… Anyway, _The Archer’s Tale_ by Bernard Cornwell was outstanding. Main character is an English archer in the Hundred Years War. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/16 "2004-02-10T01:43:29Z")
I’m busy re-reading _Sherwood_ by Parke Godwin right now. It’s a pretty good take on the Robin Hood legend set during the period in which William was consolidating his hold on England after Hastings. It does a very good job of making the feel of the time come alive for the reader…especially the _cultural_ conflict between William and his Norman vavasors and the salt of the earth Saxons. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/17 "2004-02-10T01:57:55Z")
> [@chicksdigscars](#): > > Yes, she did commit a horrific crime, but I do believe that she is remorseful. Doesn’t change the facts, however. I never said it was a _reasonable_ reaction. 😉 (Though ghods know, it took me forever to be comfortable with the fact that emotions have little to do with logic.) > [@chicksdigscars](#): > > If anyone saw the adaptation of _Cater Street Hangman_ , don’t let that steer you off Anne Perry if you have never read her books. The movie did an awful job of the book, IMO. Oddly enough, seeing that adaptation is why I went out to buy the books. I enjoyed the first few, but later books just . . . started to seem boring. I suspect that’s part of the reason I’m getting rid of them, but being squicked is a bigger one. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/18 "2004-02-10T02:07:04Z")
This is fairly “recent” historical fiction, and one of my favorites: **Piece of Cake** , by Derek Robinson. It’s about RAF pilots in the Battle of Britain. I like how it dispels the myth of the fearless warrior. ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/19 "2004-02-10T02:20:20Z")
If you like a bit of romance in addition to your historical information, Diana Gabaldon is fun. (Weird how often she has been mentioned on SDMB lately…) The first few novels in her _Outlander_ series center around the second raising. You know, Bonnie Prince Charlie and that lot. Beware! Her books keep getting larger and larger. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/20 "2004-02-10T04:56:36Z")
The [Sara Douglass](http://www.saradouglass.com/crucibworld.html) series “The Crucible” is a pretty good read. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215.md?page=2)