# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/21 "2004-02-10T05:08:37Z")
And as long as you’re reading Edmund Rutherfurd, you should also read his third book set in England, “The Forest”. ---
**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 10, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/22 "2004-02-10T05:11:35Z")
Second RitzyRae’s recommendation of the Outlander series. My wife got me hooked on it and now I’m anticipating each new book. 🙂 -XT ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/23 "2004-02-10T05:41:38Z")
> [@chicksdigscars](#): > > Yes, she did commit a horrific crime, but I do believe that she is remorseful. Doesn’t change the facts, however. What did she do? When I google “Anne Perry” and “crime” all I get back are her books. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/24 "2004-02-10T06:13:06Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > What did she do? When I google “Anne Perry” and “crime” all I get back are her books. As a teenager, she helped her best friend (at the time) kill her mother. Rent _Heavenly Creatures_ for the full story. Or google the HC FAQ. ---
**Author:** ![Aitara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aitara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aitara)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/25 "2004-02-10T06:31:36Z")
If you like mysteries, I highly recommend two authors: Ellis Peters’ _Brother Cadfael_ Peter Tremayne’s \*Sister Fidelma \* If you don’t like mysteries, Ellis Peters was the pen name of Edith Pargeter. She wrote quite a few historical fiction, one about the 1303 battle of Shrewsbury _A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury_ . She also wrote a series _The Brothers of Gwynedd: Sunrise in the West, the Dragon at Noonday, the Hounds of Sunset, Afterglow and Nightfall_ ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/26 "2004-02-10T06:34:52Z")
One of my very favorite pieces of historical fiction is _Forever Amber_ which is set in England during the reign of Charles II, I think. Lots of interesting things going on during that time period, but I don’t want to give it away. Amber is somewhat of a Scarlet O’Hara figure and the writing is really reasonably good. It’s been around for about sixty years, but it is still in print. That says something for the quality. It is long, but isn’t that desirable in a book that you can’t put down? The author is Kathleen Winsor. You asked about historical fiction, but the one book that I would want to reread if I were going to Yorkshire was written in the 1970’s and is the true story of a young vet in the Yorkshire dales in the 1930’s. It is James Herriott’s _All Creatures Great and Small._. It was enormously popular when it was published and lead to a series of books and my favorite television series of all time. It is riotously funny and has more local color than any other stories that I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/27 "2004-02-10T06:39:14Z")
If you like fictionalized biographies, you might want to try [Jean Plaidy’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-6940396-2981555) books. They were written some time ago-- Plaidy (also known as romance novel writer Victoria Holt) is now deceased. Just recently, her historical biographies of the Tudors were re-issued. She’s not the greatest writer, and the books are rather short, but they’re an entertaining “beach read.” Another fictionalized biography I would suggest is [The Book of Eleanor](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609808095/qid=1076394839/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6940396-2981555?v=glance&s=books) by Pamela Kaufman. It’s a first-person account of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. [I, Elizabeth](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609809105/qid=1076395020/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6940396-2981555?v=glance&s=books) by Rosalind Miles is also told in first person-- the story of Elizabeth I. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/28 "2004-02-10T08:01:50Z")
I’m not big into historical fiction - but I did recently read Anthony Burgess’ _A Dead Man in Deptford_, a novel of the life of playwright Christopher Marlowe. IMO Burgess very effectively evokes the (evidently very cut-throat) politics and culture (and vocabulary) of Elizabethan England. Might not be easy to find, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/29 "2004-02-10T11:35:13Z")
I really enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell’s “North and South.” Although it was written in 1855 so it’s not set in the past but written there. [Public Domain Goodness](http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/EG-N&S-1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/30 "2004-02-10T13:54:16Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > You asked about historical fiction, but the one book that I would want to reread if I were going to Yorkshire was written in the 1970’s and is the true story of a young vet in the Yorkshire dales in the 1930’s. It is James Herriott’s _All Creatures Great and Small._. It was enormously popular when it was published and lead to a series of books and my favorite television series of all time. It is riotously funny and has more local color than any other stories that I’ve read. Well, James Herriot (Alf Wight) WAS a real person, and he was a vet in Yorkshire in the 30s. But most of his stories fall into the category of “rural myth”. He as good as admitted it himself in later years. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/31 "2004-02-10T14:16:35Z")
Elizabeth Chadwick The Conquerer The Champion and other similar books on the Middle ages. Pretty enjoyable reads. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/32 "2004-02-10T14:43:39Z")
There is a series of books by Jack Whyte (no, not Jack White of the White Stripes) which are attempts to place Arthurian characters into the actual England of the time, and to explain some of the key events within the legend via more reasonable, contextually appropriate alternatives. The first book is **The Sky Stone** and takes place during the time of Arthur’s grandparents in the late 4th century A.D., as the Roman Empire begins to neglect its British holdings. One of the lead characters ends up unearthing a large meteorite (i.e., Sky Stone) which is used in the making of Excalibur. Well-rendered, very readable - the books feel historically plausible. The characters are a tad thin, but even a basic knowledge of the legend tends to fill that in. Worth a read. ---
**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 10, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/33 "2004-02-10T14:50:19Z")
> [@lillalette](#): > > 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! Hmm. My post is supposed to look like this. 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? 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! Addendum: I second the Brother Cadfael mysteries. There’re some movie adaptations from BBC that are somewhere between wonderful and okay, depending on which book is being dramatized. The James Herriott books are good too, but, like **Sparrow** says, not entirely true. Read them with a grain of salt, and just enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/34 "2004-02-10T15:22:17Z")
OK, this isn’t a novel; but it deals with the part of the UK you’ll be visiting, and is a cracking good read by one of the best storytellers in the world: **"The Steel Bonnets"** by George MacDonald Fraser. (author of the rollicking “Flashman” novels, and the excellent novellised autobiographies “The Genreal Danced at Dawn,” “MacAuslan in the Rough,” “The Sheik and the Dustbin,” and one of the best books recently about the private soldier in WW2, “Quartered Safe Out Here.” “The Steel Bonnets” is about the Scottish Border Reivers–bands of cattle-rustling outlaws that plagued Anglo-Scottish border in the 16th Century. The real Original Gangstas, it was said that “If Jesus Christ were emongest them, they would deceave him.” They were big into blackmail and, essentially Viking-like terrorism of the farm people of northern England. It’s a great book, very readable. Their depredations were so bad that in 1524, the Bishop of Glasgow called a Curse down on the Reivers and all their descendants, known as the “Monition of Cursing,” which must still be a model of its type: > [@](#): > > I curse their heid and all the haris of thair heid; I curse thair face, thair ene, thair mouth, thair heise, thair tongue, thair teeth, thair crag, thair shoulderis, thair breist, thair hert, thair stomok, thair bak, thair wame, thair armes, thais leggis, thair handis, thair feit, and everilk part of thair body, frae the top of their heid to the soill of thair feet, befoir and behind, within and without. I curse thaim gangand (going), and I curse them rydland (riding); I curse thaim standand, and I curse thaim sittand; I curse thaim etand, I curse thaim drinkand; I curse thaim walkand, I curse thaim sleepand; I curse thaim risand, I curse thaim lyand; I curse thaim at hame, I curse thaim fra hame; I curse thaim within the house, I curse thaim without the house; I curse thair wiffis, thair barnis, and thair servandis participand with thaim in their deides. I way thair cornys, thair catales, thair woll, thair scheip, thjair horse, thair swyne, thair geise, thair hennes, and all thair quyk gude (livestock). I wary their hallis, thair chalmeris (rooms), thair kechingis, thair stanillis, thair barnys, thair biris (cowsheds), thair bernyardis, thair cailyardis (cabbage-patches)… thair plewis, thair harrowis, and the gudis and housis that is necessair for their sustentatioun and weilfair. …and that’s just the first page; there’s three more! [The Monition of Cursing in full](http://aslansplace.com/pdf/Scottish%20Curse.PDF) (PDF file) A great “what-if” novel is Len Deighton’s **“SS-GB”** , which is a serviceable detective tale set in a Britain that has been conquered by the Germans in 1940. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/35 "2004-02-10T15:37:54Z")
> [@Aitara](#): > > If you like mysteries, I highly recommend two authors: > > Ellis Peters’ _Brother Cadfael_ > > Peter Tremayne’s \*Sister Fidelma \* > > If you don’t like mysteries, Ellis Peters was the pen name of Edith Pargeter. She wrote quite a few historical fiction, one about the 1303 battle of Shrewsbury _A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury_ . She also wrote a series _The Brothers of Gwynedd: Sunrise in the West, the Dragon at Noonday, the Hounds of Sunset, Afterglow and Nightfall_ Obviously, I also highly recommend the Brother Cadfael mysteries. They provide a very interesting view of everyday life in mideval time… the people are fairly ordinary, doing more or less ordinary stuff as they go about their business of making a living, dealing with families, solving murders, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/36 "2004-02-10T17:58:26Z")
WTF? Anne Perry and Heavenly Creatures? Where did you get that? I know the movie is a true story that happened in New Zealand. A 10 second check came up with Anne Perry being from England and no mention of a crime. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/37 "2004-02-10T18:47:09Z")
Looked into it deeper and I am finding the Heavenly Creature Anne Perry connection but I have not found a cite that I would say is 100% accurate. Ms Perry’s own webpage says nothing about ever being in New Zealand (not surprising either way) don’t know why I’m interested, I haven’t read any of her books. 😃 ---
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/38 "2004-02-10T18:49:39Z")
Yes, it IS true that Anne Perry was one of the teenagers involved in the crime dramatized in Heavenly Creatures. Obviously, Anne Perry is not her real name. She now lives in Scotland, not England. Her real name was Juliet Hulme. Go here for just one review of the movie. Do a Google search on Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures and you will find many more. [http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/h/heavenly.html](http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/h/heavenly.html) ---
**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, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/39 "2004-02-10T18:53:20Z")
Or if you do a Google search on Juliet Hulme, you get this New Zealand website. [http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.asp?ID=18](http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.asp?ID=18) ---
**Author:** ![fiercesheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@fiercesheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiercesheep)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215/40 "2004-02-10T19:25:23Z")
Roberta Gellis (already mentioned) also has the three ‘Magdalene la Bartarde’ murder mysteries, set in the time of King Stephen, which are excellent. If I may, I would also recommend the books of Paul Doherty, especially: The Roger Shallot journals - set in the reign of Henry VIII The medieval mystery’s featuring High Corbett - set in the reign of Edward I. Rosalind Miles, ‘I Elizabeth’ isn’t bad. Although it isn’t fiction, Alison Weir is very readable - ‘Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley’ is presented in the manor of an investigation, and is excellently researched. The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker is phenomenal, set during WW1 (set in Frnace and England as you might expect). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-historical-fiction-set-in-britian-please/228215.md?page=3)