# Some good historical fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523 "2003-02-16T23:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/1 "2003-02-16T23:26:37Z")
**Slammerkin** , **The Crimson Petal and the White** , **Fingersmith** , **An Instance of the Fingerpost** – great reads. I hadn’t paid much attention to historical fiction in recent years – seemed like it was dominated by romance or military stuff for a long time. But these books are going to be classics, or at least still in print for a long time, IMHO. Anyone else read these, or some other good ones? I feel like bingeing. (Binging?) How do you spell that anyway? ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/2 "2003-02-16T23:34:16Z")
Two that I am reading now: Anita Diamant, _The Red Tent_. Per Olov Enquist, _The Royal Physician’s Visit_. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/3 "2003-02-16T23:50:32Z")
Sarah Smith’s written at least one other book which was awfully similar to Fingersmith. It’s worth reading but not back to back. I always recommend Dorothy Dunnett although she’s not new she is very good. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/4 "2003-02-17T02:27:40Z")
Pillars of the Earth (can’t remember the author) The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George Mary Queen of Scots and the Isles by Margaret George Margaret George also wrote The Autobiography of King Henry VIII, which I’m going to read as soon as I’m done with the other books I’m reading now and which, if it is anything at all like her other books, I’m sure I will love. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/5 "2003-02-17T03:00:39Z")
_Pillars of the Earth_ is by Ken Follet, who’s written a lot of good suspense novels. I’d recommend almost anything by Cecilia Holland. _City of God_ is set in Renaissance Rome; _Belt of Gold_ in Constantinople c. 800 AD; _Jerusalem_ is an excellent story about the Crusader States and the events leading up the disaster at Hattin (disaster or victory, depending on your viewpoint). Steven Saylor’s books set in Republican Rome (starting with _Roman Blood_) are both good mysteries and good historical novels. Is there a particular period you’re interested in? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/6 "2003-02-17T03:17:16Z")
For ancient Rome, no one beats Colleen McCullough’s series beginning with “The First Man in Rome.” Meticulously researched. “Pillars of the Earth” by Follet is definately a good read though it’s more fiction than historical. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/7 "2003-02-17T03:24:03Z")
Any Sharon Kay Penman, especially ‘Here Be Dragons’ and ‘Sunne in Splendor’. She writes about Wales and England in the during King Edward ‘Longshanks’ (of Braveheart), also Richard III last of the Plantagents. Gary Jennings, ‘Aztec’, ‘Spangle’, ‘Raptor’ and ‘The Wanderer’, the last is about Marco Polo. The Sharpe’s Rifles Series by Bernard Cornwell. Cornwell has a new series about the 100 Years War. He’s a good read. Books are your friends:D ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/8 "2003-02-17T03:51:25Z")
The Marcus Didius Falco detective series by Lindsay Davis are great fun. I believe the first is **Silver Pigs**. Get three at a time from the library. They are fast reads and you’ll want to keep going. Also, **The Difference Engine** By Willliam Gibson and Bruce Sterling shows us 1885 after Babbage’s little machine starts the Industrial Revolution just a bit early. Lord Byron as the Prime Minister just tickles me. Martin ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/9 "2003-02-17T22:58:56Z")
Baldwin, a particular period? Well, I’m about petered out on 19th century England. Something medieval sounds good – something like Connie Willis’s **Doomsday Book**. eenerms, I’ve read Penman and Jennings and liked them, so I’ll trust your judgment on Cornwell. 100 Years’ War, huh? Sounds good. Monica, the only George I’ve read is The Autobiography of Henry VIII and you’re gonna love it. Maybe I’d better pick up her others, if you say they’re good. KidCharlemagne – that user name and you’re suggesting Roman stuff? Okay. I’ve passed up her books because I’ve thought that they’d be like costume dramas, like the old biblical movies. They’re better than that? Primaflora, I think Dunnett might be too smart for me. I tried to read one of hers a few years ago and I was really lost, really fast. I can’t remember which one. Brian, I have an Enquist on the shelf – you’re liking it? I’ve heard good things about The Red Tent too. Martin, thanks for the tip on the Gibson-Sterling. Is it SF, alternate history? I’ll check out those Falco books too. Thanks, everybody – appreciate the input!!! ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/10 "2003-02-17T23:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > **Brian, I have an Enquist on the shelf – you’re liking it? I’ve heard good things about The Red Tent too.** Yes indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/11 "2003-02-17T23:11:27Z")
AuntiePam, I’m with Primaflora - Dorothy Dunnett is wonderful. But only if you have a lot of time. She wrote two series of historical novels that I recommend highly. Both take place in Europe during the Renaissance. Titles are: **The Lymond Chronicles** : The Game of Kings Queens’ Play The Disorderly Knights Pawn in Frankincence The Ringed Castle Checkmate **The House of Niccolo** : Niccolo Rising The Spring of the Ram Race of Scorpions Scales of Gold The Unicorn Hunt To Lie With Lions Caprice and Rondo Gemini They are a little hard, especially the Lymond series, in which she didn’t always translate her French, German, Latin, etc. quotes into English. If you find this intimidating, there are a couple of Dorothy Dunnett Companions written by Elspeth Morrison, to help with some of the more obscure details. They’re not necessary but nice to have along. Primaflora - did you take your user name from the character in the Niccolo series, or is it just an amazing coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/12 "2003-02-17T23:26:41Z")
Just wanted to chime in with another vote for Dorothy Dunnett and recommend The Lymond Chronicles over the House of Niccolo. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/13 "2003-02-18T00:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > \*\*KidCharlemagne – that user name and you’re suggesting Roman stuff? Okay. I’ve passed up her books because I’ve thought that they’d be like costume dramas, like the old biblical movies. They’re better than that? > > \*\* I actually read it on recommendation from someone else here on the SDMB and really liked it. It’s the most meticulously researched piece of historical fiction I’ve ever read; It gives you a great idea of what daily life was like in ancient Rome. Don’t let the romantic cover fool you into thinking it’s a sappy soap opera - It’s not. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/14 "2003-02-18T00:45:24Z")
I should add that the last 100 pages or so contain a number of glossaries that define latin terms, customs, names, etc. There are also a number of detailed maps. It’s the kind of book that inspires internet searches and further reading. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/15 "2003-02-18T02:06:20Z")
Can’t recommend anything more highly than The Flashman Series by George McDonald Fraser… funny, entertaining and very well researched. If you haven’t read them… they are the “rediscovered papers” of Harry Flashman (the horrid bully from Tom Brown’s Schooldays) recounting the way he cowered and blustered his way to the top during the height of the British Empire. Comes complete with academic footnotes. in a similar vein The Bandy Papers (Volume 1-3) by Donald Jack are also incredibly funny and pretty historically accurate (WW I). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/16 "2003-02-18T02:07:00Z")
Peter Lovesey’s Sgt. Cribb and Constable Thackeray police novels, the first being _Wobble to Death_. Great Victorian whodunits. And his later novel _The False Inspector Dew_, about an ocean voyage circa 1920. William Marshall’s _The New York Detective_ and _Faces in the Crowd_. New York City in 1884, intricate, historically precise, and screamingly funny. Peter Dickinson’s _The Last Houseparty_. Wonderful juxtaposition of a 1930s English country-house mystery and its 1980s resolution. Joe R. Lansdale’s _The Bottoms_. Don’t have to explain that one, do I? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/17 "2003-02-18T03:12:57Z")
Kid – you’re making these sound really good. Some historicals really get the flavor of the time period because of how the writer conveys the differences between then and now. Not just behavior and clothes and food and indoor plumbing, but different ways of looking at things. For me that’s a sign of a good historical – when the writer can make me something in a different context, and make me understand all the reasons people acted like they did. Ike – nah, no explaining needed, but that book isn’t on my historical shelf. vl\_mungo – I have Pat Barker’s WWI stories – they’re pretty dark and the humor’s there but hard to find, so maybe The Bandy Papers would balance them out. I didn’t think there’d be so many suggestions that I hadn’t heard of. Way cool! ---
**Author:** ![Ara-Alon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@Ara-Alon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ara-Alon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/18 "2003-02-18T17:22:01Z")
Katherine, by Anya Seton. It’s the love story of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. Brief Gaudy Hour, by Margaret C. Barnes. About Anne Boleyn. For ancient Rome, read I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. These are the books that the I, Claudius TV series was based on. The Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Ara-Alon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@Ara-Alon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ara-Alon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/19 "2003-02-18T17:26:56Z")
Also, if you don’t mind a little time travel in your historical fiction: Connie Willis’s The Doomesday Book is set in England during the Bubonic plague. Her book To Say Nothing of the Dog is set in Victorian times, and is great fun. The Plague Tales by Anne Benson is set during the time of the bubonic plague in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523/20 "2003-02-18T17:34:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ara-Alon \* > \*\*Also, if you don’t mind a little time travel in your historical fiction: > > \*\* Speaking of time travel… The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon takes a woman back in time about 200 years to the Jacobite revolt in Scotland. Yummy, yummy read. I must also ditto _The Masters of Rome_ series. I have all the books, and the last book in the series just came out last November. Not to spoil anything, but Julius Caesar is murdered and Octavian steps into his shoes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-good-historical-fiction/155523.md?page=2)