Historical Fiction Recommendations for a Man please

Edward Rutherford. Sarum is set around Salisbury, and he's done others set in China, Russia etc. They typically follow the history of a certain area over thousands of years. Don't think any have been set in the channel islands though.

Bbc iplayer also has audio books and history items which might be something else to consider. Most can be downloaded too.

Alistair MacLean, Ian Flemming, John Buchan, Frederick Forsyth. And if you want something heavier ; Philip K Dick , The Man in the High Castle. Had a patient who was glued to , Zeppelin Blitz Neil R Storey.

My husband is mid 70s. He likes the Hornblower books and I think Sharpe (Sharpe might just be the TV series) also I, Claudius and Claudius The God.

I'll ask him later if there are any others and come back.

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall is amazing and I really enjoyed A Place of Greater Safety.

Pat Barker Regeneration Trilogy?

Another good Cornwell series is the Grail Quest. Very good on the English longbowmen as the most feared soldiers in Europe.

Dorothy Dunnet's Lymond Saga is an excellent long read, although her plotting and cast demands very close attention.

If you can find them, George Shipway's novels are grimdark avant le lettre, especially the ones set in Norman England.

Robert Harris books was my first thought also. Superb books.

Another vote for the excellent Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell

Mary Renault wrote great stories set in Ancient Greece - especially recommend The King Must Die and The Persian Boy

and I did like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society:
once you’re used to the style (written as letters), it is a very easy read - perfect for holiday or illness, I would say. I learned loads, not just about the German occupation ofChannel Islands, but also wartime London and UK. Miles better than the film which was mostly a romantic story.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr might appeal?

Ken Follett is always fun. Early books were thrillers based around WW2, and then the medieval series (starting with Pillars of the Earth) is great fun.

If he likes a thriller, then Robert Harris is also great. Fatherland is one of those books that keeps you on the edge of your seat (although about a world where Hitler won, so can be a bit intense).

Hilary Mantel is a genius but her books aren't easily digestible if you're feeling ill.

Have a FIL who has all Sharpe and Shardlake books. Will be using some ideas from here for possible Birthday and Christmas presents.
If looking for something more light weight, he also enjoyed the 2 Richard Osman books, and also The Da Vinci Code.

Lots of great suggestions above. Another one that I don't think has been mentioned yet is Dorothy Dunnett's "Niccolo Rising" and its sequels - it twists and turns all over medieval Europe.

Would he enjoy books about time travel investigating historical events in contemporary time? The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor is an ongoing series with twelve (I think we're up to now) novels, a number of short stories and a spin off series. Lots of action, lots of history, and very funny in places - although there are also character deaths. They do need to be read in publication order.

I read the Potato Pie book but thought it was awful!

I got DH into Georgette Heyer and he's read the lot! He also loves Jeeves and Wooster so that's another idea. We both enjoyed the Aubrey/ Maturin novels, they would keep your Godfather well occupied.

Another idea but not fiction, how about some auto/biographies? They are quite easy to pick up and put down. I've just bought DH the Mel Brooks autobiography, it looks extremely entertaining.

Another vote for CJ Samson!

Another vote for Bernard Cromwell's Sharpe books. They are both an easy and a good read.

The Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O’Brian as already suggested are incredible books.

You can't go wrong with either of those.

An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer is great fun, and used at Sandhurst to teach about the tactics used at Waterloo.

And before that, The Spanish Bride, about the Peninsular Campaign.

Some of Georgette Heyer's books are as much mystery as romance - The Talisman Ring, The Reluctant Widow and The Tollgate - and she creates some wonderful secondary characters. Jonathan Chawleigh from A Civil Contract, for example.

I'm following an ongoing series about the Peninsular Campaign by Lynn Bryant. Very well researched, although I think she has got to the point where she's a little bit too much in love with her own characters.

An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer is great fun, and used at Sandhurst to teach about the tactics used at Waterloo.

I feel a bit sad about the demarcation on here between men and women's historical fiction as the good stuff should be enjoyed by everyone. Even other Georgette Heyer books, while marketed as historical romance, are sharp, funny and interesting, and many men would like them if they knew!

Thirded.
They’re my go-to Christmas treat. Though no more - I hear he’s too ill.

Restoration by Rose Tremain, set in the reign of Charles II, is my favorite historical novel (it's also classed as literary fiction), and I think it appeals to men as well.

Second vote for Conn Igulden Genghis Khan (have to be in sequence) and the Last Kingdom Series by Cornwell.
Also check out Stephen Lawhead, more medieval time period.
Pillars of the earth by Ken Follet.

There's a useful list of books relating to Guernsey here, including some non-fiction but connected to the Occupation - these books tend to be written by local historians so are not particularly heavy going.

www.worldwidewriter.co.uk/books-to-read-before-you-visit-the-channel-islands.html

I second the Shardlake series, they are so good.

The author really knows his history, I learnt so much about the dissolution of the monasteries reading his first book. But it’s also a detective novel as well so really engrossing.

Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series. They are absolutely wonderful. There are various audiobooks and BBC radio adaptations too.

The companion cookbook Lobscouse and Spotted Dog is also brilliant.