Good historical novels

[Torvean32]

I've just been binging on good historical series on Netflix. I love Barbarians and also The Last Kingdom (involves mainly fighting between saxons and vikings). I'm nearly at the end and I'm gutted.

Anyway in the past I've found historical fiction to be poor, far too focused on relationships.

So I wonder is there good historical literature out there ( please no Philippa Gregory)? I love from the Romans onwards. Lose intetest after Battle of Culloden 1725 ish. Love history about those who fought in the resistance in WW2.

Any information on good books/authors is great.

Also any series/films I may have missed out please fill me in.

Thank you

I know that it is post Culloden but it is so good I had to mention it!

Kate Quinn has some books set in Rome. "Mistress of Rome", "daughters of Rome" and "empress of Rome". I really enjoyed them.

Ben Kane has a series of books about the forgotten legion of Rome - the first called unsurprisingly "the forgotten legion" which i.also found interesting.

I'd second innocent traitor by Alison Weir. And also the lady Elizabeth and captive queen. Weir always seems better to me than Gregory (though I still like her books) maybe because is has written so many good non fiction books about the same time period?

@AliceLutherNeeMorgan

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is good; it is based on the plague village of Eyam

Fantastic book!

Wow, i never expected so many replies. You've given me some great books to look into. So many, many thanks to all who replied

Mary Renaults books are amazing, though maybe too early for you? The Alexander Trilogy in particular, which takes you right from his youth through to the disintegration of the empire after his death.

Here to add to the praise for The Eagle of the Ninth.
I also really enjoyed Imperium by Robert Harris. It's about Cicero.
Yes to Hillary Mantel as well, she really makes the past come alive.
Also a shout for Georgette Heyer. Her novels are cosy romances but don't let the chick-lit covers put you off. They are fantastically witty and surprisingly well researched. They are also laugh out loud funny. Very underrated in my opinion.

Was just coming on the day Mary Renault’s Alexander trilogy.

The Persian Boy is a book I read every year.

I came on to say Sharon Penman too- just make sure its the history not the historical murder mysteries (they are good but could give a false impression). I started with "Here Be Dragons".

Another vote for Sharon Penman. Some of Reay Tannahill's, too. The Physician by Noah Gordon. Legacy by Susan Kay. If it counts, Naomi Alderman's The Liar's Gospel.

[Heyer's] novels are cosy romances but don't let the chick-lit covers put you off. They are fantastically witty and surprisingly well researched. They are also laugh out loud funny. Very underrated in my opinion

The Spanish Bride and An Infamous Army, about the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign, are excellent straight historical novels (although there is a romance in An Infamous Army). Her account of the battle of Waterloo is supposed to be one of the best and most accurate ever written. I wouldn't bother with her medieval novels, though.

Joining here as I want to read more historical fiction but am a little bit over the more 'bodice-ripping' stuff like Philippa Gregory (although I do think she's good actually).
Haven't read Pillars of the Earth but even the TV series was excellent.

I agree with Georgette Heyer. Also Alexander Cordell for 19th century Welsh stuff, great stories.

The Last Kingdom is based on a series of books by Bernard Cornwall. They are really good!

CJ Sansom, Shardlake series

Ken Follett, Kingsbridge Series

Must reads.

Tim Willocks - The Religion

Anything by Christian Cameron - The Long War series is epic (Although this is Greek golden period, covers the Persian wars)

The Far Pavilions by M M Kaye

Not sure at what time of the Romans you want ;) but as an Ancient Egypt setting, Bolesław Prus' Pharaoh. Written end of 19th century, so obviously Egyptology has moved, but he made an effort for the time, though his main character is fictional (Ramses XIII). It depicts a struggle for power between the pharaoh and the priestly class. Anyway, it was also intended as a comment on the Polish situation. His more famous novel, The Doll, is a classic in Poland, but set in the 19th century, so after your time.

Seconding the rec for the Lymond books, though the last one soured me a bit. In general, they're slow to start with and real page turners in the last 150-200 pages. Pawn in Frankincense was my favourite. Dunnett also has a less famous series about Niccolo, a merchant in the 15th century, and a stand-alone novel King Hereafter about Macbeth.

Garrow's Law is good, but too late for you (end of 18th century) the main is a barrister and each episode has him on a different case.

The Polish TV show Days of Honour (set in WWII) is pretty decent, some romantic plots but they were generally set as part of an action plot.

This is a leap of faith, but if you are open to alternative history as opposed to actual history, then I'd recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.

It's the Napoleonic Wars reimagined with dragons as an air force. There's nothing magical about the dragons - they are just huge sentient lizards. It's obviously nonsense as a history, BUT - bear with me! - apart from the massive sentient lizard thing, the Napoleonic War stuff, in the details at least, is really evocative and well-researched. I love this series so much.

Thirding Dorothy Dunnett. They are really good - Lymond is one of my top fictional crushes, despite also being an arse quite a lot of the time. The historical detail is brilliant.

If you like WW2 resistance and haven't read Code Name Verity, then do! It's YA, but superb.

Thank you for the other udeas esoecially WW2 resistance.
If anybody is looking for a good WW2 resistance book my favourite is Jackdaws by Jen Follet.

I also enjoy a good WW2 resistance film even if it's a subtitled one.

One good one i saw recently was The 12th man. It's mainly in Norsk with subtitles
It has Jonathan Rhys Myers in it.

Snither good film you can catch on YouTube is called Sophie Scholl. She was a uni student in Germany. She and her friends started spreading the truth about the Nazi regime. It's a great story of ppl who risk their lives to protect the vulnerable and innocent.

Just rereading this @ArcheryAnnie . Anybody else reading a good hisorical book?

Goldenhill by Francis Spufford.

The Restoration books by Rose Tremain are brilliant; Restoration and Merivel.

Music and Silence by the same author is great, too.

I enjoyed Tracy Chevalier’s books, too, particularly Girl With A Pearl Earring, The Virgin Blue and The Lady and the Unicorn.

I also loved Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.

@UserEleventyNine

[Heyer's] novels are cosy romances but don't let the chick-lit covers put you off. They are fantastically witty and surprisingly well researched. They are also laugh out loud funny. Very underrated in my opinion

The Spanish Bride and An Infamous Army, about the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign, are excellent straight historical novels (although there is a romance in An Infamous Army). Her account of the battle of Waterloo is supposed to be one of the best and most accurate ever written. I wouldn't bother with her medieval novels, though.

Yes, my grandfather, who knew, used to say they used An Infamous Army to teach military history at Sandhurst. Perhaps they still do.

I also really like Pamela Belle’s English Civil War novels. I read them as a teenager and cherish my beaten up paperbacks, and have recently discovered they have been issued on Kindle.

I also really like Pamela Belle’s English Civil War novels. I read them as a teenager and cherish my beaten up paperbacks, and have recently discovered they have been issued on Kindle

Oh my goodness have they? It must be 20 years or more since I read those... actually I'm not sure I ever read all four of the Heron books, I think I stopped at Alathea. I know what I'm doing this weekend now, thank you @Snapsnapcrocodile :)