What is the best historical fiction novel?

Question

I am into reading books on history - but whats the best story? ie not only facts n info bt all of em linked tgther as a story?

Answer 1

There are plenty of fantastic historical novels.

Probably better to decide what period you want to read about, because there's so much.

For Romans, Robert Graves has already been mentioned.

For Greeks, Mary Renault is still the best (*don't* read Valerio Massimo Manfredi - he's not actually very good, despite being a best-seller)

Medieval - Sharon Penman's novels, or those of Edith Pargeter.

Napoleonic Wars - Bernard Cornwell, Allan Mallinson

Late 19th Century Russia - Boris Akunin

Answer 2

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Remarque is one of my favorites. It's a novel on WWI written from the perspective of a German soldier, and is not at all a difficult read. An added plus is that the German perspective makes it particularly enlightening.

Something else to try would be anything by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1974). If you're looking for something short and easy, try One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, his first novel, which encompasses about 150 pages. The work is a fictional account of one day in a Soviet labor camp, loosely based on his own experiences in one of these camps after World War II. He would later write The Gulag Archipelago, a non-fiction work on the same subject which won him the Nobel Prize. If you're up for something a little heftier, try August 1914. It is much larger, but is a great novel on early WWI from the Russian perspective.

see links below for more info...

Answer 3

The Dante club and The Poe Shadow through Matthew Pearl woman With a Pearl Earring, Burning bright, and the female and the Unicorn through Tracy Chevalier Blood secret and previous the Burning Time through Kathryn Lasky The Witch of Cologne through Tobsha Learner The Witch of Blackbird Pond through Elizabeth George Speare

Answer 4

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

War and Peace is generally thought to be one of the greatest novels ever written, remarkable for its breadth and unity. Its vast canvas includes 580 characters, many historical, others fictional. The story moves from family life to the headquarters of Napoleon, from the court of Alexander I of Russia to the battlefields of Austerlitz and Borodino. The novel explores Tolstoy's theory of history, and in particular the insignificance of individuals such as Napoleon and Alexander. But more importantly, Tolstoy's imagination created a world that seems to be so believable, so real, that it's not easy to realize that most of his characters actually never existed and that Tolstoy never witnessed the epoch described in the novel.

Answer 5

The most recent historical fiction I read was On Agate Hill. It is a story of the life of a woman following the civil war, it starts when she is 13 and goes to the end of her life. I liked it lots. Another good one is Cold Mountain, set during the civil war, and one of my all time favorites.

Answer 6

Try 'Katherine' by Anya Seton. Its the story of a young girl from a convent, related by marriage to Geoffrey Chaucer, who eventually becomes the wife of John of Gaunt, who was, for a short while in charge of most of the country between Monarchs. Full of colour and interesting historical insights its a fictionalised account of a real and very interesting person. Couldn't put it down.

Answer 7

Books written by Edward Rutherford and James Michener.
I don't know how old you are but these are for older teens and adults, not because of content but they both write long books for above average readers. I like both these authors because they start by describing the location of the novel in prehistoric times and progress to modern times using the same group of people and their descendants. For easier, faster reading of U.S. history John Jakes novels are good.

Answer 8

My absolute favourite historical fiction novel is "Gone with the Wind". Forget the film (which is good) ... the book is utterly amazing. After reading it I felt like I'd actually lived through that period in history.
http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Wind-Margaret-Mitchell/dp/0446675539/sr=8-6/qid=1163882748/ref=pd_bbs_6/104-6685224-8864769?ie=UTF8&s=books

Answer 9

Through A Glass Darkly
Now Face To Face (the sequel)
Excellent, lady of the court, read. Racy, Historical, Intimate..... it's got it all!!

Answer 10

Gone With the Wind by Margrette Mitchell, it spans the civil war and little before and after, it's really a great book.