Good Historical Fiction?

[TheDarkKnight]

Similar to the sci-fi thread, I'm curious what kind of historical fiction is out there that might be a bit older or isn't popular enough to warrant their own threads. This can be books, movies, shows, whatever. I'm interested in any kind of historical fiction out there, from any subject. So feel free to share

Recently I discovered a miniseries on the discovery of King Tut's tomb that aired last year. I spent an afternoon watching it since it was only three hours long and while it felt a little melodramatic at times it was nonetheless a pleasant afternoon watch.

[hellheaven1987]

The Three Musketeers obviously.

[Basileos Leandros I]

Plentyyyyyyyyy.

Start with Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott. Continue with Rob Roy, by Sir Walter Scott.

Indulge in some War and Peace, by Tolstoi.

Spend some time imagining the Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.

Draw yourself in - Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell is a longbow of a book.

Are the augurs in your favour? I heard so. And so did I, Claudius.

Wind blows from the shores of the east, and down from the mountains of the west, bringing together two swords - Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa.

And if it's to your bidding... the Wolf Hall should howl well enough, by Hilary Mantel.

[Påsan]

Simon Scarrow is my go-to guy for historical fiction. Is it amazing literature? No, but its pretty entertaining light reading, ideal for killing time. The eagle series goes in depth into the 1st century roman military and the sword and the scimitar is a pretty nice take on the siege of malta.

[Cyclops]

Plentyyyyyyyyy.

Start with Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott. Continue with Rob Roy, by Sir Walter Scott. ....

Follow with Old Mortality, The Antiquary, the Abbott, Redgauntlet...I haven't got to Peveril of the Peak yet, but the title has me in.

I love Scott, he's extremely heavy going, wordy AF and uses some deliberate archaisms but he's got all the detail, and he tells you in the footnotes when he's lying. Except once in a legend of Montrose, when he derides the Irishman Alaister McCole Keitach ("young Colkitto") as over-rated, when IRL the dude led a small gang of naked Irishmen into battle for the lulz.

Indulge in some War and Peace, by Tolstoi.
....

Wonderful family story, Napoleon makes an appearance as a raving lunatic rather than a serious opponent and some of the details about Borodino are amateurish mistakes but its a masterpiece.

...I, Claudius. ....

One of the greatest novels ever written, along with the sequel Claudius the God. This is a must for anyone interested in the Principate. The facts are all there, no composite characters, and a secret backstory that fits the facts as we know them plausibly.

spoiler

When I visited Rome decades ago I went to the Forum and saw the site called "Livia's House" and I was like "OMG am I poisoned now?"

[miggo]

I recommend James Clavell's Shogun which is set before Tokugawa shogunate was formed. While the book may overexaggerate japanese culture, it will offer good life lessons. I wonder if there are similar books like this.

[Finlander]

I came across Three Kingdoms TV series which is publically avaiable on YouTube, +90 episodes so there's a lot to enjoy of. At the beginning I found the fantasy fight scenes with ridiculously OP superheroes funny but eventually I got used to it. What I really liked this show compared to the most other series out there was that the screentime had less love triangles but more the real stuff like plotting, warfare, Sun Tzu... Basically GoT without boobs in a nutshell.

[Halie Satanus]

The life of Julius Caesar/Brutus/Marius/Sulla/Marc Anthony, Octavian/Augustus (last book) as told in 'The Emperor' series by Conn Iggulden.

http://www.conniggulden.com/books/se...emperor-series

The series is well written in the context of historical fiction, there are anomalies here and there but for the most part the major events are portrayed within artistic reason. Plenty of battles with believable tactics, not overly heavy on the personal/love lives but enough to keep the plots moving.

[Dude with the Food]

Or Iggulden's Conqueror series about Genghis - Kublai Khan to make a change from Romans and Crusades everywhere.

Off the top of my head, I'd also recommend Angus Donald's Outlaw Chronicles and anything by Giles Kristian.

[John Doe]

The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon

[LaMuerte]

Indeed. The Accursed Kings is a good read, I really enjoyed that one.

Many a good suggestion in this thread for that matter (I Claudius,Wolf Hall,...)

Count Belisarius by Robert Graves is also worth checking, though I prefer his I, Claudius.

Read The Fiery Angel by Valerie Bryusov for a taste of 16th century Germany and the occult. This work will hound you.

[Basileos Leandros I]

I read Simon Scarrow's Napoleon series, throughly enjoyable. I particularly liked the attention to army details.

There's plenty of great historical novels, some even great series - such as Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell.

[GreyFox]

The Abrey/Maturin series of books by Patrick O'Brien is fantastic. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship's surgeon (and spy), Stephen Maturin. Inspired by the real life of Admiral Thomas Cochrane. The film Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World was based on one most of one book, with elements of other books in the series thrown in.

Honestly some of the best novels I've ever read in any genre, never mind historical fiction.

[LestaT]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3006802/

[Kyriakos]

While their focus isn't primarily the historic event, there are more than ten short stories by Guy de Maupassant set during the Franco-Prussian war, where he also served as a soldier (was originally in the navy, which didn't get use, so am not sure if/where he actually fought).
Some of those stories are really good. Eg "Two little soldiers" or one about a duel between a frenchman and a prussian just as the german occupation had started.

[Finn]

My first foray into historical fiction was The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough - Historical Novels which coincided with my discovery of RTW. Still a favorite of mine and a series which I hope to reread some time in the future.

[TheDarkKnight]

Underground was cancelled...anyone watch it? I was thinking about getting into it but now I'm not so sure.

[Inhuman One]

Barry Lyndon is pretty much as good as they come regarding historical fiction.

One of the most historically accurate movies ever made too.

[conon394]

The Abrey/Maturin series of books by Patrick O'Brien is fantastic. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship's surgeon (and spy), Stephen Maturin. Inspired by the real life of Admiral Thomas Cochrane. The film Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World was based on one most of one book, with elements of other books in the series thrown in.

Honestly some of the best novels I've ever read in any genre, never mind historical fiction.

I see your Abrey and raise you a Horatio Hornblower.

In any case between the the two anyone might actually survive a press gang.

Mary Renault's books set in ancient Greece are very good - for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_from_Heaven

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Praise_Singer

But I think she largely without intent carries the standard bias against the democracy of Athens and hero worship of Alex in her books (something of her era however) - but I myself am biased on that point in particular I think she is mistaken her bashing of Demosthenes. The fact is however anyone who can publish a book where Simonides of Ceos (yep I bet you don't know that name) is the main character is hard core historical fiction with an actual argument about history to boot woven into the book.

However her best work is the tour de force of the Last of the Wine. That a women in the 50s could get such a frank and thoughtful examination of classical sexuality and slavery published is well impressive a lot more than a blog or such.

[Commissar Caligula_]

I'm surprised by how many of these I've read. Does anyone know if Claudius the God is out of print? I've never been able to find it (although I haven't looked particularly hard).

Would The Count of Monte Cristo or Don Quixotebe classified as historical fiction, or just period pieces? I enjoyed them.