I am also about two months too late for these subforum threads...but here are my two cents. I am a big fan of Sienkiewicz's novels, the standouts for me being "Quo Vadis" and "Teutonic Knights", though I can hardly vouch for the historical accuracy and unbiasedness of the latter (a nationalistic tale of gallant Polish knights fighting evil German knights) Despite the obvious religious themes which are not my cup of tea, I loved Lloyd Douglas's "The Robe" which tells the story of the Roman centurion who wins Jesus's robe in a game of lots at the crucifixion and follows him around on his travels to Greece, Rome, and Palestine. Robert Harris's "Pompeii", Gore Vidal's "Julian", Wilbur Smith's "Eagle in the Sky" (1960's is history to me), Gary Jenning's "Aztec" are some of my other favorites.
Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" about the Battle of Gettysburg is a classic. His son then wrote a series of three movels about the Civil War generation "Gone for Soldiers" (about Winfield Scott's invasion of Mexico), "Gods and Generals" about the coming of the Civil War and the War up to Gettysburg, and "The Last Full Measure" about after Gettysburg. He also wrote two novels on the American Revolution. "Rise to Rebellion" is about the time before the war and "The Glorious Cause" was about the Revolution itself. He also wrote a novel on WWI, but I have not read it, and I understand it is not as good as his previous novels. There is also a book about ancient Greece and the Persion invasion called "Gates of Fire" that I recomend.
If you like alternative history, I recomend Turtledove's "Agent of Byzantium" about a world where Mohamed is a Christian saint. Turtledove is prehaps the biggest name in alternative history. My problem with him is that he tries to push every real historical character into his books. When it works, it can be funny. In "The Two Georges," about a world where the US remains a British colony, Richard Nixon is an extremely sucessful used car saleman, JFK is a somewhat slimy radical media baron, and his unnamed brother is the archbisop of Boston. In other books, he tries to fit historical figures in places where it makes no sense, and does nothing to further the story. In the Worldwar series (about an alien invasion during WWII), he does things like have Mussolini show up in Missouri to look over a captured alien ship. It is silly and does nothing to further the story.
I really like Philip Kerr's "Berlin Noir" trilogy, March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and A German Reqium. It's great crime fiction as well as great historical fiction.
Bored? I couldn't put it down. And the ending was quite significant. Too bad Hollywood ********ed it up, because if they'd been more accurate they could have made an excellent movie. As far as the original question, I really enjoyed the books by Ian Pears, especially 'Dream of Scipio' and also 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'. 'Dream of Scipio' in particular I found to be an excellent book. It blends three stories about three thoughtful characters from three different historical eras, and explores how each of them deals with complex moral decisions. Deep in philosophy, it is one of the best historical novels I've ever read.
I've really enjoyed the early historical novels by Cecilia Holland. http://www.thefiredrake.com/novels.html There are a number of novelists who have series of historical novels that are about 'detectives'. John Maddox Robers, Steve Saylor, and Lindsay Davis are the ones that I like the best. http://italian-mysteries.com/JMRap.html
The book was great. Joshua Chamberlain was one of the most remarkable soldiers in US history and the book really gets into his head and his motivations. Windfield Scott Hancock was also a remarkable man who unfortunately is overshadowed in history by Grant and Lee and the other giants of the time.
Seconded. There really is no comparison between the movie (which was really lame) and the book, which as far as I know is highly regarded by both historians and soldiers and is a great read as well.
I've read a couple of these. I like how the fictional main characters is just some regular shmo who interacts with all of the real historical characters and events. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned James Michener. I know that he has come in for some criticism recently, but I still like his work. I may have to check it out then. Thanks.
Kenneth Roberts deserves a mention, great stuff set in the Revolutionary period though he also writes about the War of 1812. Also Harold Kieth is lesser known but wrote a great American Civil War history-fiction children's book called "Rifles for Waite" about the far-far western theatre of that conflict, it's one of the most detailed accounts of the war in Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma that I've found.
I've been meaning to read these ever since they were recommended here and in another thread, but never got around to it. Finally I got the chance. I read "The First Man in Rome" and "The Grass Crown" and they are everything I expected. The characters of the two main protagonists, Marius and Sula, are very well developed. As interesting and complex as they are as historical figures, McCollough manages to make them even more so. And a number of other historical characters from the time of the Republic are also well developed, including some very interesting female characters like Livia Drusa, her child Servilia, and Aurelia, Julius Caesar's mother. The description of life and politics in Rome, the military campaigns, and even the society gossip is fascinating. I enjoyed how the author cleverly uses the character of Rutilius Rufus as a prolific letter writer who keeps Marius informed of not just the important political issues going on in Rome but also of all the silly gossip we might expect from the patrician society of the time. I also particularly appreciated her occasionally shifting the narrative from the Romans to give us the point of view of a foreign king, like Jugurtha or Mithridates, which makes for a nice change of pace. I was left hoping to hear first hand from the Germans, though. You have to enjoy Roman history to trully appreciate these books, because the story involves a large number of historical characters, many of whom have similar names and minor roles, and I imagine it might be overwhelming for some readers. But it's superbly done. I'm looking forward to getting the third book, "Fortune's Favorites", in which she concludes the story of Sula and moves on to Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Cicero, characters who have already been introduced as youngsters with a bright future. Sucks that we know how it ends, though.
Historical fiction is my favorite genre, especially mysteries; I prefer ancient history (Egypt, Greece, Rome etc.) up through about 1400 A.D. as a general rule. My list of favorite authors include P.C. Doherty, aka Paul Doherty, Susanna Gregory, Alys Clare, Ellis Peters (the Brother Cadfael series got me started in this genre), Edward Marston, Bernard Knight, Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Candace Robb, Conn Iggulden, Peter Tremayne, Rosemary Rowe, Ariana Franklin, Alan Gordon, Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Priscilla Royal, Kate Sedley, Steven Saylor, and John Maddox Roberts. Those are off the top of my head, as I know there are others I always seek out. One of my favorite sites is www.fantasticfiction.co.uk. It has news on forthcoming books of all types, and lists thousands of authors with their books. You can set your preferences to USA or UK for new books (when published). I set mine to UK, as many of the authors I like are British, and their books get released there first, so I have a little heads up.
A personal favorite of mine is "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostava. It pretty much deals with the history of Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. One of the few books that after I finished, I started reading it again.
She keeps it pretty interesting. Fortune's Favorites is a great book too, with some of my favorite scenes, as is Caesar's Women. I also agree that you need to really appreciate history to enjoy these books, but that's what makes these books so great for me - its the detail she goes into the actual research she does. It may never get truly historical, but damn does it get close. After reading her books you become incredibly frustrated when you read supposedly "excellent historical fiction" that talks about Cato as a patrician. Feh. Enjoy the rest - its great stuff.
And some other classic ones: Tale of Two Cities, The Grapes of Wrath, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Caine Mutiny, All The King's Men.
I'm picked up the first book of the Aztec series. I believe that qualifies as historical fiction. Has anyone read those books?
Another one happy to recommend the McCullough Rome books, also her out of print The Song of Troy, which tells the whole Trojan War story from beginning to end, unlike, say, The Iliad. I'd be surprised if we see anymore from her, unfortunately. Not only is the End of The Republic arc pretty complete, but Colleen writes her novels by hand and has been steadily going blind over the last few years, which is why Antony and Cleopatra featured maps by a different artist. One of my favorite things about McCullough, by the way, is that she doesn't leave too many of her characters completely unsympathetic. I defy you to not go from disliking Scaurus or Metellus Pius to respecting them tremendously. Even Cato, at the very end, has his one heroic turn in the March of the Ten Thousand section of The October Horse. *** If you're a fan of these Roman novels, of course, you have to read I, Claudius and Claudius The God by Robert Graves.
Within the subversive black humor and sarcasm, the Good Soldier Svejk does provide one of the clearest pictures of Austria's Hungary's attempt to rally an unsupportive populace and poorly administered military hierarchy. Also, it is quite entertaining.