Historical Fiction

Discussion in 'Books' started by flowergirl, Jan 24, 2006.

  1. flowergirl

    flowergirl Member+

    Aug 11, 2004
    panama city, FL
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Can you guys recommend some good historical fiction authors, a la Caleb Carr or others of his ilk?
    i've pretty much exhausted most the mystery/suspense/thriller authors.
    thanks in advance!
     
  2. DoctorJones24

    DoctorJones24 Member

    Aug 26, 1999
    OH
    Hm, I've been meaning to read Carr for a while now.

    Patrick O'Brien and Larry McMurtry are both great in the historical fiction subgenres of seafaring and western.
     
  3. bungadiri

    bungadiri Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jan 25, 2002
    Acnestia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Second O'Brian and McMurtry.
    Toss in Alan Furst (spy novels set in WWII).
    Bigsoccer's own Alex Irvine writes historical fantasy.

    Have you tried the Blind Justice series, by Bruce Alexander?
     
  4. Red&Black

    Red&Black Member+

    Aug 30, 2001
    Lot 8
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Burkina Faso
    you could try jeff sahra (i'm sure i mispelt it) who writes historical fiction about civil war and rev war. largely based on fact but "imagines" conversations/interior thoughts of major figures
     
  5. poorvi

    poorvi Member+

    Feb 5, 2006
    Bombay
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Timeline by Michael Crichton
     
  6. Excape Goat

    Excape Goat Member+

    Mar 18, 1999
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Valerio Massimo Manfredi's The Alexander trilogy was very good. I also read Spartan.
     
  7. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
    Club:
    Drogheda United
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    I spent ages trying to get a book by Caleb Carr that was highly recommended on here. What a let down it was.

    Leon Uris - Trinity and Redemption are true classics.
     
  8. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
  9. Mr. Bee

    Mr. Bee New Member

    Feb 2, 2005
    Buzzing Around
    Club:
    Wolverhampton Wanderers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Anything by Robert Massie

    Its not Fiction but it reads like it :)
     
  10. Owen Gohl

    Owen Gohl Member

    Jun 21, 2000
    I don't read that much historical fiction but I found the following memorable:

    Aztec - Gary Jennings. The final years of the empire and the coming of Cortez, primarily from the Aztec's viewpoint.

    The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara. Gettysburg. The author's son Jeffery is also a historical novelist, though not of the same rank.

    The Last Hurrah - Edwin O'Connor. American urban politics in the 1950s, based on the career of Boston mayor James M Curley.

    The Leopard - Giuseppe di Lampedusa. Sicily during the Risorgimento and after.

    Once an Eagle - Anton Myrer. An army officer from World War I to Vietnam.

    The Winds of War - Herman Wouk. The last years of peace through the eyes of a US naval officer and his family.

    The Year of the French - Thomas Flanagan. The Irish revolt of 1798.
     
  11. Fossolari

    Fossolari New Member

    Mar 19, 2005
    GRR
    I don't know how [thick, serious, actually historical] you'd like, but I have enjoyed books by Gore Vidal (the American Chronicle series- a good story with historical figures you'll have heard of, probably), Umberto Eco (kind of like Dan Brown, only not so much for the action audience), and Iain Pears (more like Carr than the others in some respects, but an earlier time period), and I did like Herman Wouk's short series.
    If you don't require accuracy :eek: , there are some fun mystery series...
     
  12. flowergirl

    flowergirl Member+

    Aug 11, 2004
    panama city, FL
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i'm in the market for both accurate and not so accurate.

    thanks for the suggestions so far guys.
     
  13. flowergirl

    flowergirl Member+

    Aug 11, 2004
    panama city, FL
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    do you remember which one?
     
  14. Uppa 90

    Uppa 90 Member

    Jan 16, 2004
    K.C. MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i have been wanting to read The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, but haven't had a chance... is that too much fiction for the historical junkies?
     
  15. bungadiri

    bungadiri Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jan 25, 2002
    Acnestia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The only Caleb Carr book I've read is The Alienist. While the depiction of that era of New York was interesting, I was a little bored by it overall.
     
  16. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
    Club:
    Drogheda United
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    You know I forget the title it was that bad! Some drivel about a serial killer.
     
  17. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
    Club:
    Drogheda United
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Oh yes thats the one!! Cackology imo
     
  18. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
    Club:
    Drogheda United
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    I've read this and was also disappointed. The ending is such a cop out.
     
  19. DoctorJones24

    DoctorJones24 Member

    Aug 26, 1999
    OH
    My parents really Noah Gordon's books about the medieval doctor...starting with The Physician.
     
  20. needs

    needs Member

    Jan 16, 2003
    Brooklyn
    Doesn't this describe most all Philip Roth (whom I love) books? Endings...not his strong suit. I liked Plot for the way that Lingbergh's election evoked the varied emotions in Roth's family. But the ending was a complete cop out.

    I think David Liss's A Conspiracy of Paper is a quite good historical mystery. It's set in early 18th century London and concerns murder and the rise of paper currency.
     
  21. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    War and Peace
     
  22. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    The Rome books my McCullough are, in my opinion, the best historical fiction I've ever read. Although they do decline in quality toward the end as she treats Caesar as some sort of a demigod. I'm surprised he wasn't fighting alien invasions by the last book. The first three books in the series, however, are sublime.
     
  23. Doctor Stamen

    Doctor Stamen New Member

    Nov 14, 2001
    In a bag with a cat.
    Robert Harris has done a few that the critics like. Whilst set in the present day Archangel is a very good book.
     
  24. sardus_pater

    sardus_pater Member

    Mar 21, 2004
    Sardinia Italy EU
    Club:
    Cagliari Calcio
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    The name of the rose by Eco is probably the most accurate historical fiction I ever read. Beware some get bored by that level of accuracy.
     

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