Historical Fiction

doyoumrjones · 13-01-2014 8:00pm #1

hi

I am coming to the end of Ben Elton's "Two Brothers" novel which is set in Weimar/Nazi Germany. I absolutely loved the book and am wondering can anyone recommend any other good historical fiction novels?

Also can anyone recommend any of Elton's other books and are they also historical fiction? Thanks

Chucken · 13-01-2014 8:05pm

doyoumrjones wrote: »

hi

I am coming to the end of Ben Elton's "Two Brothers" novel which is set in Weimar/Nazi Germany. I absolutely loved the book and am wondering can anyone recommend any other good historical fiction novels?

Also can anyone recommend any of Elton's other books and are they also historical fiction? Thanks

How far back in history would you like to go?

http://www.historicalnovels.info/

castletownman · 13-01-2014 8:09pm

112263 by Stephen King is a brilliant read

zanador · 13-01-2014 8:09pm

Edward Rutherford had written some amazing historical fiction. He has written about London, and Dublin amongst others - would highly recommend

doyoumrjones · 13-01-2014 8:10pm

Chucken wrote: »

How far back in history would you like to go?

http://www.historicalnovels.info/

The 20th century ideally. Thanks for the link

DazMarz · 13-01-2014 8:11pm

Fatherland by Robert Harris; set in a world where the Nazis won the Second World War and are now engaged in a Cold War with the USA.

wretcheddomain · 13-01-2014 8:14pm

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

Evelyn Cusack · 13-01-2014 8:15pm

Saigon, pretty much gives a 20th century history of Viet Nam

Wild swans, true story about 20th century Chinese history, amazing book and more interesting than fiction

biko · 13-01-2014 8:16pm

Have a look in the "What are you reading atm?" thread or check out the Literature forum.

Chucken · 13-01-2014 8:16pm

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant read.

Gannicus · 13-01-2014 8:18pm

The Bible..... It's great for a chuckle.

Evelyn Cusack · 13-01-2014 8:19pm

Saigon, pretty much gives a 20th century history of Viet Nam

Wild swans, true story about 20th century Chinese history, amazing book and more interesting than fiction

ryathoe · 13-01-2014 8:19pm

"The Spies of the Balkans" by Alan Furst is a really good spy/historical novel - there are several more similar novels by him eg Spies of Warsaw.

cloud493 · 13-01-2014 8:19pm

Big Steve wrote: »

The Bible..... It's great for a chuckle.

One thread. One thread without it.

McChubbin · 13-01-2014 8:21pm

The Physician by Noah Gordon is a good read but it is LONG AS ****. A good 900+ plus pages at least but quite the pageturner.

doyoumrjones · 13-01-2014 8:22pm

castletownman wrote: »

112263 by Stephen King is a brilliant read

I have that but haven't got round to reading it. Have you read many of King's books?

weiland79 · 13-01-2014 8:23pm

Ken Folliets Pillars of the earth, World without end and Fall of giants. All excellent books Imo. Should be read in the correct order

GLaDOS · 13-01-2014 8:25pm

Robyn Young's Brethren Trilogy is fantastic, based around the crusades in the 13th century.

Ruu · 13-01-2014 8:26pm

Moving from After Hours.

huey1975 · 13-01-2014 8:28pm

You should try American Tabloid by James Elroy. Followed by The Cold Six thousand and Bloods a Rover.

doyoumrjones · 13-01-2014 8:28pm

Ruubot2 wrote: »

Moving from After Hours.

Thanks. couldnt find literature section.

stefan idiot jones · 13-01-2014 8:29pm

http://www.philipkerr.org/

I've read quite a few of Kerrs books. The Shot was the first that I read and it really kept me gripped up to the last page.

Ipso · 14-01-2014 5:46am

huey1975 wrote: »

You should try American Tabloid by James Elroy. Followed by The Cold Six thousand and Bloods a Rover.

American Tabloid is amazing, I thought the other two weren't as good.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 18-01-2014 12:49pm

The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally is a good one. It's about Australian nurses during WW1. I think Keneally does a lot of historical fiction although I haven't read any of the rest of them.

Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls are good ones by Joseph O'Connor.

Evelyn Cusack · 18-01-2014 1:17pm

I'd add Shogun by James Clavell (I think)

It's about an English sailor landing in feudal Japan - samurai sh*t

problemchimp · 18-01-2014 1:22pm

DazMarz wrote: »

Fatherland by Robert Harris; set in a world where the Nazis won the Second World War and are now engaged in a Cold War with the USA.

Good shout. I just finished "an officer and a spy". A great read and a very good historical novel as also is "Pompeii" also by Robert Harris.

vepyewwo · 19-01-2014 9:50pm

I read Two Brothers last year and really enjoyed it.

I would recommend City of Thieves by David Benioff which is just as good. It's also set during World War 2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1971304.City_of_Thieves

Carawaystick · 20-01-2014 8:41pm

Brooklyn by Colm Tobin set in '50's Ireland/New York

The portrait of an artist as a young man, Joyce, set in Ireland/Dublin round the turn of the 20th century

The Baroque cycle by Neal Stephenson, set in the time of Isaac Newton
Has the founding of MIT, petty wars in Germany, French court, English wars, including the battle of Aughrim

Rabelais · 21-01-2014 12:49am

Robert Harris writes great, big, page-turner historical novels. As he said himself, he never lets historical fact get in the way of a good story. So Imperium and Lustrum are well worth a read.

The Flashman Series by George MacDonald Fraser is also great. Flashman is a coward, a cheat, an alcoholic and a boorish fop - who finds himself as a central character in many great 19th century historical incidents. Very funny.

Red Plenty by Francis Spufford is one of best books I've read in the last few years. It's about various scientists, administrators and bureaucrats in the Soviet Union during Khrushchev's 'planned economy' stage. It's weird, quirky and very engrossing. Really gives a feel for how hopeless and desolate communism was to those who had to deal with the ruminations of it on a regular basis. Cool book.

paddyh117 · 22-01-2014 10:51am

Historical Fiction can cover so much, but off the top of my head I'd recommend any of the following:

Mutiny on the Bounty - John Boyne - story told from a different perspective

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks - WW1

HHhH - Laurent Binet - WW2

Doctor Copernicus - John Banville

Bring up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel - I skipped Wolf Hall, but maybe start there??

Pure - Andrew Miller

Manach · 22-01-2014 10:55am

The Master and Commander Series by Patrick O'Brian. It is about the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic Wars and evocative of the era.

Yossi312 · 24-02-2014 1:44am

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, based during the Spanish Civil War.

Harry Angstrom · 26-02-2014 2:38am

The Plot Against America - Philip Roth

Ormus · 26-02-2014 2:41pm

Evelyn Cusack wrote: »

I'd add Shogun by James Clavell (I think)

It's about an English sailor landing in feudal Japan - samurai sh*t

Great read

marienbad · 26-02-2014 2:51pm

The Odysseus/Troy series by Glyn Iliffe - takes the story from the start to finish and includes all the ancillary myths such as Iphigenia, Ajax, Philoctetes
that are usually skipped over and puts them back as vital components of the narrative . Four books written -taking us to the fall of Troy and one (Odysseus voyage home) to be published later this year.

Great stuff if you like the Greeks and a reminder of all they have given us.

Harry Angstrom · 26-02-2014 5:21pm

doyoumrjones wrote: »

Also can anyone recommend any of Elton's other books and are they also historical fiction? Thanks

The only novel I've read of Ben Elton's was Popcorn. It was like a hackneyed rehash of Pulp Fiction and True Romance. Half of it was written as a film script so presumably Ben was expecting Tarantino and Miramax to come along and buy up the film rights. Apart from the fact that he's a hypocrite and a sell-out, Ben Elton isn't much of a writer either.

Reiver · 02-03-2014 7:44pm

The Flashman series is amazing. People have decried it of being politically incorrect but when the narrator is a 19th century British soldier and adventurer (who is an absolute cad), you'll get that. It's educational, entertaining and downright uncomfortable especially when narrating the death of British army in 1840s Afghanistan or the atrocities (by both sides) during the Indian Mutiny.

Anything by Bernard Cornwell is good.
Sharpe-A Napoleonic wars British light infantry officer, one whos risen from the ranks and charts his rise from beginnings in India to Waterloo and beyond.
Grail Trilogy- An English longbowman during the Hundred Years War
Warlord Chronicles- one of the most enjoyable depictions of the Arthurian age I've ever read.
Saxon Stories-centres around the clash between Wessex and the invading Vikings.

And Nigel Tranter, want to know about Scottish history? He's your guy!

Paddy Samurai · 09-05-2014 11:33pm

doyoumrjones wrote: »

hi

I am coming to the end of Ben Elton's "Two Brothers" novel which is set in Weimar/Nazi Germany. I absolutely loved the book and am wondering can anyone recommend any other good historical fiction novels?

You could try one of my favourite's

The Religion by Tim Willocks
But just to let you know ,it is pretty violent/gory.

2008 interview with the Author...............

This wonderful adventure story is also an unavoidably resonant meditation on the power of religion to incite war.
Tim Willocks has harnessed a huge amount of knowledge to create a panorama of the siege from both perspectives, while never losing sight of his individual characters. His device is Tannhauser, a nominal Christian who has spent years as a devshirme, a Muslim convert in the elite Ottoman janissary corps.

Full review here : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3654884/Blood-drenched-quest.html

Reekwind · 14-05-2014 3:07pm

I'm not entirely sure that it counts as 'historical fiction', being more a series of related vignettes and brief essays than a novel, but Francis Spufford's Red Plenty really is an amazing work. It charts the decline of the Soviet Union, from the heady days of the 1950s to the squalid decay of the 1980s. I loved it.

genie · 23-05-2014 7:47pm

Pretty much anything by Sharon Penman but her Welsh trilogy (Here Be Dragons, Falls The Shadow, The Reckoning) is especially good.

r3nu4l · 27-05-2014 7:41am

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

The only novel I've read of Ben Elton's was Popcorn. It was like a hackneyed rehash of Pulp Fiction and True Romance. Half of it was written as a film script so presumably Ben was expecting Tarantino and Miramax to come along and buy up the film rights. Apart from the fact that he's a hypocrite and a sell-out, Ben Elton isn't much of a writer either.

Putting aside your obvious dislike for the man and bias against him I'll answer the question without bias.

The First Casualty by Elton is a fantastic novel, well written and with a good storyline. It was also well received for the most part by the critics, many of whom are the same people who accuse him of being a sell out to his original ideals.

In fact, the Telegraph (a Tory paper [Elton at the time was one of Labour's biggest donors]) described the novel as a "work of formidable imaginative scope... the writing is so good, the language so surprisingly subtle and the characters so beautifully delineated" and "Nevertheless, you can now put aside any remaining thoughts of Ben Elton in his shiny jacket and start to think of him as a real writer."

The book is not without it's faults but it is good.

You could also try the Conquerer series by Conn Iggulden, set in ancient Rome. It's very well written and fast paced but like Robert Harris, Iggulden is less concerned with complete historical accuracy and if you are a stickler for accuracy these books will drive you mad (two of the characters in the book are said to be of similar age but in reality one of these men was about 15 years older than the other). However, they are a good read.

Iggulden has written plenty of other historical fiction and his latest efforts revolve around the Houses of Tudor and Lnacaster, The Wars of the Roses.

Ipso · 28-05-2014 1:30am

American Tabloid by James Ellroy, a seedy telling of JFK era politics.

eire4 · 13-06-2014 10:23pm

I have always been a big fan of Morgan Llwelyn's books. Lion of Ireland, The Bard, Druids, Grania just to name a few.

The White Feather · 28-06-2014 3:46pm

doyoumrjones wrote: »

hi

can anyone recommend any other good historical fiction novels?

Thanks

I would recommend the Ethan Gage series of novels by William Dietrich. It starts off with a book called "Napoleon's Pyramids"

I have only read the first 3 so far but they are very exciting with the protagonist meeting Napoleon and other famous historical figures by trying to play all sides against each other.Full of action and narrow escapes!

kimmykins · 11-12-2014 5:46pm

The Languedoc Trilogy by Kate Mosse is quite good

eire4 · 16-12-2014 7:23am

Anne Chambers The Geraldine Conspiracy is a great read as well.

Eramen · 16-12-2014 5:36pm

Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield) & Red Plenty (Francis Spufford) are among the best novels I've come across - not just in the historical fiction genre - but among all forms of literature. And I've read a lot of historical/fiction.

donglen · 29-12-2014 5:18pm

Evelyn Cusack wrote: »

I'd add Shogun by James Clavell (I think)

It's about an English sailor landing in feudal Japan - samurai sh*t

One of my all time favourites, there's few books I read more than once but this is one of them.

Neleven · 29-12-2014 11:55pm

Don de Lillo's Underworld and Libra - both good insights into 20th century America.

Pat Barker's 1st world war trilogy- not to everyone's taste but captivating and I much preferred them to Sebastian Faulk's Birdsong.

Loads of others that I've read but my mind is a fuzzy muddle at the moment. 😳

Censorsh!t · 05-01-2015 12:36pm

Not set in the 20th century, but The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco was very good.

Time's Arrow by Martin Amis - not sure how much this fits into an historical fiction category. It's very experimental.

Edit: Also, I, Claudius by Robert Graves is very good. Especially for the bits concerning Caligula.

pavb2 · 25-01-2015 12:13am

Censorsh!t wrote: »

Not set in the 20th century, but The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco was very good.

Time's Arrow by Martin Amis - not sure how much this fits into an historical fiction category. It's very experimental.

Edit: Also, I, Claudius by Robert Graves is very good. Especially for the bits concerning Caligula.

I Claudius is very well written and easy to read Claudius is a reluctant hero and you find yourself rooting for him. I'm currently watching the bbc box set of the series from the seventies.

Historical Fiction

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