I would be surprised if this thread had many responses, but thought I would throw it out there just to see. For those who do not know, Historical fiction is a book written based on the History of a certain person or era with liscense given to the author to fill in the blanks as he sees most feesible. It's a great way to learn your history while enjoying an epic adventure. My all time favorite has to be 'Aztec' By Gary Jennings I just finished 'Creation' by Gore Vidal which was amazing Some other greats are 'I Caligula' (forget the authors name right now) 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follet 'The Voyager' and 'Raptor' by Gary Jennings 'Julias' by Gore Vidal 'Justinian' by H N Turteltaub Too many others to remember - any other suggestions out there?
I love history. Don't read many books though. How are you supposed to know what is true and what is fiction in these books? Sounds very similar to hisotry movies by Hollywood. Historical foundation then a lot of fiction to make it exciting.
Micah, it's been my experience that great detail is paid to correct dates and to really everything. It's just that there will typically be a person the story revolves around and that is where the author embelishes/guesses as to what they did and said in the course of things. As in 'Julian' by Gore Vidal, the historical events happenend as he describes it. The fiction is where he injects Julians inner most thoughts and motivations - which he is plainly guessing at based on what notes he can find and his gut feelings. Typically these books are VERY far away from the crap movie studios will foist on the public where they have no care about historical accuracy - only box office.
If the historical writers simply changed the names of their towns and veiled the facts, the stories would occasionally be considered as great pieces of literature and forsight, and mark their careers. But they have great passion for it. That fascinates me. I often wonder at the reasons for writing as they do.
i read a book several years ago called the third reich it was a story about nazi officers who fled and spread nazism to a new generation who tried to bring about a new empire. it was a pretty interesting read.
OK, I get what you're saying. I started MEXICO several years ago but never finished. Found a list on Amazon. Any of those good? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...5YYVVK9RK/ref=cm_lm_lists/103-6107076-2019007 Maybe I'll check some of these out on Audio CD/tape. I've often thought of listening to books on the commute but haven't done it because I found the selection slim.
I can't remember the name but there are a couple of books by the same author, steve pressfield i think, or something like that about the ancient greeks. i thought they were pretty well written and both informative and engaging. I very much liked Steven Pressfield's earlier historical novel Gates of Fire (see Orrin's review), which told the thrilling story of the small band of Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae against Persian invaders in 480 B.C. Tides of War advances the action to 430 B.C. with the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, which saw Sparta and the other city-states of Greece try to reign in the power of Athens. His story focusses on the fortunes of Alcibiades (451-404 B.C.), the most gifted, though mercurial, leader of his day. Alcibiades was adopted as a boy by Pericles, the great democratic leader of Athens. By all accounts, the boy was physically beautiful, intellectually gifted and moraly unscrupulous. He became a great disciple of Socrates, with whom he campaigned in Potidaea, but contrary to the great philosophers teachings, determined to try his hand at politics. He became the worst kind of populist, opportunistic, demagogue--ultimately fighting for Athens three different times, but also joining the Spartans and even the Persians during periods when he had been exiled from Athens. He was the driving force behind the ill-advised decision to try to conquer Syracuse (415-13 B.C.), which may have been the single most significant factor contributing to Athen's eventual downfall, as the Expedition proved to be a disastrous drain on men and materiel.
would a tale of two cities count? its total fiction, but put w/in the context of the french revolution. one of the best books ive ever read.
Harry Turtledove writes some fantastic alternative history novels and series, if you like this genre, he is a must read
That timeline book - I actually read that in an airport when I was stranded and had nothing to do - that's when I realized that michael Crichton has lost his fastball and basically either sucks or I have outgrown him. That thing read like a script to a bad movie, so formulaic it was disgusting.
"I, Claudius" by Robert Graves. One of my favorite books ever. (And the lesser-known sequel, "Claudius the God.")
I like colonial/postcolonial historical fiction... right now, re-reading The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer... great historical novels set in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) from about 1900-1920s.
Yes, Rasselas, those really are great books and the ones I meant to mention when I mistakenly wrote I Caligula. Have you seen the oldd BBC mini-series (late 60's early 70's) called I Claudius? It is very faithful to the books and the acting is terrific.
Gore Vidal's American History novels are the bees knees, generally. I loved "Julian" and "Creation," too. He's a great hero of mine. I think the best understanding you can get out of Vietnam, or Iraq, of the Philipinnes, or hell....*a lot* of American actions overseas is in Graham Green's "The Quiet American." I wouldn't specifically call this an historical novel like something Vidal would do, but it really captures something that is important to understand.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was probably my favorite book I had to read for school (high school and college). It is about US troops in Vietnam.
Alexandre Dumas set out to write hitorical fiction for the entire history of France. That is where 3 Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Count of Monte Cristo etc. come from. I haven't finished all of them by any means, but aside from the ones mentioned above a couple of my favorites are: Marguerite de Valois(Queen Margot), and Chicot the Jester(I think the other name is A Tale of Two Dianas)
