spouseofanacademic
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Posts: 13
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« Reply #15 on: December 02, 2008, 09:04:14 AM » |
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My recent favorites are Alison Weir's The Lady Elizabeth and Innocent Traitor, both set during the Tudor period, and Lisa See's Peony in Love, set in 19th century Japan.
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
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Whither Canada?
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« Reply #16 on: December 03, 2008, 06:09:44 PM » |
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My recent favorites are Alison Weir's The Lady Elizabeth and Innocent Traitor, both set during the Tudor period, and Lisa See's Peony in Love, set in 19th century Japan.
Innocent Traitor is fantastic - highly recommended. An update on a previous post - Sharon Kay Penman's latest, Devil's Brood, is wonderful and amazing, entirely worth the wait. (She takes ages to research her books, so they take awhile to appear.) |
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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ideagirl
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« Reply #17 on: December 03, 2008, 07:23:06 PM » |
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I recently read "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End" by Ken Follett, both of which are what I guess I'd call "historical fiction" novels, set in medieval Europe. I guess what I'm looking for is other novels with unique historical/geographic settings — part of what I liked about these books was the description of everyday life in these settings, because I was somewhat ignorant as to what life was like in that time in place. Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue. That is one hell of a novel. |
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llanfair
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Whither Canada?
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« Reply #18 on: December 03, 2008, 07:37:21 PM » |
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Chime on Slammerkin. Great story and un-put-down-able - it captures the feel of the times.
Her Life Mask is wonderful as well - absorbing.
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« Last Edit: December 03, 2008, 07:38:06 PM by llanfair »
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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virmundi
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Posts: 98
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« Reply #19 on: December 05, 2008, 01:02:50 AM » |
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I have always found Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose to be a terrific book.
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papaya
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Posts: 28
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« Reply #20 on: December 12, 2008, 06:23:04 PM » |
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Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series is my all time favorite. Love crazy archaelogists running around Egyptian ruins solving murders.
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minnesotan
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« Reply #21 on: December 14, 2008, 08:36:41 PM » |
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I didn't notice if you indicated a time period, so I would add "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield, or "Pompeii," by Robert Harris. Some of the best histfic I've read.
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francishamit
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Posts: 76
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« Reply #22 on: June 05, 2009, 12:10:55 AM » |
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My novel The Shenandoah Spy has received over a dozen favorable reviews. It's about Confederate Army spy and scount Belle Boyd, the first woman in American History to be commissioned an army officer. Basedon real people adn events, it covers her career at the time of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign in 1862. You should be able to order itat your local bookstore or from Brass Cannon Books (BrassCannonBooks.net)
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
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Posts: 22,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #23 on: June 05, 2009, 07:10:07 PM » |
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Flake off, spambot.
Mods!!!
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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websterian
New member
Posts: 5
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« Reply #24 on: June 06, 2009, 09:23:38 AM » |
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I was absolutely staggered by Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost. Definitely worth a look. For nonfic narrative writing, Tom Holland's Rubicon is great on Rome. And I second llanfair!
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airball
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« Reply #25 on: August 07, 2009, 09:48:42 PM » |
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I was absolutely staggered by Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost. Definitely worth a look.
Best ever. Ever. Also there is a series by mysteries by C.J. Samson set under Henry VIII that are quite good. Samson has a doctorate in history and did his research. airball |
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History would kick your ass around the Bodleian Library, and then it would smile and laugh.
-scheherazade
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aandsdean
I feel affirmed that I'm truly a 6,000+ post
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Positively impactful on stakeholder synergies
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« Reply #26 on: August 07, 2009, 11:21:15 PM » |
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Double chime on An Instance of the Fingerpost (this is my period, and Pears really gets it); I also thought Slammerikin was terrific. David Liss's The Coffee Trader is very interesting on business practices in the early 18th century. Ferdinand Mount's Jem and Sam is a wonderful book about a character (Jem) who has a parallel, but much less successful career, than Samuel Pepys in Restoration London. The much-lamented Bruce Alexander Sir John Fielding mystery series (Alexander died a year or so ago, too young) has a lot of good local color about crime in mid-18th-century London and they're a lot of fun to read.
A quasi sci-fi book that I think is wonderful is Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, which is about the plague; her To Say Nothing of the Dog is Victorian, and it's hilarious. Neal Stephenson's trilogy that includes
Quicksilver is really good in a Pynchon-esque way on the early Royal Society, and Rose Tremain's Restoration (the book is immensely better than the movie) shows a lot of sensitivity to the issues surrounding the Restoration of Charles II.
Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders is marvelous. It's also about the plague, this time in the 17th century, and a village that chooses to sequester itself in an attempt to contain the contagion. Maria McCann's As Meat Loves Salt is a great story of class issues in the English civil wars, and includes some very interesting stuff about alternative religious movements of the time.
Goodness, there are a lot of good ones!
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Wearing a black armband for Lucy
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
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Posts: 22,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #27 on: August 08, 2009, 04:52:31 PM » |
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Also there is a series by mysteries by C.J. Samson set under Henry VIII that are quite good. Samson has a doctorate in history and did his research.
airball
Chime on that - they're great. They are, to date: Dissolution
Dark Fire
Sovereign
RevelationAnd (sorry, Airball, but the spelling might be an issue for anyone searching) the author's name is spelled "Sansom". |
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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codex
New member
Posts: 16
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« Reply #28 on: August 11, 2009, 11:37:45 AM » |
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Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue.
That is one hell of a novel.
Strong chime. Donoghue has a doctorate in 18th century lit, and it shows. In a good way. No glamourizing of prostitution here, folks... |
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inthelab
Where beloved molecules abide
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Who knew?
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« Reply #29 on: August 11, 2009, 12:37:33 PM » |
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Flake off, spambot.
Mods!!!
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inthelab, I love you for that.
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