historical-fiction
about
Historical fiction presents readers with a story that takes place during a notable period in history, and usually during a significant event in that period. Historical fiction often presents actual events from the point of view of people living in that time period.
In some historical fict...more
In some historical fict...more
popular historical-fiction books (showing 1-50 of 16,970)
The Other Boleyn Girl (Paperback)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 1106 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.99 — 59,340 ratings — published 2001
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Memoirs of a Geisha (Hardcover)
by Arthur Golden (shelved 685 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.94 — 195,075 ratings — published 1997
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The Pillars of the Earth (Paperback)
by Ken Follett (shelved 642 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.12 — 47,606 ratings — published 1989
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The Book Thief (Hardcover)
by Markus Zusak (shelved 624 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.37 — 52,263 ratings — published 2005
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The Red Tent (Hardcover)
by Anita Diamant (shelved 612 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.12 — 49,437 ratings — published 1997
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Girl with a Pearl Earring (Paperback)
by Tracy Chevalier (shelved 611 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.69 — 30,060 ratings — published 1999
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The Boleyn Inheritance (Hardcover)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 496 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.73 — 14,909 ratings — published 2006
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Outlander (Outlander, #1)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 481 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.07 — 38,908 ratings — published 1991
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The Queen's Fool (Paperback)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 473 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.69 — 13,955 ratings — published 2003
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Hardcover)
by Mary Ann Shaffer (shelved 440 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.18 — 36,417 ratings — published 2007
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Gone With The Wind (Paperback)
by Margaret Mitchell (shelved 437 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.19 — 85,117 ratings — published 1936
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The Constant Princess (Paperback)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 436 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.68 — 13,412 ratings — published 2003
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The Virgin's Lover (Paperback)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 373 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.53 — 11,033 ratings — published 2004
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Year of Wonders (Paperback)
by Geraldine Brooks (shelved 351 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.89 — 12,214 ratings — published 2001
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Water for Elephants (Paperback)
by Sara Gruen (shelved 338 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.01 — 117,386 ratings — published 2006
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Paperback)
by Lisa See (Goodreads author) (shelved 336 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.97 — 36,792 ratings — published 2005
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Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 309 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.30 — 14,028 ratings — published 1998
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Number the Stars (Mass Market Paperback)
by Lois Lowry (shelved 305 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.12 — 25,226 ratings — published 1989
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The Historian (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Kostova (shelved 301 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.64 — 27,003 ratings — published 2005
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The Birth of Venus: A Novel (Paperback)
by Sarah Dunant (shelved 285 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.68 — 10,117 ratings — published 2003
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World Without End (Hardcover)
by Ken Follett (shelved 278 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.07 — 15,589 ratings — published 2006
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Voyager (Outlander, #3)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 264 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.34 — 12,592 ratings — published 1993
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The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth' Children #1)
by Jean M. Auel (shelved 259 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.87 — 14,592 ratings — published 1980
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Cold Mountain (Paperback)
by Charles Frazier (shelved 257 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.62 — 19,831 ratings — published 1997
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The Kite Runner (Paperback)
by Khaled Hosseini (shelved 251 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.21 — 244,610 ratings — published 1999
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Atonement (Paperback)
by Ian McEwan (shelved 247 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.71 — 53,289 ratings — published 2001
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Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 246 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.27 — 11,340 ratings — published 1996
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Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey (Hardcover)
by Alison Weir (shelved 241 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.82 — 3,717 ratings — published 2006
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People of the Book (Hardcover)
by Geraldine Brooks (shelved 228 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.83 — 14,213 ratings — published 2008
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Mass Market Paperback)
by Elizabeth George Speare (shelved 226 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.92 — 12,418 ratings — published 1958
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The Other Queen (Hardcover)
by Philippa Gregory (shelved 223 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.19 — 6,440 ratings — published 2008
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The Name of the Rose: Including Postscript (Paperback)
by Umberto Eco (shelved 220 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.05 — 14,314 ratings — published 1980
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The Killer Angels (Mass Market Paperback)
by Michael Shaara (shelved 217 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.12 — 8,368 ratings — published 1974
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The Fiery Cross (Outlander, #5)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 216 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.17 — 10,834 ratings — published 2001
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The Poisonwood Bible (Paperback)
by Barbara Kingsolver (shelved 205 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.97 — 123,092 ratings — published 1998
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To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback)
by Harper Lee (shelved 200 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.28 — 328,352 ratings — published 1960
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A Thousand Splendid Suns (Hardcover)
by Khaled Hosseini (shelved 197 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.31 — 112,161 ratings — published 2006
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Fever 1793 (Paperback)
by Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads author) (shelved 197 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.90 — 5,974 ratings — published 2000
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A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)
by Diana Gabaldon (shelved 193 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.37 — 9,688 ratings — published 2005
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A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1)
by Libba Bray (shelved 189 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.76 — 18,393 ratings — published 2003
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The Alienist (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, #1)
by Caleb Carr (shelved 187 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.97 — 11,524 ratings — published 1994
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Pope Joan: A Novel (Paperback)
by Donna Woolfolk Cross (Goodreads author) (shelved 181 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.02 — 6,509 ratings — published 1996
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March (Paperback)
by Geraldine Brooks (shelved 179 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.67 — 9,986 ratings — published 2005
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The Lady and the Unicorn (Paperback)
by Tracy Chevalier (shelved 175 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.49 — 4,805 ratings — published 2003
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Hardcover)
by John Boyne (shelved 175 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.98 — 11,648 ratings — published 2006
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The Valley of Horses (Earth' Children #2)
by Jean M. Auel (shelved 171 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.85 — 7,024 ratings — published 1980
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Shogun (Mass Market Paperback)
by James Clavell (shelved 169 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.22 — 7,963 ratings — published 1975
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Mistress of the Art of Death (Mistress of the Art of Death, #1)
by Ariana Franklin (shelved 164 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 3.88 — 3,762 ratings — published 2007
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The Mists of Avalon (Paperback)
by Marion Zimmer Bradley (shelved 161 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.09 — 21,199 ratings — published 1982
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Master and Commander (Aubrey/Maturin Book 1)
by Patrick O'Brian (shelved 160 times as historical-fiction)
avg rating 4.05 — 3,502 ratings — published 1970
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More quotes...
"'When the procession formed up before the emperor, she saluted him. The priest and the virgins surrounded her, and urged her to pay reverence to the statue of Diana.
Pointing to her parents, they implored her for their sake to recant. Pale as death, she shook her head quietly. " I cannot deny the Lord who died for me," she said. Nero himself rose from his seat. "Maiden," he said, "if not for your own sake, for the sake of those who love you, I pray you to cease from your obstinacy. How can a child like you know more than the wisest heads of Rome? How can you deny the gods who have protected and given victory to your country? I would fain spare you."
"I am but a child, as you say Caesar," Ennia replied. "I have no strength of my own, but I am strong in the strength of Him I worship. He gave His life for me-it is not much that I should give mine for Him."
-Beric the Briton, ch. XV, "The Christians to the Lions""
— G.A. Henty (G.A. Henty on CD ROM)
Pointing to her parents, they implored her for their sake to recant. Pale as death, she shook her head quietly. " I cannot deny the Lord who died for me," she said. Nero himself rose from his seat. "Maiden," he said, "if not for your own sake, for the sake of those who love you, I pray you to cease from your obstinacy. How can a child like you know more than the wisest heads of Rome? How can you deny the gods who have protected and given victory to your country? I would fain spare you."
"I am but a child, as you say Caesar," Ennia replied. "I have no strength of my own, but I am strong in the strength of Him I worship. He gave His life for me-it is not much that I should give mine for Him."
-Beric the Briton, ch. XV, "The Christians to the Lions""
— G.A. Henty (G.A. Henty on CD ROM)
""What, did you think," she asked, laughing as he struggled up the bank, "that I, a Gaulish maiden, could not swim?"
"I did not think anything about it," Malchus said; "I saw you pushed in and followed without thinking at all."
Although they imperfectly understood each other's words the meaning was clear; the girl put her hand on his shoulder and looked frankly up in his face.
"I thank you," she said, "just the same as if you had saved my life. You meant to do so, and it was very good of you, a great chief of this army, to hazard your life for a Gaulish maiden. Clotilde will never forget.""
— G.A. Henty (The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal)
"I did not think anything about it," Malchus said; "I saw you pushed in and followed without thinking at all."
Although they imperfectly understood each other's words the meaning was clear; the girl put her hand on his shoulder and looked frankly up in his face.
"I thank you," she said, "just the same as if you had saved my life. You meant to do so, and it was very good of you, a great chief of this army, to hazard your life for a Gaulish maiden. Clotilde will never forget.""
— G.A. Henty (The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal)
