One of the great pleasures of historical fiction is the time-travel element. In the hands of a skilled author, works of historical fiction can transport the reader to long-gone eras and locales, thereby tinkering with the very fabric of the time-space continuum! Dangerous work! It’s amazing, really, that this industry isn’t regulated.
 
Specialists in this particular genre typically do very meticulous research before assembling their stories. By way of existing writing and other artifacts from the historical record, the author selects those critical details that make the era come to life.
 
It’s always fun to climb into the Way Back Machine, but you know what’s even more fun? The Way-Way Back Machine. Below we’ve collected 33 books with plotlines set, entirely or partially, in the 18^th century or earlier. All of these books are recently published, relatively, and have been critically well-received.
 
Perhaps you would like to visit an apothecary’s shop in 1791 London. How about a creepy Puritan settlement outside Boston in 1662? Or a desolate village under Mongol rule, in China, circa 1345? If you really want to go for it, we’ve got the tail-end of Europe’s Dark Ages, the city of Nazareth in the time of Jesus, and even ancient Sparta.  
 
Scroll over the covers below to learn more about each book, and be sure to add the books that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!

Want to Read saving… Want to Read Currently Reading Read

Want to Read saving…

Want to Read saving…