The Most Reviewed Historical Fiction of the Past Three Years

For those of us with a taste for it, historical fiction scratches an itch that no other genre can quite reach. By crossing the wires of creative imagination with rigorous research, historical fiction authors can generate a kind of time travel effect. It’s a magic trick that happens somewhere between the page and your eyes.
 
Here we’ve collected the most reviewed historical fiction books on Goodreads from the past three years. The idea being: These are books that people have actually read, and really liked, and that’s the heart of recommendation, isn’t it?
 
A few quick notes: All together, the books below have received nearly 5 million reviews. That kind of big-set number is good for statistical insights. Moreover, each book has impressively maintained an average star rating above 3.5 (in some cases, well above). Finally, two of the books below—Lessons in Chemistry and Black Cake—made the cut even though they were released just this year.
 
You’ll find a crowd of authors who are traditionally popular with Goodreads regulars—Kristin Hannah, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Amor Towles—and several excellent writers who are new to the historical fiction game. There’s plenty of history to choose from, too. The time span represented here runs from circa 997 CE to the 1980s. Scroll over the book cover images below for links and intros, and add what you like to your Want to Read shelf.

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