This list is for the most well known Historical Fiction books on Goodreads.

For purposes of this list, only include books with over 100,000 ratings and shelved at least 1000 times as historical fiction.

Anything with less than 100,000 ratings or shelved less than 1000 times as historical fiction will be removed and without comment.

A book that was set in the time it was written like say Pride and Prejudice is not historical fiction. Please avoid putting these on the list and call them out in comments to discourage people. But librarians shouldn't remove such books from these lists as long as its been tagged incorrectly at least 1000 times.

See also:
Best Historical Fiction
Best Historical Fiction of the 21st Century
Best Historical Mystery
Recommended Historical Fiction
Teen Historical Fiction

Related Lists By Topic:
All, Anthropology, Astronomy, Autobiography, Biography, Biology, Botany, Children, Classics, Climate, Computer Science, Economics, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Geology, Genetics, Geography, Graphic Novels, History, Horror, Judaism, Language, Manga, Medicine, Middle School, Military Science Fiction, Music, Mysteries, Nature, Non-Fiction, Pagan, Pandemic, Philosophy, Picture Books, Poetry, Politics, Productivity, Psychology, Racism, Romance, Science, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera, Steampunk, Travel, Young Adult
1

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,966,656 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.26 avg rating — 1,151,114 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.47 avg rating — 3,013,225 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.36 avg rating — 3,482,023 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.65 avg rating — 2,078,025 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.93 avg rating — 779,767 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.26 avg rating — 6,860,934 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.41 avg rating — 211,859 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.45 avg rating — 1,728,671 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,107,101 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,255,523 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,036,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.04 avg rating — 156,472 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.91 avg rating — 232,721 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.37 avg rating — 3,607,527 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.26 avg rating — 226,522 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.14 avg rating — 394,667 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,698,330 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,869,321 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.35 avg rating — 828,275 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,825,567 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.30 avg rating — 318,103 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.32 avg rating — 275,278 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.19 avg rating — 808,793 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.10 avg rating — 282,311 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.39 avg rating — 330,267 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.79 avg rating — 241,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.31 avg rating — 717,281 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.09 avg rating — 512,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.11 avg rating — 792,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.32 avg rating — 346,534 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,316,096 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.87 avg rating — 254,660 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.37 avg rating — 275,831 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.03 avg rating — 991,866 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.34 avg rating — 384,498 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.14 avg rating — 358,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.62 avg rating — 152,580 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.44 avg rating — 191,363 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.13 avg rating — 212,730 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.35 avg rating — 254,451 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.11 avg rating — 518,622 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.02 avg rating — 172,892 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.36 avg rating — 268,712 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,479,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.44 avg rating — 165,437 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,355,273 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.05 avg rating — 314,828 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.34 avg rating — 182,796 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,010,790 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.93 avg rating — 166,992 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.99 avg rating — 885,302 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.10 avg rating — 346,293 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.74 avg rating — 411,599 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.32 avg rating — 663,736 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.01 avg rating — 175,021 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.80 avg rating — 225,532 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.97 avg rating — 709,007 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.31 avg rating — 270,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.25 avg rating — 364,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.04 avg rating — 662,800 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.07 avg rating — 141,499 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,292,515 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.16 avg rating — 238,112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.30 avg rating — 273,446 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.38 avg rating — 177,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.04 avg rating — 478,324 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.04 avg rating — 156,180 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.03 avg rating — 160,132 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.83 avg rating — 609,904 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.33 avg rating — 425,828 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.04 avg rating — 550,754 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.08 avg rating — 271,418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.79 avg rating — 230,949 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.82 avg rating — 178,559 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.31 avg rating — 875,521 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.96 avg rating — 182,464 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.42 avg rating — 584,522 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.86 avg rating — 194,113 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.34 avg rating — 620,167 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.47 avg rating — 401,372 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.80 avg rating — 276,349 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.55 avg rating — 476,307 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,109,857 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.18 avg rating — 494,528 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.57 avg rating — 238,454 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.80 avg rating — 872,164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 128,060 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.45 avg rating — 164,690 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.06 avg rating — 443,821 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.29 avg rating — 505,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,335,459 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.05 avg rating — 464,902 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.94 avg rating — 545,749 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,016,290 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.09 avg rating — 387,191 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.19 avg rating — 212,466 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.35 avg rating — 647,825 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.93 avg rating — 123,021 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
176 books · 29 voters · list created December 21st, 2020 by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .
5 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mitchell 11541 books
169 friends
Fiona 1668 books
241 friends
Rebecca 5584 books
0 friends
John 2553 books
0 friends
Willow Anne 1665 books
174 friends
Rich 85376 books
0 friends
Charlotte Igelkott 3128 books
1 friend

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Dec 22, 2020 01:01AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for instance, as it was written in the time it was set).


message 2: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for instance, as it was written in the time it was set)."

The fun thing about an arbitrary rule - like must be tagged a particular way - is it doesn't have to be right.

I thought about this exact instance when creating this list and I'll put something in the list description.


Charlotte Igelkott Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for instance, as it was written in the time it was set)."

The f..."


Other weird effects of the number of shelvings rule:
The Name of the Rose qualifies for the classics list, but not for the historical fiction list. (Still not sure I can trust my eyes on that one but I've checked and double checked and...nope)
The House of the Spirits qualifies for the historical fiction list, but not for the classics list.
Surely I can't be the only one who thinks the reverse would make more sense? (Not trying to suggest any changes, just genuinely astonished)


message 4: by Emrys (last edited Jan 18, 2021 10:24AM) (new)

Emrys Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for instance, as it was written in the time it ..."

I suspect with the The Name of the Rose probably did previously qualify for this list but somehow the genre shelf totals have been been reinterpreted/misinterpreted by Goodreads - e.g. the 4000 or so shelvings it has for “Fiction” is similar to the number of shelvings Fall of Giants has for “historical fiction” (the two books both have about 300,000 ratings).


Charlotte Igelkott Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for instance, as it ..."

Oh. Sounds a bit odd to me, but then I'm not very tech savvy. Is this the sort of thing that would be likely to flip back and forth at random or will it be stable until someone notices and changes it back? (Assuming the current numbers are wrong, of course) How can one tell if tNotR is the only book this has happened to or if it's a widespread phenomenon? Would it be likely to have affected other shelves as well? And from a librarian point of view, should I stop deleting books for insufficient shelvings for now?
(Sorry if I'm being too inquisitive - would be better to contact support, perhaps?)


message 6: by Emrys (new)

Emrys Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... (Pride and Prejudice for in..."

I have a spreadsheet of books that records 4000+ shelvings for the genre “Historical Fiction” - I used this tool to get the genre data: https://github.com/PaulKlinger/Enhanc... , but I can’t be sure if the discrepancy is because of an error made by the tool, or because of Goodreads changing things.

Yes, I’ll try asking Support about it later. I don’t get the impression that it’s a widespread problem (just this book actually).


Charlotte Igelkott Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction... ([book:Pride..."

That sounds reassuring. Thank you for answering :)


message 8: by Emrys (new)

Emrys Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Emrys wrote: "Charlotte Igelkott wrote: "Mitchell wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "There are a number of books on this list which are not historical fiction....."

I raised this issue with Support and they said they’d get the developers to look into it.

If it’s not sorted in a week or two I guess the book can be removed from the list.


message 9: by Emrys (new)

Emrys The Name of the Rose now has 4300 shelvings as "Historical Fiction" so it seems the issue has been fixed.


back to top



Related News

  One of the great pleasures of an adventurous reading life is discovering new authors. If you’re the kind of book lover who likes to head...

Anyone can add books to this list.