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 — 1,961,109 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.26 avg rating — 1,149,447 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.47 avg rating — 3,007,086 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.36 avg rating — 3,475,505 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.65 avg rating — 2,065,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.93 avg rating — 779,152 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.26 avg rating — 6,843,933 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.41 avg rating — 211,597 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.45 avg rating — 1,725,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,105,094 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,254,746 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,031,091 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.04 avg rating — 156,326 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.91 avg rating — 232,455 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.37 avg rating — 3,593,688 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.26 avg rating — 226,329 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.14 avg rating — 394,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,696,603 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,863,654 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.35 avg rating — 826,952 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,819,330 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.30 avg rating — 317,435 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.32 avg rating — 274,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.19 avg rating — 807,771 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.10 avg rating — 282,088 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.39 avg rating — 330,016 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.79 avg rating — 240,899 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.31 avg rating — 716,177 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.09 avg rating — 512,412 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.11 avg rating — 791,590 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.32 avg rating — 346,146 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,312,048 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.87 avg rating — 254,510 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.37 avg rating — 275,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.03 avg rating — 990,573 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.34 avg rating — 384,171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.14 avg rating — 357,736 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.62 avg rating — 152,511 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.44 avg rating — 191,204 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.13 avg rating — 212,653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.35 avg rating — 253,863 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.11 avg rating — 517,994 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.02 avg rating — 172,401 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.36 avg rating — 268,476 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,478,009 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.44 avg rating — 165,285 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,353,800 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.05 avg rating — 314,656 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.34 avg rating — 182,489 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,009,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.93 avg rating — 166,948 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.99 avg rating — 884,670 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.10 avg rating — 346,072 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.74 avg rating — 411,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.32 avg rating — 662,223 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.01 avg rating — 174,887 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.80 avg rating — 225,517 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.97 avg rating — 708,728 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.31 avg rating — 269,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.25 avg rating — 364,216 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.04 avg rating — 662,479 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.07 avg rating — 141,420 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,290,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.16 avg rating — 237,957 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.30 avg rating — 273,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.38 avg rating — 176,785 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.04 avg rating — 477,964 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.04 avg rating — 156,052 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.03 avg rating — 160,057 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.83 avg rating — 609,334 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.33 avg rating — 425,415 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.04 avg rating — 549,740 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.08 avg rating — 271,157 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.79 avg rating — 230,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.82 avg rating — 178,451 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.31 avg rating — 874,998 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.96 avg rating — 182,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.42 avg rating — 584,222 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.86 avg rating — 194,028 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.34 avg rating — 618,214 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.47 avg rating — 400,660 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.80 avg rating — 276,228 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.55 avg rating — 476,001 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,107,775 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.18 avg rating — 494,269 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.57 avg rating — 237,588 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.80 avg rating — 871,172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 127,914 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.45 avg rating — 164,648 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.06 avg rating — 443,293 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.06 avg rating — 181,195 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.29 avg rating — 504,271 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,334,888 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.05 avg rating — 463,612 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.94 avg rating — 545,196 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,014,940 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.09 avg rating — 387,042 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.19 avg rating — 212,321 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.35 avg rating — 646,142 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.93 avg rating — 122,917 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 11533 books
169 friends
Fiona 1667 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

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is...

Anyone can add books to this list.