What book gave you the best insight into another time?

[Jan]

The Source

[Andrew]

Any of the medieval series by Simon Fairfax gives a punctilious view of the last segment of the Hundred Year's War.

[KPETE]

I really appreciate these excellent recommendations!

[Carrie]

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

[Fiona]

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. It's set in Vietnam from the 1940s to the 1970s. I've see this period covered elsewhere but always from a Western viewpoint, whereas The Mountains Sing focuses on a Vietnamese family and particularly the women. I found it really brought to life the struggles of the ordinary people and the effect of conflict on them.

[KPETE]

Thank you!

[Fiona]

KPETE wrote: "Fiona, Just finished The Mountains Sing and it was an amazing book. Thank you so much for the recommendation!"

You're welcome. Glad you liked it. I noticed that the author has a new book out, Dust Child, which I'm really looking forward to reading.

[Kathy]

I just finished Booth by Karen Joy Fowler. It was a fascinating story of the Booth family, and of the USA pre-Civil War and during the Civil War.

[Tom]

Deborah Swift is wonderful at doing this and she writes in several time periods. Her Mr Pepys series nails the Restoration. I've just reviewed the third of her Italian Renaissance books that have you feeling you really are in 17th century Venice. (My review is here: https://tomwilliamsauthor.co.uk/the-f...). And her Second World War books are brilliant.

I struggle with early 19th century and mid-19th century, so I am awe of her.

[Ariel]

I found To Sisterhood! by Gail Shapiro to be especially impactful. The author wrote about her own experiences but with an interlinking fiction plot that follows four women in the early 70s. The descriptions of the various cities (Boston, Cambridge, San Fran, New York) were beautifully written and I vividly envisioned how these places once were. The historical events that occur in this book feel especially relevant now and reading felt educational and important.

[M.]

One recent book I read gave me extraordinary insight into the early nineteenth century, the War of 1812, and the Age of Sail: Left for Dead by Eric Jay Dolin. This was the type of book I used to promote when I worked for Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in the sense that much of the book follows from previously published memoirs as well as unpublished primary or archival sources. It is a magnificent tale of castaways in the Falkland Islands—several British sailors along with a few Americans including Charles H. Barnard who had previously captained a sealing ship. Yes, people once hunted adorable seals. The details are extraordinary. Dolin talks about Barnard's preference for keeping himself alive by eating albatross eggs and goes into great detail as to how Barnard had to fend off all kinds of rooks looking to snatch the stolen eggs. So much of the tale is reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe, itself a historical fiction work based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk.

[Thomas]

I recommend:
Bernard Cornwell for the both the Sharpe and Uhtred series.
C.S. Harris for the Sebastian St Cyr series
Iona Whishaw for the Lane Winslow series
C. J. Sansom for the Shardlake series

[Bart]

This may date me, but anything by James Michener, especially Centennial. The author chose a geographical location, then put in an amazing amount of research of its history, from pre history to modern times. I would get lost for hours in his sprawling sagas.

[Michael Dean]

The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series contained numerous examples of taking the reader into the sense of a historical setting. I compare these to moments that occasionally used to take place, usually via candlelight at a SCA medieval recreation event, when for an instant people get the sense of “you are there!”

Perhaps the best example, in this series, was also the most disturbing, when reading about a seven-foot tall Viking warrior holding Stamford Bridge against the forces or King Harold Godwinson, prior to the Battle of Hastings. His death was brutal and the horrors of war earned an author’s comment after the publisher told her to tone it down for the next installment.

When a novel or historical-short story gets you there, a bit of magic remains, and The Chronicles of St. Mary’s time travel series did this for Lynn and me.