Can someone help a newbie out?

[Mark]

Hey guys! I'm new to this site and would like some suggestions on good HF reads. I have just started to read again as I was to busy with life and work and so on. I have just read Imperium and Fatherland by Robert Harris and thought they were great reads. I like Roman, Tudor, Egyptian and WWII periods. I don't mind a little romance but don't like my books to drip with it! :)

Any suggestions would be great!!

[Melisende]

Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead
Atilla by Stephen Grundy

[Barbara]

Hi Mark,

They are not your chosen periods, being Classical and earlier Greece but for incomparable writing and research, try

MARY RENAULT If you do fancy them , best read the trilogies etc in the right order ,see below .

The King Must Die , Bull from Sea are Theseus,
Fire from Heaven , Persian Boy and Funeral Games are Alexander.
The rest are stand-alone
_____________________________________

•Last of the Wine, the (1956)

•King Must Die, the (1958)
•Bull From the Sea, the (1962)

•Mask of Apollo, the (1966)

Persian Boy, the (1973)
•Fire from Heaven (1970)
.Funeral Games (1981)

•Praise Singer, the (1978)

[Conne]

Mark wrote: "Hey guys! I'm new to this site and would like some suggestions on good HF reads. I have just started to read again as I was to busy with life and work and so on. I have just read Imperium and Fathe..."
I have been reading the Conn Iggulden books, The Emperor Series (gates of rome, death of kings, field of swords & gods of war) and the Genghis Series (birth of an empire, lords of the bow,bones of the hills). My son wanted me to read them & I have enjoyed them alot more than I thot I would! Very little romance, lots of blood & war!

[Donna]

I would also recommend 2 other Robert Harris books, Enigma and Pompeii.

[Claire]

I would recommend Eagle in the Snow by Wallace, The Master of Rome series by Colleen McCullough,a lighter read about Rome is the SPQR detective series. I would endorse the Mary Renault books but they can be slightly more difficult for a casual reader but well worth concentrating on.I liked I Claudius for a follow on from The Master of Rome. For Tudors try the Sansom books but I found them unpleasant but maybe I am just sensitive. Have Fun!!!

[Jemidar]

I'm a great fan the gritty Tudor realism of C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake books: Dissolution, Dark Fire, Sovereign, Revelation and the soon to be released Heartstone. You also might like to checkout Hilary Mantel's, Wolf Hall (about Thomas Cromwell) although being literary fiction it's not to everyone's taste.

[Sara W]

Welcome to the group Mark!

A good WWII era book I would recommend is Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky. The appendix about the author's life is as interesting as the novel.

[Mandy]

Oh - Suite Francaise is fantastic!!!

The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers is a wonderful Tudor-era HF.

My favorite HF of all time is the Here be Dragons trilogy by Penman. IT doesn't fall into any of the time periods you listed, but it's absolutely amazing. It's an upcoming group read, too :)

[Mark]

Thanks for all the recommendations!! I have picked up a few already and will let you know how I find them!!

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I'd second the suggestion of the Matthew Shardlakes by C.J. Sansom. The first is Dissolution.

I also like Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, which is about the fall of the Roman Republic. It starts with The First Man in Rome. Another pair of favorites with a classical setting are I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 and Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina, both by Robert Graves.

One I like that has a medieval setting is Katherine, by Anya Seton.