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Ancient Greece & Rome
Ancient Greece
Gates of Fire - Thermopylae
Tides of War - Alcibiades
Ancient Rome
Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series of novels is the best fictional re-creation of Rome I've found. The only comparable books are Graves' Claudius books. Filled with intrigue, and complex plots, these books are page turners of the best sort. Even the complexities of Roman names and the intricacies of the Republican government become clear, as you follow the decline of the Roman Republic from the glories of Marius to the dictatorship of Sulla, the revolt of Spartacus, and the eventual rise and competition between Caesar and Pompey.
As a complement to the Masters of Rome books, Steven Saylor's
mystery tales of Gordianus the Finder fill in the grittier details of Rome in the days of Cicero, Pompey, Caesar and Spartacus.
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Medieval & Renaissance
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What McCullough does for Rome, Sharon Kay Penman does for medieval England.
Dorothy Dunnett House of Niccolo Books
King Hereafter - Dunnett's unique retelling of the Macbeth story
The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte An appetizing but ultimately unsatisfying murder mystery. Julia is an art restorer who finds clues to a 500 year old murder in a little known painting. When she tries to investigate, a modern day murderer appears to have an interest in her activities. The book revolves around the game of chess that is portrayed in the painting and plays out on multiple levels. Good concept, and it works for the first half of the book, but then the plot seems to run out of steam and it meanders thru the second half before coming to its conclusion. If you re interested in Renaissance painting, art restoration or chess puzzles, I'd recommend this book, but otherwise there are better contenders in the genre.
My Name is Red Orhan Pamuk - intrigue and murder in the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent.
Neal Stephenson known more for excellent
cyberpunk SciFi, he's also written great historical fiction -- intelligent, complex and captivating-
Baroque Cycle Volume 1:Quicksilver -17th century science - historical
fiction
Baroque Cycle Volume 2: Confusion
Baroque Cycle Volume 3: The System of the World
18th - 19th Century
American Revolution, Napoleon & Civil War
Kenneth Roberts - American Revolution
Gone for Soldiers [Mexican War]
Civil War Fiction including Gingrich's Gettysburg and Cornwell's Starbuck
The Aubrey series by Patrick O'Brian is easily the best nautical series ever written -- far superior to Hornblower, Bolitho and the others.Read them in order, or out of sequence, each is a gem.
The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell gives a landsman's view of the Napoleonic war (along with battle of Trafalgar which can stand with the best of O'Brian). These books trace the adventures of light infantryman Richard Sharpe in India, Portugal, Spain and France - 1790-1820.
Excellently researched, and full of vivid descriptions and surprising twists.
>Other Early American History books
Susan Sontag - The Volcano Lover (Horatio Nelson)
20th Century
Hopeful Monsters --
Interplay of biology, physics, philosophy and politics. Going beyond the usual banal comparisons, the author presents the period between the world wars as a political and human investigation into uncertainty, quantum mechanics and relativity. Following 2 young people, a British boy and a German girl, the book proceeds in a series of backlooking narratives that take place in the major cockpits of the 20th century - from Berlin in the 20's to Russia and Spain in the 30's ; politics plays a strong part, with Fascism and Communism playing for dominance across the continent. Through all this the characters try to find a way to create a meaningful life.
Significant characters whose views permeate the book include the Lamarckian scientists Kammerer and Lysenko, Wittgenstein, Heideigger, Einstein, and many others. Never does the book bog down in didactic presentation, while still presenting a clear understanding of the major intellectual trends of the 20th century. Many other books have used this period as a background, but in this case, it's an essential element to
the plot.
Great for book club discussions - you'll find no end of ways to interpret and discuss this book.
Another book along these lines is the Calcutta Chromosome
Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson -- intelligent,
complex and captivating WWII submarine thriller with modern day techno-adventure -- Nazi subs filled with gold, unbreakable codes, and enough paranoia and conspiracy to keep you reading and wishing the book was even longer!
India during and after the partition.
By countryEgypt
Indian fiction
Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare
Check our Travel blog which also covers world history
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