Suggestions for Historical Fiction (American, Africa, revolutionary, popular)

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by jtur88

I think I answered this question in another forum. One of the most enjoyable reads in recent years was "Thirteen Moons" by Charles Frazier, about the removal of the Cherokees. (Much better than his "Cold Mountain")

Another would be "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy.

That's a pretty bold statement. Cold Mountain is probably the best prose I've ever read.

I'll have to check out Thirteen Moons, then...

[Back to NE]

I've read most of Ken Follett's, but can someone recommend any other 17th, 18th, 19th century novels based in Europe?

[Coldjensens]

I am currently enjoying reading the story of Tecumseh it is called something about sorrow or sorrows. My wife picked it up for 75 cents at a book sale. It it intersting because it contains a great amount of detail about the daily life of the tribes in the late 18th century through the war of 1812. I am also learning that a lot of the "facts" included in this book are not accurate, but it is still intersting reading and it inspired me to look into this time period in more detail. I also enjoy it becuause some of the events occur just down the road or accross the river from our house.

[Angus Podgorny]

The Sharp books by Bernard Cornwell will tell you just about everything you want to know about the Napoleonic wars - at least as far as British participation. They are pretty well documented, with a lot of real life figures mixed into the fiction.

Cornwell's other books are equally entertaining. 'The Archer', 'Vagabond', and 'Agincourt' are excellent reads and manage to convey in some detail just how God-awful life in general and warfare in particular was during the 13th and 14th centuries.

I have not yet read any of his civil war books. 'Killer Angels' by Michael Shaara is a great fictional history book of the battle of Gettysburg.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Back to NE

I've read most of Ken Follett's, but can someone recommend any other 17th, 18th, 19th century novels based in Europe?

If you want to go back a bit farther into the 15th century I recommend The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman.

I learned more about the Wars of the Roses and Richard III than I ever did in a history class.

[jimboburnsy]

If you are interested in the American Frontier of the early 1800's, a universal must-read is Michael Gear's The Morning River and Coyote Moon. I wish he would finish the trilogy, but I think he may be done with it...

[barante]

Let me mention two books. Some oldtimers will say, "Yes, the names sound familiar." For younger people all this is new.
The novel is Nicholas Montserrat's The Cruel Sea. I read it in the late 1950s and and loved the World War II convoy story and the characters the author develops. The author served in the Royal Navy during WWII, so it may be autobiographical in places.
The other book is Eric Sevareid's Not So Wild A Dream . It is a beautifully written, masterfully constructed very early biography of the future CBS radio and television correspondent. It's a terrific description of Midwestern small-town America. A canoe trip is particularly well told; its lyrical. In the end you are bound the say, "Glad I read this." It's a thoughtful, hopeful book that is particularly interesting reading in today's America.
Now let me tell you a little story from memory. The outline certainly is accurate. When Sevareid's book came out in 1946, it was very successful. Over the years Knopf, who was the publisher, took -- I think -- eleven printings. Somewhere in the 1970s, it went out of print. Martin Perez loved the book. He owned The New Republic and took a couple of printings of his version.

[Fontucky]

Good Civil War alt history: The Guns of the South - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[adamz]

I thought that "Burr" by Gore Vidal was an outstanding novel, and it plays out over two very distinct and interesting periods in early Americal history.

[Angus Podgorny]

Originally Posted by barante

Let me mention two books. Some oldtimers will say, "Yes, the names sound familiar." For younger people all this is new.
The novel is Nicholas Montserrat's The Cruel Sea. I read it in the late 1950s and and loved the World War II convoy story and the characters the author develops. The author served in the Royal Navy during WWII, so it may be autobiographical in places.
The other book is Eric Sevareid's Not So Wild A Dream . It is a beautifully written, masterfully constructed very early biography of the future CBS radio and television correspondent. It's a terrific description of Midwestern small-town America. A canoe trip is particularly well told; its lyrical. In the end you are bound the say, "Glad I read this." It's a thoughtful, hopeful book that is particularly interesting reading in today's America.
Now let me tell you a little story from memory. The outline certainly is accurate. When Sevareid's book came out in 1946, it was very successful. Over the years Knopf, who was the publisher, took -- I think -- eleven printings. Somewhere in the 1970s, it went out of print. Martin Perez loved the book. He owned The New Republic and took a couple of printings of his version.

Another great WWII convoy novel is 'HMS Ulysses' by Alistair MacLean. His first novel, and his best. Great description of convoy duty to Murmansk during the middle of winter.