I am not a professional historian, but I have a keen interest especially in ancient Irish history and mediveal Europe. I also like reading historical novels, especially mediveal mysteries. However, there are many historical novels that I just have to put away because it irks me when they make major mistakes in the time period. I understand the need for poetic license, but many authors quite obviously have little or no idea how people lived at the time, especially the poor and women.
With this in mind, any recommendations as to novels, especially murder mysteries, which are historically accurate? +++++++++++++ 07-13-02, 05:04 PM VivienneHa One book that I really recommend is .The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey,and I'm sure Cattywampus will second that opinion.Another good read,alas out of print at the moment is "The Cranborne Chase" by David Burnett set in 14th century Wessex,you might find a copy in a 2nd hand book shop."The Devil in Velvet" by John Dickson Carr is a favourite of mine,although not strickly an historical novel,it is about a man who time travels back to Restoration London and finds himself involved in a murder mystery.In fact the writer John Dickson Carr wrote many mystery novels with historical settings,and is often considered the father of the historical murder mystery. Viv
07-13-02, 05:05 PM christineell Anya seton has written many good books that are based on fact.One of my favourites is Katherine,based on the lives of John of Gaunt,Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford,who was his mistress and mother of his children(the Beauforts) before marrying him in the 14th century. Katherine is buried in Lincoln Catherdral with her daughter Joan. The events of the time are accurately portrayed i.e. the peasants revolt,Black Princes death,Richard the second' accession etc.Artistic licence is used where documentation is not available. Others of her books,Avalon,Hearth and the eagle ,Devil water etc are all good reads. Enjoy! smile
07-13-02, 06:45 PM mahal I'm trying to concoct three books, one fiction, one non-fiction. I'd have to say that this is my single largest obstacle. I dread the idea of finishing what I think is a masterpiece only to have some schmuck point out the simplest subtlety that would render the whole book obsolete.
I have a lot of respect for the giants who can pump out a book every year and still make everything so believable. I definitely don't have that gift.
07-13-02, 09:16 PM newnickname The Name of the Rose and The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco are set in Medieval Europe and are scrupulously accurate not only about historical facts, but also about the world view the characters might have held.
Alan Massie wrote a series of novels about Roman emperors which also rang true, but they seem to be out of print, according to Amazon.
07-13-02, 09:40 PM Strider0 If you would like to venture into the thriller genre, Silja, I would highly recommend Crichton's Timeline. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put the darn thing down!
Physicists, historians, archaeologists, businessmen, engineers, knights, princesses, evil lords...all wrapped up in the 14th century France.
I recommend it to anyone!
07-14-02, 03:54 PM cattywampus Josephine Tey is one of my very favorite authors but THE DAUGHTER OF TIME is not my favorite book by her. Viv's right, though, the book is very well regarded; some have said it's her best book. I'll reserve that title for THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR. Whether her books are historically accurate I don't know and don't care. A very good non-fiction historical book I just finished is THE CIRCUS FIRE, by Stewart O'Nan, the story of the Ringling Bros. circus fire of 1944, which killed 167 people. eek eek eek
07-17-02, 09:12 AM Elexina
quote:Originally posted by christineell: Anya seton has written many good books that are based on fact...
I absolutely love "Dragonwyck," have you read that one? I re-read it all the time. The movie left a bit to be desired, but the book was excellent, I thought.
07-29-02, 01:06 PM Silja A friend of mine who is a historian sent me this list of recommended fiction books that her faculty put together. Each title was recommended as "a good read" and considered to be generally accurate; however, fiction is fiction! As this is a long list, I put all the books on the Middle Ages here.
************************** - Aveling, Francis. Arnoul the Englishman, 1908. (Paris debates on Plato and Aristotle) - Ball, Margaret. A Bridge to the Sky, 1990 (cathedral building) - Bellonci, Maria. Private Renaissance. (Isabella d'Este) - Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon. - Burgess, Anthony. Nothing Like the Sun, 1965. (Elizabethan England) - Calvino, Italo. Le citta invisibili (available in Enlish translation by William Weaver as Invisible cities). - Carter, Barbara Barclay. Ship without Sails, 1934. (Dante) - Clancy, Gertrude &Joseph. Death is a Pilgrim, 1993 (Chaucer's England) - Clynes, Michael. The White Rose Murders, 1991 (Tudor England, Shallot v.1) ________. The Poisoned Chalice, 1992 (Shallot v. 2)(M) - Cooke Don Carlos, Louisa. A Battle in the Smoke, 1908. (Benedictine monastic life) - Costain, Thomas. The Moneyman, 1947. (Jacques Coeur, 15th century France) ________. Darkness and the Dawn, 1959. (Attila the Hun)
- De Wohl, Louis. The Quiet Light, 1950. (Thomas Aquinas) - Duggan, Alfred. Count Bohemond, 1964. - Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers, 1844 (D'Artagnan v. 1). ________. Twenty Years After (D'Artagnan v. 2) ________. The Vicomte de Bragelonne (D'Artagnan v. 3) ________. Louise de la Valliere (D'Artagnan v. 4) ________. The Man in the Iron Mask.(D'Artagnan v. 5) - Dunnett, Dorothy. The Game of Kings (16th century France, Lymond Chronicles v.1) ________. Queens Play (Lymond v. 2) ________. The Disorderly Knights (Lymond v. 3) ________. Pawn in Frankincense (Lymond v. 4) ________. The Ringed Castle (Lymond v. 5) ________. Checkmate (Lymond v. 6) ________. Niccolo Rising (15th Century Florence, Niccolo v. 1) ________. The Spring of the Ram (Niccolo v. 2) ________. The Unicorn Hunt (Niccolo v. 3) ________. King Hereafter (Macbeth) - Eliot, George. Romola, 1863. (Savonarola and the Florentine Renaissance) - Eyre, Elizabeth. Death of a Duchess, 1991(Renaissance Italy, Sigismondo v. 1) ________. Curtains for the Cardinal, 1992 (Sigismondo v. 2) ________. Poison for the Prince, 1993 (Sigismondo v. 3) - Farrington, Benjamin. Francis Bacon, Pioneer of Planned Science, 1969. - Frazer, Margaret. The Novice's Tale, 1992 (Henry VI's England, Sister Frevisse v. 1) ________. The Servant's Tale, 1993 (Frevisse v. 2) ________. The Outlaw's Tale, 1994 (Frevisse v. 3) ________. The Bishop's Tale, 1994 (Frevisse v. 4) ________. The Boy's Tale, 1995 (Frevisse v. 5) ________. The Murderer's Tale, 1996 (Frevisse v. 6) - Garrett, George. Death of the Fox, 1971. (Elizabethan England) - Griffiths, Paul. Myself and Marco Polo.
- Hesse, Hermann. Narcissus and Goldmund, 1930. - Holland, Cecelia. The Earl, 1971. ________. City of God: A Novel of the Borgias, 1979. - Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1831. - James, Katherine. A City of Contrasts, 1913. (Renaissance Florence) - Jarman, Rosemary Hawley. We Speak No Treason, 1971 (Richard III) - Karr, Phyllis Ann. The Idylls of the Queen, 1982 - Kazantzakis, Nikos. Saint Francis. - Lang, Andrew. A Monk of Fire. - Llywelyn, Morgan. Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas. ________. The Horse Goddess. ________. Lion of Ireland: The Legend of Brian Boru. - Lofts, Norah. Crown of Aloes, 1974. (Isabella I, 15th c. Spain) - Luke, Mary M. A Crown for Elizabeth, 1970. (Elizabeth I) - MacInnes, Colin. Three Years to Play, 1969. (Elizabethan England) - Mann, Thomas. The Holy Sinner. (Pope Gregory the Great) - Marcantel, Pamela. An Army of Angels: A Novel of Joan of Arc, 1997. - Marston, Edward. The Queen's Head, 1988(Elizabethan England, Bracewell v 2E 1) ________. The Merry Devils, 1989 (Bracewell v. 2) ________. The Trip to Jerusalem, 1989 (Bracewell v. 3) ________. The Nine Giants, 1991 (Bracewell v. 4) ________. The Mad Courtesan, 1992 (Bracewell v. 5) ________. The Wolves of Savernake, 1993 (Norman England, Delchard &; Bret v. 1) ________. The Ravens of Blackwater, 1994 (Delchard &;Bret v. 2) ________. The Dragons of Archenfield, 1995 (Delchard &;Bret v. 3) - Merezhkovsky, Dmitri. The Romance of Leonardo Da Vinci, 1902. - Muntz, Hope. The Golden Warrior, 1948. (Norman conquest) - Myers, Henry. The Utmost Island. (10th century Iceland) - Nye, Robert. Falstaff, 1974. ________. Merlin.
- Penman, Sharon Kay. The Sunne in Splendor (15th-century England) ________. Here Be Dragons, 1985 (Henry III's England, v. 1) ________. Falls the Shadow, 1988 (Henry III's England, v. 2) ________. The Reckoning, 1991 (Henry III's England, v. 3) - Potter, Jeremy. A Trail of Blood, 1970 (Henry VIII's England) - Porter, Jane. The Scottish Chiefs. - Pouillon, Fernand. The Stones of the Abbey. - Powys, John Cowper. Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages, 1951 (England, 499) - Reade, Charles. The Cloister and the Hearth, 1861. - Rofheart, Martha. Fortune Made His Sword, 1972. (Henry V, 15th century England) ________. Glendower Country, 1973 (legendary Welsh hero) - Rutherfurd, Edward. Sarum: The Novel of England, 1987. ________. London, 1997. ________. Quentin Durward, 1823. (15th c. France) ________. The Fair Maid of Perth (15th c. Scotland) ________. Kenilworth, 1821. (Elizabethan England) - Sienkewicz, Henryk. Teutonic Knights (15th Century Poland) ________. Fire in the Steppe (16th Century Poland, v. 1) ________. The Deluge (16th Century Poland, v. 2) ________. Pan Michael (16th Century Poland, v. 3) - Simon, Edith. The Golden Hand. - Shellabarger, Samuel. Prince of Foxes, 1947. (Cesare Borgia's Italy) - Stewart, Mary. The Crystal Cave, 1970 (Merlin v. 1). ________. The Hollow Hills, 1973 (Merlin v. 2). ________. The Last Enchantment, 1975 (Merlin v. 3). - Stone, Irving. The Agony and the Ecstasy, 1961. (Michelangelo) - Sutcliff, Rosemary. Sword at Sunset.
- Tolstoy, Nikolai. The Coming of the King: A Novel of Merlin. - Tourney, Leonard. The Players' Boy is Dead, 1982 (Elizabethan England, Stock v. 1) ________. Low Treason, 1983 (Stock v. 2) ________. Familiar Spirits, 1984 (Stock v. 3) ________. The Bartholomew Fair Murders, 1986 (Stock v. 4) ________. Old Saxon Blood, 1988 (Stock v. 5) ________. Knaves Templar, 1991 (Stock v. 6) - Treece, Harry. Viking's Dawn (Sigurdson v. 1) ________. The Road to Miklagard (Sigurdson v. 2) ________. Viking's Sunset (Sigurdson v. 3) ________. Hounds of the King (Norman Conquest v. 1) ________. Man with a Sword (Norman Conquest v. 2) ________. Last of the Vikings (Norman Conquest v. 3) ________. The Horned Helmet. ________. The Children's Crusade. - Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper, 1881. - Undset, Sigrid. The Bridal Wreath, 1920 (Kristen Lavransdatter v. 1) ________. The Mistress of Husaby, 1921 (Kristen Lavransdatter v. 2) ________. The Cross, 1922 (Kristen Lavransdatter v. 3) ________. The Axe, 1925 (13th Century Norway v. 1) ________. The Snake Pit, 1927 (13th Century Norway v. 2) ________. In the Wilderness, 1929 (13th Century Norway v. 3) ________. The Son Avenger, 1932 (13th Century Norway v. 4) - Von Almedingen, Martha E. The Golden Sequence, 1949 (French monastic and peasant life) - Von Kleist, Heinrich. Michael Kohlhaas, 1808. - Waddell, Helen. Peter Abelard, 1933. - Waltari, Mika. The Wanderer, 1951. - White, Helen. Bird of Fire, 1958. - Yourcenar, Marguerite. The Abyss. (16th century France)
07-30-02, 03:04 PM Texan-In-Exile Not quite along the same line, but a historical mystery nonetheless is "Diary of Jack the Ripper" - narrative by Shirley Harrison. This puts forth one the most - in my opinion - convincing theories of who the enigmatic serial killer may actually have been. A follow-up book along the same lines is: "Jack the Ripper. The Final Chapter" - by Paul H. Feldman.
Some years ago, I read a book that set forth a wonderfully convincing theory that Lizzie Borden and her sister collaborated in the murders of their parents. If I can find the title, I will post it.
01-16-06, 04:59 AM Tamsyn Yet again, I have to mention Bernard Cornwell. Smile
As Napoleonic is not my favourite era, I've never read the Sharpe series. But I have read his Warlord Chronicles ("The Winter King", "Excalibur" and "Enemy Of God"), as well as "Harlequin" (Crecy). the first in his Grail series.
I also can't go past Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, starting with Gaius Marius and a moribund Republic in "First Man In Rome"and ending (by my reading, anyway) with Caesar tackling Pompey the Great in "Caesar's Women"
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