My Top 10 Historical Novels of All Time

Welcome to the end of Part 12 of my 20 books of 2020 (numbers 221-240) and I would like to say again, a big thank you to those of you who have joined me on this journey. If you're interested then head to my profile page and you'll be able to see all the sections of this series. Now, let's get on with the history section of our performance.

What is Historical Fiction?

Historical fiction is pretty much what it says on the tin. It's a fictionalised account of actual historical events or it can be alternative historical events as an, obviously, fictionalised account. When we look at historical fiction, we need to take into account the voice, setting and rich history of the time period it is depicting. It won't always be completely accurate (because it's fiction) but it needs to be somewhere in the ballpark in order to make it look realistic enough for a reader to be convinced by it.

Historical Fiction can enter your reading realm for a number of reasons. Maybe it was Philippa Gregory or Hilary Mantel, Allison Weir or even Antonia Fraser that got you into learning more about some of the most enigmatic characters and time periods in history - but whatever it is that got you into it, now you're trapped because it's one hell of a genre.

How I Think It Happened

I believe that historical fiction may have come about with people wanting to know more about wars and plagues. Daniel Defoe's "Journal of the Plague Year" is possibly one of the books that started this fandom to excess and well, it was only continued by people publishing books about times in the distant past to their own. A historical novel is always a good read if you're looking for something more disconnected from electronics and social media etc. because there's none of that in there. With Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" he turns historical fiction on it's head and sends a man from his own time back into the Medieval days of old. It's comedic and brilliant and possibly spurred more of an interest in historical fiction as well.

Truth be told, historical fiction is all around us and whilst some of the entries on this list may surprise you, I don't think any of them will make you think twice about me as a person. I love historical fiction every now and again and though I don't talk about it much, there was a time in my teens where I did nothing except read historical fiction.

The Rules

The rules of the list are this:

- One entry per author (or this list would just be about Philippa Gregory because she's obviously my favourite)

- They must be fiction and not nonfiction or journals/biography/autobiography

With the rules set in place, let us begin on our journey through historical fiction.

My Top Ten Historical Novels of All Time

10. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This one is a nice bit of historical crime fiction because it is all to do with the serial killer HH Holmes and how everything went down at the Chicago World's Fair. I read this a few years ago and I can honestly say that it was an absolutely amazing book. The language and atmosphere really do make you feel like you were living all that while ago and when everything goes down, don't think Erik Larson skips on the detail because he doesn't. Absolutely one of the finest writers of the 21st century. I know it's classed as nonfiction by a lot of people, but it's written in a fictitious style so spare me this one please!

9. The Red and the Black by Stendhal

The beginning of this book always captivated me. This young man who rises in society and then, has a damning fall is a lot like the characters of the French Revolution we know as historical figures. The book is written in an amazing style that mixes complete class and elegance with the rawness and coarseness of France in its most disturbing era. I read this book when I was a teenager and I swear to god, I became nearly obsessed with the character of Julian, linking him in possibility to everyone that has ever been powerful in the Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars and Rebellion Wars of France. The absolute hypocrisy of some of the characters in this book will never fail to amaze and beguile me.

8. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

I read this recently as a part of Reese Witherspoon's Book Club. It was one of the monthly reads for that and I absolutely fell in love with the book and its characters. Based around the USSR and the writer Boris Pasternak, this book tells of the hardships and composition of his magnum opus "Doctor Zhivago". It tells stories of the people around him who go through absolute turmoil and spying that went on in one of the most turbulent ages of Russian History.

7. Perfume by Patrick Suskind

I read this one an awful long time ago and the atmosphere of France at that time period that you get is almost overwhelming. It's a short book but there's a lot to be send about compression. It's a beautiful wonder and the book is written in the most stylish manner. I can't begin to explain. But some of the lines in that book will absolutely take your breath away. I used to have a friend who stated that this was their favourite book and seriously, I know why. It's a gruesome story but told in the most gothically beautiful way.

6. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston

This one is about Canadian History. I know right! You never really find anything about Canadian History but this one is about the discovery of the Newfoundland. I read this a couple of years ago after I saw someone reading it on a train. It was a fantastic book filled with travel and adventure. It's also filled with poetry and class, elegance and violence. There's a turbulence about this book that you get when you're immersed in it. It's a pace you catch when you get into it more as opposed to the almost static and stoic ability it has when you first pick it up.

5. Maus by Art Speigelman

Maus was one of my favourite graphic novels as a teenager. I think that Maus is quite possibly one of the greatest graphic novels ever created because of the fact there's clearly a lot of thinking involved into the story, the characters, the themes and obviously - the historical allegory. It is an amazing way of telling one of history's most bludgeoning stories - the rise of Adolf Hitler. It's an absolute vehicle of a book and if you haven't read "The Complete Maus" then I feel sorry for you.

4. All Quiet on the Western Front by EM Remarque

I won't lie to you when I say that the first time I read this book I felt so overwhelmed that when it was finished, I sat there with my head in my hands for an awfully long time. This book goes way back with me. It was World Book Night and our English Teacher had brought in copies of "All Quiet on the Western Front" for us as a part of that celebration. She gave us all a copy of it as a sort of gift (I can't exactly remember why she gave it to us for free but she did) and I started reading it that very night. I couldn't have been older than 14. I read the whole thing in one sitting and in the late hours of the night, I sat there with my head in my hands, wondering where it all went so horribly wrong. It's a wrenching tale of survival in the midst of war. An absolute heartbreaking account filled with intense technique and some of the most brutal language you'll ever read. There's a reason they call this the greatest war novel ever written.

3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I read this some years back now and I have never really forgotten in (apart from the fact that I re-read it recently - I didn't really forget it before that either). It's not one of those books that leaves you. When you meet the Rostova's and learn of their family troubles, when you meet Pierre and learn of his worries and scandals, when you meet Alexei and learn of him almost dying - everything seems to come together in this giant leap of faith taken by each and every character. Helene, Anatole, Natasha, Pierre, Alexei, Nikolai and even the minor soldiers of the war each must make decisions that could not only impact their lives, but impact the lives of every single other character in the book. It's Russian Historical Novel writing at its very best and there is nothing quite like it.

2. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Set in the Medieval Era, this is like a mystery novel but then again, it's historical fiction. Umberto Eco always writes brilliantly. He wrote with such intelligence when he was alive and this book really defined the genre of Medieval Historical Fiction. Eco's ability to interweave a narrative with these priceless images of the Medieval World that you can't really find anywhere else is one of the talents of the great Italian writer. He was such a powerhouse and this was his magnum opus.

1. The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

The life of Margaret Pole was a turbulent and difficult one according to this book, and she had her share of enemies amongst the court. When Philippa Gregory released this book, I jumped up to buy it straight away (as I do normally with all of her books) and I found this one to be one of the most exciting books she's ever written. Between this and "The Lady of the Rivers", "The Wise Woman" and "The Red Queen" I found it really difficult to decide, but when I read this one, the ending really hit me in a different way. The ending, after you've read the whole book, is one of the most emotional things you'll read in your life. It's absolutely soul-destroying.