Historical Fiction Recommendations (Moses Kagan’s Thread)

Moses Kagan (@moseskagan) asked on X on April 13, 2025: “What historical fiction should I read next?” These are the books the replies named.

The books

98 books.

• 1632 — Eric Flint
• A Gentleman in Moscow — Amor Towles
• A Land Remembered — Patrick D. Smith
• A Man at Arms — Steven Pressfield
• A Suitable Boy — Vikram Seth
• Agincourt (Bernard Cornwell) — Bernard Cornwell
• Alaska’s Wolf Man — Jim Rearden
• All the King’s Men — Robert Penn Warren
• An Instance of the Fingerpost — Iain Pears
• Angle of Repose — Wallace Stegner
• Between Two Fires (Christopher Buehlman) — Christopher Buehlman
• Birds Without Wings — Louis de Bernières
• Buddenbrooks — Thomas Mann
• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch — Jean Lee Latham
• Cathedral of the Sea — Ildefonso Falcones
• Centennial — James A. Michener
• Chesapeake — James A. Michener
• City of Dreams (Beverly Swerling) — Beverly Swerling
• Conquistador — Buddy Levy
• Cryptonomicon — Neal Stephenson
• Daybreak (Matt Gallagher) — Matt Gallagher
• Dreamland (Kevin Baker) — Kevin Baker
• Empire of Pain — Patrick Radden Keefe
• Endurance — Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage — Alfred Lansing
• Hawaii (James Michener) — James A. Michener
• Here Be Dragons — Sharon Kay Penman
• I, Claudius — Robert Graves
• In the Garden of Beasts — Erik Larson
• James (Percival Everett) — Percival Everett
• Killer Angels — Michael Shaara
• Master and Commander — Patrick O’Brian
• Medicus — Ruth Downie
• New York (Edward Rutherfurd) — Edward Rutherfurd
• Noble House — James Clavell
• One Hundred Years of Solitude — Gabriel García Márquez
• One Second After — William R. Forstchen
• Pillars of the Earth — Ken Follett
• Quicksilver — Neal Stephenson
• River God — Wilbur Smith
• Roman Blood — Steven Saylor
• Shantaram — Gregory David Roberts
• Shibumi — Trevanian
• Shoe Dog — Phil Knight
• Skygods — Robert Gandt
• Sparrowhawk — Jack Frake — Edward Cline
• Stone’s Fall — Iain Pears
• The Abyss (Marguerite Yourcenar) — Marguerite Yourcenar
• The Agony and the Ecstasy — Irving Stone
• The Alienist — Caleb Carr
• The Architect’s Apprentice — Elif Shafak
• The Baroque Cycle — Neal Stephenson
• The Bomber Mafia — Malcolm Gladwell
• The Box — Marc Levinson
• The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) — Alexandre Dumas
• The Devil in the White City — Erik Larson
• The Dream of Scipio — Iain Pears
• The Financier — Theodore Dreiser
• The First Man in Rome — Colleen McCullough
• The Fountainhead — Ayn Rand
• The Fraud — Zadie Smith
• The Frontiersmen — Allan W. Eckert
• The Godfather — Mario Puzo
• The Golden Spruce — John Vaillant
• The Great Train Robbery — Michael Crichton
• The Guns of August — Barbara Tuchman
• The Help — Kathryn Stockett
• The Island of Missing Trees — Elif Shafak
• The Jungle — Upton Sinclair
• The Last Days of Night — Graham Moore
• The Last Kingdom — Bernard Cornwell
• The MANIAC — Benjamin Labatut
• The March — E. L. Doctorow
• The Nightingale — Kristin Hannah
• The Path Between the Seas — David McCullough
• The Power Broker — Robert A. Caro
• The Silver Pigs — Lindsey Davis
• The Son (Philipp Meyer) — Philipp Meyer
• The Source (James Michener) — James A. Michener
• The Stress of Her Regard — Tim Powers
• The Three-Body Problem — Liu Cixin
• The Tiger (John Vaillant) — John Vaillant
• The Valley of Decision — Marcia Davenport
• The Wager — David Grann
• The Walking Drum — Louis L’Amour
• The Winds of War — Herman Wouk
• The Winter King — Bernard Cornwell
• The Year of the French — Thomas Flanagan
• There Are Rivers in the Sky — Elif Shafak
• Tortilla Flat — John Steinbeck
• TransAtlantic — Colum McCann
• Trinity (Leon Uris) — Leon Uris
• Under the Eagle — Simon Scarrow
• Well That Didn’t Work — Thaddeus Trenchant
• When the Lion Feeds — Wilbur Smith
• When We Cease to Understand the World — Benjamín Labatut
• Winter’s Tale — Mark Helprin
• Wolf Hall — Hilary Mantel
• Yonderings — Ben H. English

Connections

• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the original post, archived.
• Book Lists — Master