A fictional book with historically accurate elements sounds like a fun way to learn history! Also absolutely open to nonfiction stories as well. Thanks!
If you are into Japanese history, I strongly recommend “Taiko” and “Musashi” by Eiji Yoshikawa
mendizabal1 on
The Leopard
whoiwasthismorning on
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier – tells the story of the discovery of dinosaur fossils in England.
Read_It_Err on
If you’re looking for something funny as well, there’s a Spanish author Vital Aza, who wrote a book *Plutarch: Festive Biographies of Famous People*, which has hilarious ~10-page accounts of famous Greek and Roman historical figures like Demosthenes, Petrarch, Seneca, Diogenes etc.
Grounded in fact, but fictionalized and exaggerated, they are laugh out loud narratives of these figures’ lives.
A few sample quotes:
On Diogenes:
>A Corinth property owner, known for being a bad person, built himself a house and had this sign placed over the entrance door: “May nothing evil enter through this door.”
“Through which door will the owner enter?” Diogenes asked.
On Demosthenes:
>Demosthenes, often called “the blacksmith’s boy” by the neighborhood gossips, grew up quite anemic. This condition led an Athenian doctor to question the effectiveness of iron in treating poor blood, remarking: “A boy who spends his life in a forge might lack air, but iron…”
Heavy_Direction1547 on
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series (Royal Navy, Napoleonic Wars) is loved for many reasons, one of which is the meticulous research, not just about life and the conflict at sea but medicine, natural history, politics…
svemirska_krofna on
Lust for Life – Irving Stone, it’s a story about Vincent van Gogh and I loved it!
Other Stone’s books are on my tbr list.
JKT-477 on
Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger wrote several great American history books that read like novels.
The Doorbell Rang is a reflection of how America viewed the FBI in the 60’s. Also a great Nero Wolfe mystery. You might also like Home to Roost, a novella in Triple Jeopardy. It shows the relationships and attitudes towards communism during the Cold War.
Books_Of_Jeremiah on
Go for the OG: Romance of Three Kingdoms. There are some elements we’d today call fantasy, but you know… For the time and place it was written, totally not.
oceanlane09 on
The Last White Rose by Alison Weir- it’s about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mom. I just finished it and I loved it.
Medici’s Daughter by Sophie Perinot- it’s about Princess Marguerite de Valois during the French wars of religion
oceanlane09 on
The Last White Rose by Alison Weir- it’s about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mom. I just finished it and I loved it.
Medici’s Daughter by Sophie Perinot- it’s about Princess Marguerite de Valois during the French wars of religion
10 Comments
If you are into Japanese history, I strongly recommend “Taiko” and “Musashi” by Eiji Yoshikawa
The Leopard
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier – tells the story of the discovery of dinosaur fossils in England.
If you’re looking for something funny as well, there’s a Spanish author Vital Aza, who wrote a book *Plutarch: Festive Biographies of Famous People*, which has hilarious ~10-page accounts of famous Greek and Roman historical figures like Demosthenes, Petrarch, Seneca, Diogenes etc.
Grounded in fact, but fictionalized and exaggerated, they are laugh out loud narratives of these figures’ lives.
A few sample quotes:
On Diogenes:
>A Corinth property owner, known for being a bad person, built himself a house and had this sign placed over the entrance door: “May nothing evil enter through this door.”
“Through which door will the owner enter?” Diogenes asked.
On Demosthenes:
>Demosthenes, often called “the blacksmith’s boy” by the neighborhood gossips, grew up quite anemic. This condition led an Athenian doctor to question the effectiveness of iron in treating poor blood, remarking: “A boy who spends his life in a forge might lack air, but iron…”
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series (Royal Navy, Napoleonic Wars) is loved for many reasons, one of which is the meticulous research, not just about life and the conflict at sea but medicine, natural history, politics…
Lust for Life – Irving Stone, it’s a story about Vincent van Gogh and I loved it!
Other Stone’s books are on my tbr list.
Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger wrote several great American history books that read like novels.
The Doorbell Rang is a reflection of how America viewed the FBI in the 60’s. Also a great Nero Wolfe mystery. You might also like Home to Roost, a novella in Triple Jeopardy. It shows the relationships and attitudes towards communism during the Cold War.
Go for the OG: Romance of Three Kingdoms. There are some elements we’d today call fantasy, but you know… For the time and place it was written, totally not.
The Last White Rose by Alison Weir- it’s about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mom. I just finished it and I loved it.
Medici’s Daughter by Sophie Perinot- it’s about Princess Marguerite de Valois during the French wars of religion
The Last White Rose by Alison Weir- it’s about Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mom. I just finished it and I loved it.
Medici’s Daughter by Sophie Perinot- it’s about Princess Marguerite de Valois during the French wars of religion