Historical (but well-researched) writers

Dorothy Dunnett? Nigel Tranter is dated now but I used to enjoy his work

Ken Follett has done several historical novels, well researched. Early medieval through to WW2 and beyond. They are stand alone but better read from earlier until later. I don’t normally do early medieval but they were very well written and just sucked me in.

Years ago Anya Seton and Victoria Holt did interesting historical tales.

carol McGrath is also very good and has degrees in history & writing

Ayse I forgot to mention Follett! His Pillars of the Earth, plus its prequels and sequels are some of my favourites. I remember Anya Seton was one of y mother's favourites. Also Jean Plaidy.

spabbygirl Am reading a McGrath (The Rose Trilogy) at the moment. She seems to know her facts but I do not find her writing style up that of other writers.

Grandmabatty (what a lovely name!) Thank you for these suggestions. I do not know either writer.

Frugola

Ayse I forgot to mention Follett! His Pillars of the Earth, plus its prequels and sequels are some of my favourites. I remember Anya Seton was one of y mother's favourites. Also Jean Plaidy.

spabbygirl Am reading a McGrath (The Rose Trilogy) at the moment. She seems to know her facts but I do not find her writing style up that of other writers.

Grandmabatty (what a lovely name!) Thank you for these suggestions. I do not know either writer.

thats a shame Frugola, I know what you mean though

Mary Renault:Ancient Greece:.
Alison Weir: mainly medieval to Tudor, novels about historical
characters as well as biographies.
Pat Barker: trilogy about the women in the Trojan War.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - the Dynasty series goes from the Wars of the Roses in England to 1935 in 35 volumes about a Yorkshire family. The first one I read was set in 1912, so although the same family features all the way through, you don't have to read them in sequence if you don't want to.

Wheniwasyourage

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - the Dynasty series goes from the Wars of the Roses in England to 1935 in 35 volumes about a Yorkshire family. The first one I read was set in 1912, so although the same family features all the way through, you don't have to read them in sequence if you don't want to.

I was at school with her. She is a few years older than me, I remember her as a much admired 6th former who got the same bus home!
I must admit that I’ve always meant to read her books, but never round to it. There’s a lot of them, maybe I should start.

Learned all of my Tudor histories from Jean Plaidy. In younger days, about older eras, loved Rosemary Sutcliffe.
Would 'Anne of Green Gables' count as historical fiction?

They are very good, I think, J52. I don't normally go for historical novels, but I find these ones well-written and (I assume) well-researched, and have learned quite a lot of (mostly English, but later British and some American) history.

Her crime novels with Bill Slider, her detective, are also good and funny in parts.

Interesting to hear that you were at school with her!

Loved 'Mistress of the Art of Death' by Ariana Franklin, who was also known as Diana Norman.

Mary Renault
Philippa Gregory
Roberta Gellis -I learnt a lot from them.

I’ve just read Philippa Gregory’s Earthly Joys. What an eye opener. Not my normal genre, but given to me by a friend.

Non fiction I like Dan Jones for the Medieval period, AN Wilson for 19th century. For an overview of ancient history to modern times you can't beat Simon Schama.

Fiction, I read quite a bit of Jean Plaidy when I was at school and more recently Philippa Gregory and Hilary Mantel of course.

I enjoy reading long series of books, so that I can really get to know the main characters. My specific chosen genre is historical detective fiction and must say am spoiled for choice with so many really great writers covering this.

I am currently immersed (audible books for me as cannot manage to read late at night) in Sam Burnell's Richard Fitzwarren ten books. These are not detective ones, but good, exciting stuff set around mid Tudor times.

Of course, nothing at all can beat (or really be as good as) CJ Sansom's wonderful books, I have listened to whole series at least three times and each time they bring something new to me,

Susanna Gregory has a long and enjoyable series in my chosen genre set in meadieval Cambridge, Andrew Taylor's great stories in 17 century London. Then there is Ann Swinfen' series and, of course, the Master of it all, Bernard Cornwell. Plus many, many more.

The amount of great research that goes into books by these authors always amazes me. I love social history - what people ate, wore, etc. is so much more important than which monarch sat on the throne - and these books cover this extremely well.

Maremia

Learned all of my Tudor histories from Jean Plaidy. In younger days, about older eras, loved Rosemary Sutcliffe.
Would 'Anne of Green Gables' count as historical fiction?

I got 22% in my Mock History GCE, most of my knowledge gained from historical novels, rather than doing good, solid revision and got a sarcastic comment from the history teacher 😃
Thankfully I swotted up the important stuff and passed the real exam.

I liked Jean Plaidy, Philippa Gregory, Rosemsry Sutcliffe and mystery tales set in Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor.

Mary Renault’s novels are peerless if you like Ancient Greece; you don’t read her novels - you live in them. Nathalie Haynes Pat Barker and Madeline Miller are also writers you can’t put down if you like stories based on Greek mythology.

I read all the Ariana Franklin “Mistress of the Art of Death” novels Maremia: her daughter finished the last one and it was pretty much seamless, but I was bereft that she had died and we would have no more of her writing. I read her early novels written under her own name and loved them all.

I’m currently re-reading Manda Scott’s Boudica novels. Again, a mesmerising writer of meticulously researched fiction.

I would also add Elizabeth Chadwick’s trilogy of novels about Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Thank you all and thank you Frugola for starting the thread.

I'll save it for future reference.

Georgette Heyer - wrong period but accurate.
Easy reading.
Maybe too easy.

How do you know whether an author is historically well researched?

If you can find it The Heretics by Alison McLeod is a fantastic book - it's based on the life of the Protestant Anne Askew, burned at the stake under Henry VIII.

I read it a long time ago but it's very, very good.

C J Sansom , the Shardlake series, set in Tudor times is hard to beat.
Hilary Mantel, the Wolf Hall trilogy, also in Tudor times.
Pat Barker, the trilogy set around the first World War.

M0nica

How do you know whether an author is historically well researched?

Yes, a good question 😁
I think it’s when you realise that you’ve learned a lot, even tho it’s a novel, about everyday life in a certain time period. I like the authors who bring in facts without it being a clumsy insertion but simply part of what’s happening, and done seamlessly.