Historical (but well-researched) writers

Scribbles

Edward Rutherford - his sweeping, centuries-long sagas such as Sarum, London, New York etc, have had me hooked from their opening paragraphs.

Brilliant books, I've have those three and Dublin. He's also done one on China and another on Russia but I've never found them.

Matthew Lewis
Nathen Amin
Peter Ackroyd
Tracy Borman
Gareth Russell
Steven Veerapen
Marc Morris
Linda Porter
Suzannah Lipscomb
Nicola Tallis
Claire Ridgway

Don’t think Philippa Gregory is regarded as particularly historically accurate.

Alison Weir is unsurpassed in my opinion. Her knowledge of history is obvious but she doesn’t let it get in the way of a good story. My Lady Elizabeth is the first book of hers that I read and it is very well written. It is about Elizabeth I and I learned a lot while enjoying a cracking story. I think my favourite is Innocent Traitor, which is about Lady Jane Grey. Again, the machinations of the family and the Tudor court are well described and the story is very well written. Even though we all know the tragic ending, we are still rooting for Jane and need a handkerchief at the inevitable conclusion.

Max Hastings, Dan Jones and Jan Riley. If you are really interested in history.

Mrsdof

I loved Philippa Gregory, Jean Plaidy and Anya Seton. My all time favourite book is Katherine by Anya Seton. It is the true love story between John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. Their great granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort, was the mother of Henry Tudor who became Henry VII. I have read it three times over the years and never tire of it.

Same here! I absolutely loved Katherine. I was 13 when I read it and still think of it to this day. Just recently, as I do every year around now, I found myself thinking "the tender green time of April" while admiring the beautiful spring foliage and blossom all around.
It could surely have made a wonderful film.
My second favourite Anya Seton is Green Darkness, which is set in the 60s but interweaves the story of a girl who was 'walled up' in the 16th century because she was expecting the child of a monk. The setting for this is Ightham Mote in Kent, which is one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in the country. I've always meant to visit it.

Edward Rutherford - good but hefty reads

missdeke

Scribbles

Edward Rutherford - his sweeping, centuries-long sagas such as Sarum, London, New York etc, have had me hooked from their opening paragraphs.

Brilliant books, I've have those three and Dublin. He's also done one on China and another on Russia but I've never found them.

Both can be found on Amazon

Edward Rutherford, I've read London and Sarum. Clever idea taking several families and following their changing fortunes down the centuries, pre BC until modern times. I'll have to try another it was a while ago I read those two.