[brendonbackflip]

Any one recommend any good ones I could read?

I like the ones set in the 20th century wars a lot (I'm interested in them in general ) - really liked The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

[Fusion]

Dr Zhivago

[Michaelj]

Bernard Cornwell is the master of historical fiction. Try his Sharpe novels if you like war novels, he knows how to tell a good story but also shower you with facts. Look up "Sharpe" wiki. Infact other than Sharpe Bernard Cornwell has lots of good novels to choose from, from various time periods.

[ThatPerson]

Animal Farm by George Orwell? Orwell explores Communism in this, so I guess It has a lot of relevance to real events in the 20th century.

[Boom.Squish]

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Collins. Beautiful book. Also, Tracy Chevalier has some good stuff

[littlehobbit]

If you wanted to branch out, Philippa Gregory has written some fantastic novels about Henry VIII's reign!

[TomDixie]

Off the top of my head, these are my favourite. All based around war however and certainly not 20th century! Have a go of them though mate


Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe series, Arthur series, Saxon series
Conn Iggulden - Julius Caesar series
Simon Scarrow - Eagle series

[thethinker]

Wolf Hall

[jsb123]

I'm not sure if you could consider novels about the 20th Century as 'historical fiction' (at least not in the same way as, say, the 'Sharpe' books - which are a good read, as said above), as the authors, mostly, lived through it. For WW2 (although written by people involved) The Tin Drum is really good and so is Catch-22, although both from a more unusual style.

For Napoleonic naval history, there's the Hornblower series.

[annieteriba]

Try Operation Mincemeat or anything else by Ben MacIntyre, it's set in the middle of world war II and retells an actual event whilst reading like a seriously good spy novel..

[Allie J]

I loved The Book Thief - it's one of my favourite books. My dad has read Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series and enjoyed them so you could try those. I haven't read many set in that period so I wouldn't know

[introvertedraccoon]

Atonement by Ian McEwan? If you're looking for a bit of romance that is...

[Scatach]

If you're interested in Elizabethan England, then SJ Parris is the way to go. I've read the first two in her series with Giordano Bruno, and look forward to reading the third. She combines the history of the time with a crime/thriller style, I'd highly recommend her.

[Norton1]

(Original post by thethinker)
Wolf Hall

I found it was absolutely awesome for the first 1/2 to 3/4 and then I hit a wall and couldn't really be bothered anymore. I finished it but it was a struggle.

[thethinker]

(Original post by Norton1)
I found it was absolutely awesome for the first 1/2 to 3/4 and then I hit a wall and couldn't really be bothered anymore. I finished it but it was a struggle.

Yeah lots of people found it quite hard to get through. I read it on holiday so I could really get into it. I take it you're not going to bother with the sequel?

[Emberson]

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.

It's about an English soldier in WW1 who goes and fights, as well as a love story interwoven (but certainly not taking precedence. I don't like romance and I love this book). It sounds an average book but it has amazing reviews and really, it's just something else. Thoroughly recommend it.

The Siege, by Helen Dunmore

I'm reading this at the moment and it's about the German invasion of Russia, focusing on a Russian family as they attempt to survive starvation and war. At the minute it's unexpectedly good.

[geology.is.gneiss]

(Original post by brendonbackflip)
Any one recommend any good ones I could read?

I like the ones set in the 20th century wars a lot (I'm interested in them in general ) - really liked The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

I loved that book! so sad though
I just finished Annexed, which is about the boy who lives with Anne Frank, might be worth a try!

They're not in that time period, but Sepulchre and Labyrinth by Kate Mosse are good (not the model, obvs )

Annnnnnnd My Last Duchess was quite good if a little more romantic than historical!
Oooooh and Teresa Breslin is good aswell - I like the Medici Seal and The Nostradamus Prophecy

[The_Lonely_Goatherd]

The Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker

[Norton1]

(Original post by thethinker)
Yeah lots of people found it quite hard to get through. I read it on holiday so I could really get into it. I take it you're not going to bother with the sequel?

I don't think so. When I read it there was something really weird about the writing I just couldn't put my finger on. You don't happen to know what that was do you?

[thethinker]

(Original post by Norton1)
I don't think so. When I read it there was something really weird about the writing I just couldn't put my finger on. You don't happen to know what that was do you?

Maybe that it's written in a weird present tense, with Cromwell referred to as 'He'. It sometimes was quite confusing when there was ambiguity over who the 'he' referred to.