Beginner Historical Fiction Recommendations
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- Welcome to The Brothers Gwynne as we recommend historical fiction works that we think are great and also accessible to beginners. Hope you enjoy!
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Channels Mentioned:
@TheLibraryofAllenxandria
Edward Goodreads - / edward
William Goodreads - / william-gwynne
Edward Twitter - / brothered14
William Twitter - / thewolfandcrow1
Edward Gwynne Instagram - / wolven_armoury
William Gwynne Instagram - / the_wolf_and_crow
#booktube #bookrecommendations #historicalfiction
The Brothers Gwynne is officially the best place on UA-cam for historical fiction recommendations! Not to mention the copious charm, camaraderie, and occasional cheese joke! 😁
You are far too kind! The cheese joke is by far the most common of them hahah.
Thank you for the recommendation of Wolf of Wessex! I'm honoured to be mentioned along with those amazing authors.
It was our absolute pleasure :). Also, I just finished Blade and Blade, and it is another great instalment in The Bernicia Chronicles!
Will
Lots of great suggestions here. Thanks so much boys!
This is great, I have never read historical fiction before and wanted to dive into this interesting genre! Thank you for sharing Brothers Gwynne!
It was our pleasure! Hope a few of these interest you :)
will
Great recommendations guys! These are the type of historical fic I was looking for
This video has been an Eye Opener for Me , Thank You so so Much guys , You Rock Brothers Gwynne
Our absolute pleasure :). Hope we intrigued you in a few books!
Thanks for watching :)
Will
Thank you for this. Been looking for historical fiction recommendations.
Our absolute pleasure! Hope you find a few that you enjoy :). Thank you for watching!
Will
Really love historical fiction. Tolstoy, Clavell, Michener, Follett, many more. Great video with some new recommendations for me! Great video :)
Great video guys. New to the channel. Can’t wait to dive into these!
Thanks so much! Really hope that you pick some of them up and enjoy the channel :)
Subscribed for this genre alone! Keep this coming guys..
Thanks so much😊 We will!
Ed
Yesssssss!! I have long awaited this video!! 💓
Hope a few of our recommendations interest you :)
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne I must say the Wolf Den is now sooooooo high on my tbr and I've also gotten the push I needed to pick up Mary Renault!
What a great list. I’ve added them all to my audible. Should keep me going.
You guys got me into historical fiction a while back with a Cornwell recommendation and it has quickly become one of my favourite genres. The interview with Christian Cameron got me into reading his books, and for that, I am especially grateful. Just got done reading killer of men and its one of the best books I've read this year
That is so awesome to read! So glad we got you interested in historical fiction :). We will be talking plenty more HF on the channel for more recommendations! And please let us know if there is anything you want us to cover in particular. Thanks for watching!
Will
I love how prominently you display your dad's books in your recording space. I'd like to imagine his initial confusion as to why you needed no less than three copies of each Bloodsworn book, and the smile that split his face when he saw just how cool the display looks.
Also, I'm so glad you mentioned Cornwell's Arthurian books! I'm a huge fan of the film adaptation of The Last Kingdom and have been meaning to acquire both series. It's good to know that the sons of my favorite author can give their seal of approval. I'm sure I'll soon be happily joining the League of Lads Who Hate Lancelot.
And I second the Gates of Fire recommendation! It's a beautifully written and wonderfully heartbreaking piece of storytelling that I was very fortunate to have been allowed to read as a choice book in high school with a group of friends (we did not tell our teacher how colorful Pressfield's language could be, lol)
Wonderful content as always, Ed & Will. Keep up the great work!
Aha, well we couldn't not share the awesome wrap-around cover! Always blows us away how awesome they are.
We love The Last Kingdom adaptation as well :). I think The Saxon Stories are great, but we love his Arthurian series even more! Hope you enjoy if you give it a shot, and please do join The League hahah!
That is awesome that you were allowed to choose a book to read at school. Gates of Fire was a great choice. Glad you also enjoyed! Hahah, I bet you didn't!
Thanks for watching :)
Will
Glad to see more HF content! Gates of Fire and Warlord Chronicles are now high on my list. Reading Lonesome Dove currently, and I am all for the movement of including Westerns in HF.
Glad they are high on your tbr :). I really hope you check them out! Ed absolutely adores Lonesome Dove. I need to get around to reading it.
Will
Great video. I started reading historical fiction after watching some of your HF reviews.
Thank you so much! That is awesome to hear. Hope you enjoy!
Will
Great list, guys...including some I never heard of. Pressfield's Gates of Fire (followed by his Tides of War) was my intro to historical fiction and was hooked since.
Pressfield is the king!
Ed
It’s because of you guys I started to read historical fiction, as well as Bernard Cornwell. I couldn’t thank you guys more for that too!! Thanks bro’s!
That is so great to hear! No need to thank us. Thanks for watching and for supporting the channel :). Truth and Courage!
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne I thought I would mention it. Now you know your videos are not in vain lol :) Take care fella’s!
Thanks for these recommendations. I’m currently reading The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield and I’m typically a heavy fantasy reader, so I like thay you’ve approached historical fiction from that angle.
Most of these are in my TBR already 💖
Great to hear! hope you make the dive into some of them :)
Will
Well, if I am going to take historical fiction recommendations from anyone, then it has to be you guys!
You totally sold me on these books, I can't wait to *dive* in ;)
Thanks for putting this list together!! ☺
You are far too kind!
Hope we convinced you to take the dive :).
Thanks for watching!
Will
Thanks both! I've been wanting to read some more historical fiction but didn't know what to pick up. I have Lancelot so will start there, but the Winter King and Wolf Den are high on the list as well.
No need to thank us. Hope you dive into Lancelot soon and love it! Thanks for watching :)
Will
Just read The Gates of Rome based on an earlier video of yours. Loved it!
Ed will be very happy to hear that he convinced you to give it a shot! Glad you loved it :)
Will
I love the historical fiction recommendations
The Winter King was my gateway drug into historical fiction. Thanks for reminding me about Conn Iggulden! I read the first book of his Genghis Khan series a few years ago and need to revisit his writing.
Hahah, love to hear that! Hope a few others interest you as well :). Would love to hear your thoughts as well once you've given them a go!
Will
I accidentally bought book 4 in the Gengis Khan series and now I guess I'll have to get the others... 😂
@@bookschocaholic HA! I think some books don't number the sequels on the cover for these reasons!
Sorry brothers, but I got a very long comment for you... read when you got 10 min to spare...
-- FYI, You are the pioneers of the genre (at least within this corner of booktube community)!! Thank you for helping to bring historical fiction into the forefront!
So many of these books mentioned, I have yet to read. I've been building a Conn Iggulden collection over the past year, I'm start with his War of the Roses books soon.
Sisters Brothers is another one I've had on my Kindle for a while, looking forward to that as well.
I'm actually reading Gates of Fire 🔥 right now, started it yesterday. This was upon your recommendation 😀 You are absolutely right about Pressfield's writing, his prose is so unique! And I like the setup, how he's a captive relaying his story to an interpreter (because he's not allowed to speak directly to His Majesty, Xerxes)
Anyways, here's a few honorable mentions for ya, in case you want to look them up:
Sharon kay Penman- she writes big books, primarily set between 1100s-1300 - beautiful writing and lighter on the action, but heavy on character development and political intrigue. Even the romances are done very well, and that's not something I usually comment on.
John Jakes -- if you like American Civil War, his North and South trilogy was fantastic. Covers the years leading up to the war, then during the war, and finally post-war reconstruction era. Quite an epic!
James michener - I've read 3x of his books so far. He writes sagas that usually takes place in a particular setting. They're huge tomes, but they tend to move right along. I started with Centennial, and became a fan from there.
Finally -- Robert McCammon-- his popular books are Boy's Life and Swan Song, and is currently being talked about within booktube community. But he just released book 8 of his Matthew Corbett series -- my favorite historical fiction series to date. Starts with Speaks the Nightbird set in American south 1699. I think you brothers would love it, and any of his books.
No need to apologise at all! You are too kind. We have noticed that there is a gap on UA-cam regarding historical fiction, and we would love to talk to more people about the genre!
Conn Iggulden is a great author! I haven't read his Wars of the Roses series yet. Ed has thought. He enjoyed it, but not as much as Emperor :).
Sisters Brothers is a very easy read that explores character brilliantly.
So glad that we interested you in Gates of Fire! Would love to hear your thoughts when you're finished with it.
Thank you for the recommendations! I have made a note of them, and I am particularly interested in Sharon kay Penman and Robert McCammon. I have heard a lot about Swan Song recently.
Thank you so much for the recommendations and for watching this video. Truth and Courage!
Will
I consider westerns a subgenre of historical fiction, same as mythological retellings (like Circe) as a subgenre.
Currently working my way through the Saxon Tales by Cornwell and I'm one of those that doesn't want two series by the same author on the go at once... But the covers of the aurthurian ones are 👌
OMG Wolf Den looks sooooooo good, I'll wait till the trilogy concludes and binge!
I have the war of the roses trilogy by Conn Iggulden, I've not tried him yet but excited to dip my toes in!
I own the King Must Die by Mary Renault and I must say it keeps getting bumped further up my reading list every time you guys mention it!
Thanks for the vid gents, excellent recs as usual!
Interesting! I probably agree with you there.
Awesome! I have three instalments left of Saxon Stories :). Hope you enjoy!
Definitely have The Wolf Den in the queue! Same with Iggulden.
Thank you so much for watching!
Will
Ohhhh, great video. I already own a few of these. I think I’ll start with The Winter King, especially since Allen raves about it as well. The Wolf Den is also relatively high up my list.
Thank you :). The Winter King is one for everyone, and I think you'll love The Wolf Den!
Thanks for watching :)
Will
Just recently found your channel. Picked up The Wolf Den after seeing it recommended on a couple of your videos. Thanks for the great recs! And yes, westerns should be considered HS.
Great video, just bought The Sisters Brothers and Gates of Fire upon your recommendation, please do more videos on historical fiction.
Thank you! So glad that we piques your interest in them :). We plan on doing a video recommending historical fiction based on era.
Thanks for watching!
Will
Reading Gates of Fire right now! Loving it, especially after being underwhelmed by Cornwell's Grail Quest Trilogy.
So glad you're loving it! Completely agree about the Grail Quest. The Cornwell template really kicks in.
Ed
I couldn't resist suggesting you this historical fiction novel as I was watching your video: (The Thief, the Harlot, and the Healer) My favorite genre is historical fiction.
Thanks Zeeva! It's on my list now 😊
Ed
You guys are the best! I'm your biggest fan in Argentina!
Thank you so much! Truth and courage!
Will
I am hoping to start the Warlord Chronicles before the end of the year! I have been adding pretty much all of his works to my never-ending tbr!
Hope you do get around to it! He is definitely an author worth checking out :)
Will
The Winter King was BRUTAL for me to get in to. I think part of it was that I had no prior context to the setting and it was my first historical fiction to read. It’s not very easy to get in to. I actually didn’t enjoy it at all until I finished it. I think it’s because it took Cornwell so long to get into the action of the book.
Can also recommend the «Arn/Templar Knight»-trilogy by Jan Guillou, as well as some childhood classics: «Ivanhoe», «Ben Hur», «The Children of the New Forest», the «Hornblower»-series and the «Aubrey-Maturin»-series!
Thank you! I need to check that out :). Thanks for watching and for the recommendation. Hope you enjoyed :)
Will
I read the first book of Empire of Salt. It was available on audio to me. I quite enjoyed it tbh
I loved The Sisters Brothers and Lonesome Dove. I hear The Virginian is also great western history. I haven’t read it yet, it’s on my TBR.
Glad that you did! Sisters Brothers is great, and I need to read Lonesome Dive!
I will check that out :).
Thanks for watching!
Will
this is the video i needed!
So glad to hear that! Hope a few of these titles interest you :)
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne Already bought Wolf of Wessex and I haven't finished the video :D
I've loved the Wolf Hall miniseries with Damian Lewis. So this would probably right up my alley!
I also already got Emperor and Concqueror (insanely cheap 10 book box set!) based on your recommendation :)))
If you love the series I am pretty certain you'll love the book! I haven't watched the series, but I have heard it is pretty loyal in its adaptation. I loved Wolf Hall so I definitely recommend :).
That is awesome! It'll keep you busy for a while aha.
Thanks so much for watching!
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne That's also what I've heard. It's probably much condensed, but I loved everything about it, knowing nothing going in. Also highly recommend ;)
Have you guys tried Rosemary Sutcliff? A lot of her books are Young Adult but they are excellent. Eagle of the Ninth is her most famous portrait of Roman Britain.
Many of her books are linked by a ring with a dolphin figure that characters from Hadrian's time down to Cromwell's bear linking protagonists utterly unaware of one another.
I read her SWORD AT SUNSET last year. Written for adults, it’s a ‘realistic’ Arthur book and is absolutely wonderful. She also did a knights-in-shining-armour Arthur series which I haven’t read.
Warlord chronicles is next up on my radar
I think you will love it!
Will
Westerns are absolutely historical history!! “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee” Lonesome Dove the Native American tribes and their stories and history. The history of Chief Joseph (Nez Pierce tribe)and how he started the Appaloosa horses. How camels and elephants were brought over to U. S. So many great stories of true western sheriffs and gunfighters. James Brothers Billy the Kid. Wild Bill Hickok and Annie Oakley!Apache Junction,Arizona and the Superstition Mountain!! Gunfight at O K Corral go visit Tombstone,Arizona or Old Tucson where I met a friend of my dads,the great grandson on Cochise. So much history !!
Mary Renault is the O.G. of Ancient Greece historical fiction.
I’ve read the Theseus books, the Alexander Trilogy is on my tbr.
I need to take the dive! Really want to since Ed read Fire From Heaven. Thanks for letting me know about her Theseus books!
Will
Oh I adore historical fiction; Iggulden, Cornwell, Renault, Giles, lovely recs guys! Have you read Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy? It’s amazing although less magical in a sense. The wolf den was another amazing read as well as the sequel if you haven’t read it yet!
That is great to hear! Glad you agree with some of our recommendations :). No, we have not! I will definitely be adding it to my tbr pile.
I have the sequel waiting on my shelf. Really need to get to it soon. Glad you enjoyed it as well!
Thanks for watching :)
Wil
Ok, love this video!! Ordered 3 books again. Only 3 because I already have a couple from previous video's 😂
So glad that you do. Hahah, ONLY three! Which ones were they? Hope you enjoy them!
Thanks for watching :)
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne I already read and loved Warlord chronicles, I have gates of fire, that is on my July TBR.
Newly ordered are 'the wolf den' 'fire under heaven' and ' the gates of Rome'
Just finished Conn Iggulden Conqueror series . Highly recommend it for those who haven’t read that yet . Gates of Athens next .
Conn Iggulden’s wars of the roses series is amazing. Just by reading the series you become a pseudo expert in the convoluted family trees and political machinations of the wars of the roses period. So very good.
If anyone’s read Iggulden’s fantasy series, is it any good?
I am starting with the Troy Trilogy by David Gemmell read the first 2 books this month already
Awesome! I read the second instalment last month :)! Hope you're enjoying it.
Thanks for watching!
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne loving everything about it!!!
Speaking of Julius Caesar fiction, have you tried Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series? It's 7 books rather then Conn's 5, and their around twice the size 1000 page chonkers. Can't say yet if I like them, so far I'm only collecting Historical Fiction (one day I'll read them all chronologically!), but they're pretty well loved - and they've got great maps and pictures.
Thanks for the recs!
I have not, but it is high on my TBR! Hope you take the dive soon :).
Thanks for watching!
Will
initial thought: .. if there is no Giles in it .. i riot, bc he was my perfect intro to HF through him I found my love for Historical Fiction
actually watching the video: woohoooooooooo Giles .. Sigurd is my absolute book-crush 🖤
The Winter King is high on my list but after Saxon Tales by Cornwell (currently btw book 5 and 6)
i need Gates of Fire - loved 300 and the whole battle. Conn Iggulden is a brilliant author - Conquerer series is amazing. i only read/listened to the 1st - really great characters.
personally i think western could very well be HF.
Absolute great list of books, thanx
Truth and Courage!
Hahah, we would riot as well! We believe he is perfect for beginners! And yes, Sigurd is just awesome.
Hope you're enjoying Saxon Tales! I have three instalments to go now. Hope you enjoy The Winter King when you get to it :).
Gates of Fire will almost definitely be to your taste then! Glad you agree with me about Conqueror!
Thank you for watching!
Truth and Courage!
Will
I will vote for westerns being a subgenre of historical fiction. Just like gothic horror is part of the horror genre (also my favourite part).
Just like historical mysteries are part of the historical fiction genre.
So The First Man in Rome is historical fiction, in the traditional sense, The Last Days of Night can be categorised as a historical fiction thriller, The Winter King historical fiction mythology, The Alienist historical fiction mystery adventure, and the Lonesome Dove historical fiction Western.
Like fantasy one of the most diverse genres imo. 😊
Your reviews are great, the best ive found so far
Have you guys ever read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa? A personal fav
Thanks so much for the kind comment!
It's high up on the list! I also am desperate to read Taiko.
Ed
If you like westerns you should read butchers crossing by John Williams. He's my all time favorite author!
I need to read some Mary Renault. I've seen her books but haven't ever picked one up.
Hope you take the dive some point soon :)
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne I definitely plan to delve into her work. 😉
Yes, Lonesome Dove is historical fiction.
Hi do you review all books including short stories I've been starting out as an author and wrote a nice story?
Of course Westerns are historical fiction. HF is usually defined by its setting in a specific time and place, in the past. And in order to be a true Western, the story has to be set in the American West, during the post-Civil War period. There are of course other tropes that make a Western, but the time period is important. My own taste in historical fiction is pulpy. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (she was horrible but the book was great, a retelling of the Arthurian legends from the women's POV); the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel. And anything by Gary Jennings. Oh, and Three Day Road by Joeph Boyden...
I think the line between westerns and historical fiction would have to be the amount of historical research and facts the author relies on to compose the story. Harlequin romance set in a vague 1800 era with swarthy cowboys ravishing helpless dames might be considered a western, while a story with real characters from North American 1800s history which diligently follows their life and takes creative liberties only to fill in a gap or knit the facts into an endearing or profound story to help the reader experience the period would be considered historical fiction
Love conn igguldens series
Glad to hear that! He is a fantastic author :).
Thanks for watching!
Will
I know it's been a while but I have to add my two cents. To me historical fiction westerns are when the fictional characters interact with real people of that era.
Example: Lonesome Dove fiction. North and South by John Jakes historical fiction. In the North & South trilogy they interact with multiple real people from our past.
In Lonesome Dove they didn't interact with any historical figures. If you call Lonesome Dove historical fiction technically you could call every John Grisham book a work of historical fiction I wouldn't but you could.
You should do a video talking about your favourite Arthurian stories (books, movies, tv). I expect BBC Merlin to have a special place 😜
I would definitely be up for doing that! Of course it will be :). That is like the best program ever!
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne it really is! 🤩
I’d love to see a review of Ravens Saga by Giles Kristian
It wasn't actually Alexander iirc to be called the great first. I think it was Cyrus, whom Alexander heavily admired. Fantastic video regardless!
Thank you for the info!
Ed
I am shocked 😱 no Christian Cameron?
Have you read his Tyrant series?
Also, have you tried Master of War by David Gilman, a hundred years war series.
We didn't consider hime to be for beginners to historical fiction :)
I need to try some David Gilman! High on my TBR.
Will
Cyrus the Great
Mary Renault is my favourite author, starting out strong :). I cannot put into words how much I hated The Last Kingdom though, it's one of the cringiest, worst books I've ever read, despite the fact that (or maybe exactly because) I love the depicted era so much. Not sure if I could bring myself to try the Winter King.
Haha the only decent Lancelot was John Cleese. I guess Westerns are a tricky one, because as a genre, Western novels used to be so popular, that even though you could call them a subgenre of historical fiction, people would just call them Westerns anyway. Though because they are books from a specific time period, they could qualify.
I agree! Technically it is historical fiction, but it appears to have diverged into its own separate genre with its own typical themes and styles.
Will
Amazing video and you both just added heaps to my tbr now that I'm back reading historical fiction since starting Cornwell's Sharpe books and loving them! I just started doing book reviews (it's harder than it looks!) and put up my first one about Sharpe bks 1-3 here in case you want to check it out: ua-cam.com/video/b0tJcT5WZYs/v-deo.html
Wilbur Smith for historical, African adventure, none better in that category
I went to Barnes and Noble to buy a few of these but I left my phone at home and couldn’t remember even one lol
Edit: I got Gates of Fire last trip so I’m good.
Hahah, that must have been so annoying! So glad that we intrigued you in a few :). Hope you love Gates of Fire!
Will
@@thebrothersgwynne well I did pick up Wrath Along with Mythology and Fragile Things by Gaiman so still a win. plus another excuse to hit up the book store lol
Western are historical fiction, and I recommend reading Louis L'amour books.
I agree :). They are on the TBR. Thanks for the recommendation!
@@thebrothersgwynne The books about Sackett family is good.
Westerns count as Historical-Fiction if you ask me.
Now I've thought about it I probably agree :)
Will