Historical fiction is a hugely popular genre of fiction providing fictional accounts or dramatizations of historical figures or events. This guide depicts 100 of the finest novels published in this sector with a further 500 recommendations.

Historical fiction writers and historians are not the same. While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist sets readers directly in the past and shows them forward. The job of a historical fiction writer is to make readers feel the victories and defeats, joys and pains, as if they were there. James Alexander Thom guides aspiring writers through the creation of historical fiction. He includes...

The tumultuous twentieth century, told through the life of a single extraordinary woman Rejected by a series of publishers, abandoned in a chest for twenty years, Goliarda Sapienza's masterpiece, The Art of Joy, survived a turbulent path to publication. It wasn't until 2005, when it was released in France, that this novel received the recognition it deserves. At last, Sapienza's remarkable book is available in English, in a brilliant translation...

"With advice from leading international and bestselling writers, this book provides all the practical advice you need to write historical fiction succesfully"--

From "a great and true voice of our time" (Washington Post Book World), comes this story of Proffy, a twelve-year-old living in Palestine in 1947. When Proffy befriends a member of the occupying British forces who shares his love of language and the Bible, he is accused of treason by his friends and learns the true nature of loyalty and betrayal. Translated by Nicholas de Lange.

"February 20, 1933: on an unremarkable day during a harsh Berlin winter, a meeting of twenty-four German captains of industry and senior Nazi dignitaries is being held in secret in the plush lounges of the Reichstag. They are there to "stump up" funding for the accession to power of the National Socialist Party and its fearsome Chancellor. This inaugural scene sets the tone of consent which will lead to the worst possible repercussions. March 12,...

"The pleasures of mystery novels and historical fiction double when the two genres meet in a single book. This detailed guide is the first to document and describe the diverse writings in the growing body of historical mystery literature. Its focus is on the best, most representative, and most current publications, with an emphasis on series novels. Most have been released in the past decade, with select classic historical mysteries also cited. Organized...