Directory of Book Reviews

Looking for book reviews of historical novels? Here are more than 200, ranging in setting from prehistory and the ancient world to World War II. Novels for young adults are marked YA - full-fledged adults enjoy some of these as much as teens do. Click on the title to link to the review.

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Review of:
Sarah L. Johnson's Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre
James Alexander Thom's The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction

Prehistoric and Time-Sweep Novels
Ancient History
Medieval Europe
The Renaissance
The Seventeenth Century
The Eighteenth Century
The Napoleonic Era
Nineteenth Century North America and the Old West
Nineteenth Century Europe
The Twentieth Century
Africa
Asia
Australasia: Australia and New Zealand
Latin America
The Middle East

At the bottom of the page is a list of books received for review but not yet reviewed. Except in very rare cases, I no longer accept self-published novels (novels from POD presses and single-author publishing houses) for review; those I accepted in the past are critiqued separately on the Self-Published Round-Up page, unless they held my interest throughout, thus meriting a full review. For information about submitting a novel for review, see the Contact page.

Readers bring their own experiences and beliefs to the reading process, so book reviewers often disagree. This is part of what makes reading and discussing books so rewarding. To learn more about our reviewers' individual tastes, see the lists of Best Historical Novels 2009 and 2008 by Margaret Donsbach and Best Historical Novels Picks by Annis, and the profiles of frequent reviewers Annis and Susan Gillmor.

Authors and publishers regularly send me free copies of books for review. To the best of my ability, I use the same standards to review these as I do to review books I have purchased or checked out from the library. I also participate in online book discussion forums and am "Facebook friends" and/or "LibraryThing friends" with a number of authors of historical novels. Again, to the best of my ability, I use the same standards in reviewing books by these authors as I do with any other books. If I feel a close friendship with another author would make it difficult for me to read and review that author's work objectively, I will not accept it for review.

I take my responsibility to readers seriously, and no author or publisher should submit a book for review with the expectation that it will not be criticized. No opinion expressed about a book in any review on this website should be interpreted as an opinion about the author. Except in the case of obvious typographical or factual errors, no book review will be altered at the request of an author or publisher.

Prehistoric and Time-Sweep Novels

Ancient History

Achilles by Elizabeth Cook
Alcestis by Katharine Beutner
Heather, Oak and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff YA
The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Ransom by David Malouf
The Sun's Bride by Gillian Bradshaw
Tyrant by Christian Cameron

Ancient Rome

Alexandria by Lindsey Davis (a Falco mystery)
The Conquered by Naomi Mitchison reviewed by Annis
Empire by Steven Saylor
The Forgotten Legion by Ben Kane
Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield
Imperium by Robert Harris reviewed by Annis
Josephus by Lion Feuchtwanger reviewed by Annis
The Key by Benita Kane Jaro
The Triumph of Caesar by Steven Saylor

Roman Britain

A Bitter Chill by Jane Finnis reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Get Out or Die by Jane Finnis reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Imperial Governor by George Shipway reviewed by Annis
Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie

Ancient Ireland

Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley

Arthurian Britain

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve YA, reviewed by Annis
The Killing Way by Tony Hays
The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick
Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff reviewed by Annis
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott

Ancient Egypt

Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie
The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

Biblical Times and the Ancient Middle East

Delilah by India Edghill
Mary Called Magdalene by Margaret George
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Sarah by Marek Halter
The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

Medieval Europe

Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King
My Lady Judge by Cora Harrison
Ruan by Bryher

Anglo-Saxon England and Continental Europe, 500-1066 A.D.

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon reviewed by Annis
The Green Man by Henry Treece reviewed by Annis
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell reviewed by Annis
Paths of Exile by Carla Nayland reviewed by Annis
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
The Proud Villeins by Valerie Anand reviewed by Susan Gillmor

Norman England (1066-1133) and Norman Sicily (11th-12th Centuries) (including novels about the period immediately preceding the Norman Conquest)

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
The Fourteenth of October by Bryher reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Godiva by Nerys Jones reviewed by Annis
Great Maria by Cecelia Holland
The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower
The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters reviewed by Susan Gillmor
The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth
The Morning Gift by Diana Norman reviewed by Annis

The Angevins and 12th-13th Century Europe

Angel Time by Anne Rice
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman YA
Down the Common by Ann Baer reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Schlitz and Robert Byrd YA and children
Myself as Witness by James Goldman reviewed by Annis
The Parisian Prodigal by Alan Gordon
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys reviewed by Susan Gillmor
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
Hodd by Adam Thorpe reviewed by Annis
The Lute Player by Norah Lofts
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (#1 in a series)
Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin (#3 in a series), reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Unicorn Road by Martin Davies reviewed by Annis

The Crusades and the Inquisition

Crossed by Nicole Galland
Durandal by Harold Lamb reviewed by Annis
Pagan's Crusade by Catherine Jinks YA
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran

The late 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries to the Wars of the Roses

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse YA
By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
Flint by Margaret Redfern
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Green Popinjays by Eleanor Fairburn reviewed by Annis
Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham
Kabbalah of Stone by Irene Reti
Katherine by Anya Seton reviewed by Susan Gillmor
The King's Mistress by Emma Campion
The Master of Verona by David Blixt reviewed by Annis
Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson
The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham
The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Vainglory by Geraldine McCaughrean reviewed by Annis
World Without End by Ken Follett

The Wars of the Roses

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Medieval Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire

The High City by Cecelia Holland
Rogue Sword by Poul Anderson reviewed by Annis

Scandinavia and the Vikings

The Bridal Wreath by Sigrid Undset reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Legend of the Last Vikings: Taklamakan by John Halsted
Sons of Thunder by Giles Kristian reviewed by Annis

The Renaissance

The Seventeenth Century

The Eighteenth Century

The Napoleonic Era

Nineteenth Century North America and
the Old West

Nineteenth Century Europe

The Twentieth Century

The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming
The Last Illusion by Rhys Bowen
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan reviewed by Mudqueen
Percival's Planet by Michael Byers
Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
Private Life by Jane Smiley
Quakertown by Lee Martin
Titanic: The Untold Story by W. Mae Kent

Europeans Before and Between the Wars:

Death on the Ice by Robert Ryan reviewed by Annis
The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb YA
Heart of Lies by M.L. Malcolm
An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor
The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King
The Last Waltz by G.G. Vandagriff
Murder on the Cliffs by Joanna Challis
Relief by L.E. Butler
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters, Amelia Peabody mystery #19
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Sheer Folly, a Daisy Dalrymple mystery by Carola Dunn

The World War I Period:

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford
The Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget
Underground by June Hutton

The World War II Period:

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Blackout by Connie Willis
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris reviewed by Susan Gillmor
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield reviewed by Annis
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean reviewed by Susan Gillmor
My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young reviewed by Annis
Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum reviewed by Susan Gillmor
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell reviewed by Susan Gillmor
Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clézio
What Is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman
Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom

Africa

Asia

Australasia: Australia and New Zealand

Latin America

The Middle East

Received for Review

Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow

What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen

Into Suez by Stevie Davies

Rival to the Queen by Carolly Erickson

The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolly Erickson

Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine

Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick

Death Comes by Amphora by Roger Hudson

The Fairest Portion of the Globe by Frances Hunter

Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin

Eleanor the Queen by Norah Lofts

The Nine Lives of Kit Marlowe by Jay Margrave

Repentances by Annette Meyers

The Harlot's Progress: Yorkshire Molly by Peter Mottley

Spirits of the Mothers by Cristi Fernández Narvaiza and Martin Bless

A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter

The Rebirth of Venus by Linda Proud

The Lady in Red by Hallie Rubenhold

Raiders from the North by Alex Rutherford

Gentle Infidel by Lawrence Schoonover

Avalon by Anya Seton

Ascent: The Rise of Chinggis Khan by Tom Shanley

Dominion: Dawn of the Mongol Empire by Tom Shanley

Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story by Mark L. Shurtleff

The Knife Sharpener's Bell by Rhea Tregebov

Baroque by Richard Vetere

Winnie and Wolf by A.N. Wilson

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