14 Historical Fiction Books to Read ⚔️

[@jaimichelle8709]

Great video as always! Have you heard of Hild and Menewood by Nicola Griffith. If you love the Boudicca you will love these too

[@martins1964]

I have The Dying Grass on my shelf, i think i'll read it next!

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Ed has intrigued me as well! Hope you enjoy it :). Will

[@bstephens44]

Thank you so much - many excellent suggestions. I recently read Vollmann’s Europe Central and it was stunning.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Oo I'll check that out. Thanks for the recommendation :). Will

[@lindafletcher1628]

The Lymond chronicles are 6 books that tell of the life of one of the best anti heros and takes place in the 16th century in UK,Europe North Africa and Russia. A great tale. Alexander Kent's Bolitho novels are a great read about a man who starts as a midshipman and ends up an admiral around the time of Napoleon

[@Knighthawk92]

Fun video to watch with your banter and Ed forgetting the 7th book. Gave me a nice laugh which I needed today. Thanks. I have not read any of these but they have caught my attention. Will see if I can (or get inspired) to move them into my TBR. Cheers, Happy Reading, and Enjoy Living Life. :)

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Hah glad you enjoyed us bickering 🤣. Hope you pick some of them up! Happy reading :). Will

[@PHart1291]

Have you guys read any Ken Follett? I think you would enjoy his work. Pillars of the Earth is probably the best one. It's the closest book I've seen to A Game of Thrones just without the fantasy elements.

[@donnadeck4245]

Matterhorn is a gripping, hard hitting book. I read it a few years ago and plan on rereading it later this year.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

So glad you enjoyed it! After hearing Ed talk about it, I've added it to my TBR! Will

[@alexbento261]

Great list! I love how much diverse stuff you guys talk about, even within one genre. Ed, if you like Matterhorn, you might also like The Black Company, a fantasy series heavily inspired by the author's time in the military and Vietnam War fiction.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

So glad you like what random readers we are! I've heard a lot about The Black Company. Thanks a lot for the recommendation! Will

[@christinebarone7496]

New subscriber here guys, I have always adored historical fiction. Lonesome Dove is brilliant, stays with you forever. If you enjoy that, then read Comanche Moon. Lots of good recs here, thank you. I have Ben Kane on my TBR pile, where do you suggest I start off with him?

[@esmayrosalyne]

I love how you guys are now also adding to my TBR with a video about books you haven't even read yet, lol. Hope these all live up to your expectations, they sound very intriguing! Lonesome Dove and Boudica are still highest up on my list!

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Hahah sorry 🤣. Cannot wait to dive into these! YOU MUST READ BOUDICAAAAA. Will

[@jonathanc833]

You guys really need to read Gemmell’s Trojan series. It’s fantastic.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

I've read it and thought it was great! Will

[@Jonathan-B_]

The video I have been waiting for! Y'all have been really stoking a fire within me to check out some historical fiction and so this is just going to be a molotov cocktail to my TBR. Can't wait!

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Hahah hope a few of these intrigued you..... Thanks for watching! Will

[@Lexie810-b5r]

Wonderful video, really enjoyed it, gents 👍 😀 👏

[@tyrson4331]

You need to read The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon

[@thebrothersgwynne]

I'll check it out! Thanks for the rec :) Will

[@jamesfrederick.]

Have you guys read flash man buy George McDonald Fraser

[@RichPal_]

Cheers, lads, i get a lot of great recommendations from you both 👍 Truth and Courage ✊️ I'm currently reading "Matterhorn," a novel set during the Vietnam War ...i posted that comment before you mentioned "Matterhorn" 😂 my bad

[@thebrothersgwynne]

So glad some of these books intrigue you :). Oo, I'll definitely check that out. Hope you enjoy it! Will

[@hollyc4624]

I have a bind-up of The Cicero Trilogy and still haven’t gotten to it but it sounds great. Matterhorn is intriguing as well. Nam by Mark Baker is another book about the Vietnam War that I read in high school and wow. It was amazing and horrifying. Now I have added The Dying Grass and others in that series to my growing TBR. In the meantime, I’m on month 6/10 of Lonesome Dove. It’s been hard to stretch it out over the year but I don’t want to read ahead of the group. Love it!

[@amy_harboredinpages]

I'm looking forward to picking up the second of the Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch in June... oh!! That's today! On a side note: As a preschool educator, I can vouch for the fact that teaching and organization are not synonymous...🤣🤣🤣🤣 In fact, I believe studies have been done showing the less organized the more creative! Which makes us the GOAT in the teaching profession! ✨️📖🥰📚✨️

[@timolson6836]

Hey Ed & Will - do you have any strong recs for historical fiction/fantasy on the Rise or Fall of the Roman Empire? I just visited Rome and was quite enamored by that period of history (and shocked by how much I just don’t know about it 😂). Looking for some reads a bit more engaging than non-fiction, but will take any recs you have!! Reading Dreaming the Eagle very soon due to you two, and now got the Cicero trilogy on my list! Any others…? Great video as always gents, Truth and Courage!!!

[@rebecca.reader]

I hate to say it, but that was only 13 books because you both chose the same one at the end 😂 Non the less, fantastic video as always, I'll be adding a couple to my tbr for sure!! Also, Have you read Juliet Marrillier? A lot of her books are set in 10th century Ireland. They are Historical fantasy. But her writing is fantastic and her characters are next level good. Also, she has a viking inspired novel which is called Wolfskin and is amazing and really dark...in a good way 😊

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Hahah I know. I blame Ed! 🤣 Glad some of these intrigued you! We have not, but they sound great. I'll add them to the TBR. Thanks so much for the recommendation :). Will

[@MacScarfield]

I am mostly gonna read Fantasy and SciFi this Summer, but Robert Harris’ “Imperium” (Cicero Trilogy #1) is my nr. 1 read so far this year, and I plan to read "Lustrum" & "Dictator" by Robert Harris (Book #2 & #3) later this Fall, followed by “After Rome" by Morgan Llywelyn (Historical Fiction set in Post-Roman Britain), “Hengist” by Sean Poage, “Dreaming the Eagle" by Manda Scott (Book #1 in the "Boudica" series, Historical Fiction about the Celtic Queen), “Alamut" by Vladimir Bartol (Historical Fiction set during the Crusades about the Hashshashin) and “Augustus" by John Williams (Historical Fiction about the eponymous Roman Emperor). Have also bought the “Three Kingdoms” novels on kindle. Cheers lads!

[@thebrothersgwynne]

What a list you have coming up! "Lustrum" was even better than "Imperium" in my opinion. Can't wait for you to dive into some Manda Scott! Hope you enjoy the 'Three Kingdoms" novels as well :). Thanks so much for watching, and happy reading! Will

[@blacknwhitecookie8967]

I'd recommend Christian Jacq for some great Egyptian historical fiction: The Stone of Light quartet & the Ramses II quintet were both really fun. Under the Black Flag (straight history) by David Cordingly, is a great telling of history's most prominent pirates.

[@nikk345]

Read Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince a long time ago. Loved them both. It don't remember that it stuck as closely to the actual historical events as books from authors that primarily write historical fiction; more sort of uses the history as a loose framework to write a great story. If you're a Gemmell fan they won't disappoint.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

That’s great to know! Best going in knowing what to expect in that way. Glad you loved them both :). Thanks for watching, and happy reading! Will

[@djbogz1921]

Fields of Fire - James Webb is a very good Vietnam story. Also, The Century Trilogy - Ken Follett was an excellent read.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Thanks so much for the recs! I really need to pick up son Follett. Will

[@djbogz1921]

@Fianna1775 The Kingsbridge series is excellent.

[@mudgetheexpendable]

Loved MATTERHORN! Hope you will too. Recommend BLOOD KIN, independent Texas in the 1830s before US annexation, and THE CALLINGS, Southern Plains Native American tale both by Henry Chappell.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Ed has also intrigued me with Matterhorn.... Thanks for watching :). Will

[@EcHoReflexx]

Matterhorn is incredible. I hope you enjoy!

[@thebrothersgwynne]

I'm sure Ed will! I've also now added it to my TBR... Will

[@jobuckley2999]

Matterhorn was a 5 star read for me. Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard is amazing as well as To the White Sea by James Dickey. Both are very short novels. Lastly King Rat about a POW camp of British soldiers by Clavelle was my favorite of the Shogun series. Thanks for the video. I made a list. Well done.

[@djbogz1921]

Absolutely love Lion of Macedon. But, then I love all David Gemmell's books. Sadly missed.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

A brilliant author! I need to read more of his catalogue. Think I've read 12 so far. Lion of Macedon is near the top of the pile! Will

[@senzubean31]

Lion of Macedon

[@COLOUREDCOAT]

Boys, read “The Kindly Ones” by Jonathon Littel, I’ve been reading historical fiction for probably 40 years and read this recently, it’s up there with the best I’ve ever read, in my top 5 books of any genre

[@ThomasPalm-w5y]

If you are looking for a traditional historical adventure story "Prince of Foxes" by Samuel Shellabarger is fun. A peasant pretending to be a nobleman in Italy at the time of Cesare Borgia and other colorful figures.

[@safinan8008]

Great video 📽️🎥

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Thanks so much! Happy reading :) Will

[@rue1629]

To be fair to Ed, the Dying Grass looks big enough to count for one extra book! 😂

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Hahah I do agree there 🤣 Will

[@callinicobo5991]

I really love "Lion of Macedon", and my advice is to read also "Dark Prince", the second novel in the duology, to have the complete story. It's not properly an Historical fiction series, more and Historical fantasy.

[@thebrothersgwynne]

Did not know it was a duology! Thanks for letting us know :). Can’t wait to pick it up! Happy reading. Will

[@christhegreenman9475]

The Long ships, greatest book ever

[@thebrothersgwynne]

We both need to read it! Will

[@MementoMori395]

The only Robert Harris book I have read is Fatherland (loved it), I am intrigued by the Cicero series so I am adding that to my TBR list. Along with others you mentioned. So far this spring, I am reading 1) Nero by Conn Iggulden (his new release) 2) A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follet 3) To Hell and Back By Audie Murphy--- picked this one up for free on Audible Plus, and I love it. Lots of funny banter among the men, among all the sadness and horror of world war 2. 4) Shogun by James Clavell

[@COLOUREDCOAT]

Archangel is good too

[@Bakarost]

Long ships goat

[@thebrothersgwynne]

I need to read it! Will