Home > Books > Literature/General Fiction > A Selection of Historical/Biographical Novels

This is a selection of historical/biographical novels written by various authors (with GEMs highlighted).  The list includes links for several associated items which may be available online for each book: (a) Wikipedia page, (b) e-book, and (c) audiobook.  There is also a column called “More info” with links to optional posts on each book.

Note that the list is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.)  You can also do an instant filtering of the table by entering a character string in the ‘Search’ field.

The classification of historical novels is not as clear-cut as one might think. Clearly, all historical novels have a setting with real events and personalities which are documented in historical records.  However, when you go beyond that, the line between fact and fiction becomes less clear.  Very few authors of historical fiction have been eyewitnesses or have direct evidence of exactly what transpired in the distant past.  There is generally some element of “connect the dots” built into any historical novel.  Depending on how many dots are available to be connected, the work can be classified as fiction or non-fiction.

Of course, many novels have characters who are obviously fictitious, so they are easy to classify as fiction.  However, some others (such as Roots, for example) are purportedly based on intensive research of real characters but are set in an era deep in the past (often centuries removed from the present); thus, much of the dialogue and behavior of the characters in these novels has to be made up.  In such cases, I have used my own judgment to draw the line between “fiction” and “non-fiction”.  Regardless of the classification, these novels represent some fascinating slices of human history and are well worth reading!

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