The 26 Most Famous Historical Fiction Books Worth Reading

1 | Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

No list of historical fiction is complete without the inclusion of Margaret Mitchell’s sweeping epic set during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The book is not what one would consider a quick read—as it’s over 1,000 pages—but that hasn’t dissuaded decades of readers from diving in. Over 30 million copies of Gone With the Wind were sold by the turn of the 21st century, and it’s been translated into 40 different languages. While it’s not without controversy, both the book and the 1939 Academy Award-winning film of the same name are among the most famous titles on this list.

2 | A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Selling over 200 million copies since it was first published in 1859, Charles Dickins’ A Tale of Two Cities is arguably the most famous on this list. The story is divided into three books and set in London and Paris around the time of the French Revolution (1775 to 1793). It’s been adapted for the stage and the screen—and who can forget those famous first words: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

3 | The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The six wives of King Henry VIII are perfect fodder for a compelling novel, with Anne Boleyn arguably the most well-known. As such, she’s a fitting main character for Philippa Gregory’s 2001 historical fiction novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which is even more interesting because it introduces Anne’s real-life sister, Mary Boleyn, as another of the king’s love interests. The historical accuracy is dicey, to say the least, and the movie adaptation was a flop. Still, the book was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

4 | Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart, the 1958 novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, follows the story of Okonkwo, an African warrior and leader. It is set during the 1890s amid the arrival of white missionaries and British colonizers. Achebe’s work was named one of the 12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Books Ever Written” and has also become required reading in schools and universities nationwide. Speaking to its longstanding fame, it was recently announced that Things Fall Apart will be adapted into a TV series from production company A24, starring Idris Elbaas Okonkwo.

5 | Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

While you may be more familiar with the steamy smash hit TV show, like so many things, Outlander was a book first. The titular novel, published in 1991, is set in two different periods: post-World War II and 18th-century Scotland. Protagonist Claire Randall is a nurse in 20th-century Great Britain, but things take a turn when she unintentionally travels two centuries back in time. The series is set to include 10 novels, of which Diana Gabaldon has published nine. Outlander is one of the best-selling book series ever, with roughly 25 million copies sold.

6 | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2017 historical fiction novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn didn’t make a huge splash when it was first published. But a few years later—in 2020 and 2021—the book exploded on social media platforms, namely TikTok, with readers raving about the novel. The story follows the fictional movie star Evelyn Hugo and is told through flashbacks to her career during Hollywood’s Golden Age. A film version is in the works for the bestseller, with Netflix developing the project.

7 | The Abominable by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is probably best known for The Terror, a work of historical fiction that veers into the supernatural when a monster attacks the doomed men of Franklin's lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage. The Abominable, whose title references the yetis said to haunt the Himalayas, sounds at first like it could be too supernatural to qualify for this list, but it’s largely a very grounded story about mountaineering, full of adventure, colorful characters, and plenty of research about the history of mountain climbing.

8 | All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Recently adapted into a Netflix miniseries, All the Light We Cannot See follows Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl living in Saint-Malo after the Nazis invade Paris, and Werner Pfennig, a German military school student. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel explores themes of war and human nature, and author Anthony Doerr received praise for his sensory writing style.

9 | Atonement by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan’s acclaimed 2001 novel follows Briony Tallis, a well-off English girl in the '30s who, in a misunderstanding that’s not entirely innocent, has her older sister Cecilia’s lover Robbie sent to prison by identifying him as the perpetrator of an assault he did not commit. The fallout from this accusation carries on into World War II and beyond, with Briony eventually coming to realize that she ruined Cecilia and Robbie’s lives and that she wants to atone—if that’s even possible. The book was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan.

10 | Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O’Brian’s series of nautical history novels, beginning with 1969’s Master and Commander, is extremely dad-core, but the appeal is widespread. Set in the Napoleonic Wars, the series follows Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin, an odd couple who embark on many adventures at sea together, serving king and country. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany starred as the pair in a film adaptation that drew from three of the books: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

The movie was critically acclaimed but didn’t have the success needed to kick off a film franchise. Luckily, there are 21 books in the Aubrey/Maturin series for fans of the era and O’Brian’s nautical wit.

11 | The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood of The Handmaid’s Tale fame wrote this 2000 novel about a pair of sisters whose lives in an Ontario port town span nearly a century of Canadian history. Intertwined is a novel-within-a-novel, the titular Blind Assassin, a pulpy sci-fi book one of the sisters wrote that has connections to their real relationships.

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12 | City of Thieves by David Benioff

David Benioff, better known now as one-half of the creative duo behind HBO's Game of Thrones, wrote an acclaimed historical fiction novel in 2008 before making the jump to TV. Set during the siege of Leningrad in World War II, City of Thieves follows two boys tasked with obtaining a dozen eggs for a member of the Russian secret police—easier said than done in the besieged city. City of Thieves has been cited as an inspiration for the video game The Last of Us, which was adapted into another blockbuster HBO drama.

13 | Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

Please don’t confuse Eaters of the Dead with its film adaptation The 13th Warrior, which is infamously one of the biggest box office bombs in history. The book, from Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain author Michael Crichton, is a horror-tinged adventure. It follows a 10th-century Muslim Arab who travels to the north and encounters Vikings, documenting his travels with them. Their quest? Doing battle with a monstrous tribe, which is Crichton’s attempt to make the story of Beowulf into semi-plausible historical fiction.

14 | I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Robert Graves’ 1934 novel is written as though it were the autobiography of Roman Emperor Claudius, telling a first-person (though fictionalized) account of Roman history from the assassination of Julius Caesar to the death of Caligula, Claudius’ predecessor. The book, along with its sequel Claudius the God, were massive successes. Time named I, Claudius one of its top 100 "All-TIME Novels," and it was adapted into hugely popular miniseries by the BBC in the '70s.

15 | Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Though now somewhat eclipsed nowadays by the beloved stage musical, Victor Hugo's 1862 novel remains one of the most celebrated works ever published. The book follows Jean Valjean, a former prisoner, and Javert, the police inspector who pursues him across two decades of French history, culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion. It’s Les Mis—what more is there to say?

16 | The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Staggeringly, over 50 million copies of Italian author Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel have been sold internationally since it was published. A murder mystery, The Name of the Rose follows a Franciscan friar who arrives at an Italian monastery in 1327 only to find suspicious, gruesome murders that he must attempt to solve. It blends historical whodunnit with high-minded medieval studies and biblical analysis, making it an exciting and illuminating read.

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17 | The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Another story of survival under occupation in World War II, Kristin Hannah’s 2015 bestseller follows two estranged French sisters who deal with the German invasion in different ways. Viann attempts to keep her daughter—and eventually other children—as safe as she can in difficult circumstances. Isabelle joins the Resistance, eventually getting the code name “Nightingale.”

18 | Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko is a generation-spanning story of a Korean family who emigrated to Japan following the country’s annexation of the peninsula in 1910, when the book starts. Sunja, the ostensible protagonist (though her parents and children are major characters, too), faces racism and discrimination as her family attempts to make do. The novel tracks three time periods, running through World War II and ending in the late ‘80s. It has been adapted into an acclaimed Apple TV+ series.

19 | Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Ken Follett’s 1989 novel concerns the construction of a grand Gothic cathedral in 12th-century England during a period of widespread civil war. Three characters—a devout ambitious monk, a conflicted architect, and a woman with a dark past—cross paths in this sweeping tale of progress and intrigue.

20 | The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

This seminal American novel is one of the most enduring works of fiction about the Civil War, and it was first published only three decades after the war’s end. Henry Fleming, a young private in the Union Army, flees the battlefield when he first sees combat, and this act of cowardice drives him through the rest of the war. Filled with gripping descriptions of battles and a keen psychological understanding, Stephen Crane'sThe Red Badge of Courage is a classic—and a school reading list favorite—for a reason.

21 | Red Plenty by Francis Spufford

A truly unique work of historical fiction, Francis Spufford’sRed Plenty adds a fictionalized narrative to what’s otherwise a deeply researched and comprehensive recounting of the USSR’s planned economy—specifically a point in the late ‘50s when it seemed that the Soviet Union might be able to be a flourishing, prosperous nation of the future. The book is full of information as well as a genuine respect for the scientists and other Soviets who reached for the stars, touched them with Sputnik, and ultimately failed.

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22 | Shōgun by James Clavell

James Clavell’s 1975 novel has been adapted into not one but two acclaimed miniseries, first in 1980 and again this year. (Some critics are already touting the FX version as one of the best shows of 2024.) Shōgun uses fictional characters, albeit ones based on real historical people, to tell the story of how the Edo period began and the ambitious lord whose machinations elevated himself to the position of shōgun ushered in a new era for Japan.

23 | The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien’s collection of interconnected short stories blurs the line between historical fiction and autobiography. His 1990 book about a platoon of American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War is a gripping, vivid recollection of what it was like on the ground. That the protagonist of the book is also named Tim O’Brien is not an accident.

24 | The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead makes one major change to historical fact in his 2016 novel: The titular Underground Railroad, the path that escaped slaves took to get from the South to the North, is reimagined as an actual network of clandestine locomotives. Upon this bit of fantasy, he tells a story that feels horrifyingly real as former slaves Cora and Caesar attempt to make it to safety and true freedom.

25 | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

It’s not exactly a breezy read, but Leo Tolstoy’s iconic work of Russian literature, War and Peace, deserves all the praise it has received over the past many decades. Published in its final version in 1869, the book tells of the French invasion of Russia during the Napoleonic era and how the members of five families deal with the challenging times—the best of them and the worst of them.

26 | Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel’s 2009 novel Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography of Thomas Cromwell, the controversial leader from the era of the English Reformation. Two sequels, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light, finish telling the story of Cromwell’s life, which is full of intrigue and dangerous courtly politics.