100+ Historical Fiction Writers

The list starts with the author, then the setting, and then the best book to start with.

• Bruce Alexander --1760s England, mystery, series, Blind Justice
• Jean Auel -- Prehistoric Europe, series, The Clan of the Cave Bear
• Howard Bahr --U.S. Civil War, The Black Flower
• Kevin Baker -- 1860s-1900s New York City, Dreamland
• David Ball -- 1870s North Africa, 1565 Malta, Empires of Sand
• Pat Barker -- WWI, psychology, Regeneration
• Andrea Barrett -- 1800s, Arctic exploration, naturalists & scientists, Voyage of the Narwhal
• Gillian Bradshaw -- Byzantine & Roman empires, Ancient Greece, The Bearkeeper’s Daughter
• Bartle Bull -- Post-WWI Kenya, WWII- era North Africa, Café on the Nile
• Max Byrd -- 1840s U.S. Southwest, also biographical novels, Shooting the Sun
• Taylor Caldwell -- Biographical novels, 1800s-1900s family saga, Dear and Glorious Physician
• Caleb Carr -- 1890s New York City, mystery, The Alienist
• Jack Cavanaugh -- Colonial U.S.-1960s family saga, series, Christian, The Puritans
• Elizabeth Chadwick -- Medieval England and Wales, Crusades, romance, The Conquest
• Barbara Chase- Riboud -- Colonial and 1800s U.S., slavery, Sally Hemings
• Tracy Chevalier -- Medieval France, 1600s Netherlands, Girl with a Pearl Earring
• James Clavell -- 1600s Japan, also 1800s China & Hong Kong, Shogun
• Don Coldsmith -- 1500s-1700s Western U.S., Native Americans, series, Trail of the Spanish Bit
• Catherine Cookson -- Victorian to WWI-era family saga, romance, The Wingless Bird
• Bernard Cornwell -- Napoleonic wars, also U.S. Civil War, Arthurian England, Sharpe’s Tiger
• E. L. Doctorow -- Early 1900s New York, Ragtime
• Sara Donati -- 1790s New York frontier, romance, series, Into the Wilderness
• Dorothy Dunnett -- Renaissance Europe, 1550s England & Scotland, series, Niccolo Rising
• Umberto Eco -- 1300s Italy, Crusades, transl.,The Name of the Rose
• Howard Fast -- American Revolution, 19th-20th c. U.S., family saga, April Morning
• Patricia Finney -- Elizabethan England, espionage, Unicorn’s Blood
• Ken Follett -- Medieval England, also colonial U.S., Pillars of the Earth
• C. S. Forester -- Napoleonic wars, British Navy, series, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
• George MacDonald Fraser -- Victorian Europe, India, and U.S., series, Flashman
• Alan Furst -- WWII Europe, espionage, Dark Star
• Diana Gabaldon -- 1700s Scotland & Colonial U.S., romance, time travel, Outlander
• Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear -- Prehistoric North America, Native American, People of the Wolf series
• Pauline Gedge -- Ancient Egypt, Lady of the Reeds
• Margaret George -- Tudor England & Scotland, Ancient Egypt, biographical, Autobiography of Henry VIII
• Denise Giardina -- 1890s-1920s Appalachia, labor movement, Storming Heaven
• Parke Godwin -- Medieval England, also Dark Ages, Robin Hood legend, Sherwood
• Winston Graham -- Regency & Georgian England, family saga, series, Ross Poldark
• Robert Graves -- Ancient Rome, I, Claudius
• Philippa Gregory -- Tudor England, English Civil War and Restoration, The Other Boleyn Girl
• Sandra Gulland -- Napoleonic France, Josephine Bonaparte, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B
• A. B. Guthrie -- 1800s American West, frontier, series, The Big Sky
• Hella Haasse -- Medieval France & England, also 1500s Italy, transl., In a Dark Wood Wandering
• Karen Harper -- Elizabethan England, mystery, series, The Poyson Garden
• Sue Harrison -- Prehistoric North America, Mother Earth, Father Sky
• Georgette Heyer -- Regency England, romance, The Grand Sophy
• Cecelia Holland -- Medieval & Renaissance Europe, also Celtic Ireland, Great Maria
• Christian Jacq -- Ancient Egypt, transl., The Son of Light
• John Jakes -- U.S. family saga, Civil War, series, North and South
• Gary Jennings -- 1500s Mexico, Aztec Empire, adventure, Aztec
• Terry Johnston -- 1800s American West, frontier, Indian campaigns, Carry the Wind
• Wayne Johnston -- 1900s Newfoundland, polar exploration, Colony of Unrequited Dreams
• MacKinlay Kantor -- U.S. Civil War, also American Revolution, Andersonville
• Pamela Kaufman -- Medieval Europe, Crusades, royalty, The Book of Eleanor
• M. M. Kaye -- British Raj, India, romance, The Far Pavilions
• Thomas Keneally -- WWII, Holocaust, also 1700s Australia, Schindler’s List
• Alexander Kent -- 1770s-1800s British Navy, series, Richard Bolitho, Midshipman
• Dewey Lambdin -- 1780s-1790s British Navy, American Revolution, series, The King’s Coat
• Louis L’Amour -- American West, family saga, series, Jubal Sackett
• David Liss -- 1600s Amsterdam, also 1700s London, The Coffee Trader
• Morgan Llywelyn -- Celtic Ireland, WWI Ireland, medieval Wales, Lion of Ireland
• William Martin -- Family saga, Annapolis, Boston, Cape Cod, Annapolis
• Colleen McCullough -- Ancient Rome, series, also 1910s Australia, The First Man in Rome
• Larry McMurtry -- 1800s American West, Lonesome Dove
• James Michener -- Multiple places and time periods, Centennial
• Robert Morgan -- 1900s Appalachia, also American Revolution, Gap Creek
• Gilbert Morris -- U.S. family sagas, also Tudor England, Christian, series, The Sword of Truth
• James L. Nelson -- American Revolution, American Navy, military, series, By Force of Arms
• Patrick O’Brian -- Napoleonic wars, British Navy, series, Master and Commander
• Janette Oke -- 1800s Canadian frontier, Christian, romance, Love Comes Softly
• Zoe Oldenbourg -- Medieval France, Palestine, Crusades, The Cornerstone
• Baroness Orczy -- French Revolution, The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Edith Pargeter -- Medieval Wales, England, The Heaven Tree Trilogy
• Sharon Kay Penman -- Medieval England, Wales, France, The Sunne in Splendour
• Jean Plaidy -- Medieval and Tudor England, royalty, Royal Road to Fotheringay
• Steven Pressfield -- Ancient Greece, Alexander the Great, military, Gates of Fire
• James Reasoner -- U.S. Civil War, military, series, Savannah
• Mary Renault -- Ancient Greece, Alexander the Great, Fire From Heaven
• Alexandra Ripley -- Antebellum and Reconstruction South, romance, Charleston
• Kenneth Roberts -- Colonial U.S., American Revolution, Northwest Passage
• Edward Rutherfurd -- Epic family sagas, England, Russia, Sarum
• Rafael Sabatini -- French Revolution, Renaissance Italy, adventure, Scaramouche
• Paul Scott -- British Raj, WWII-era India, The Jewel in the Crown
• Anya Seton -- Medieval and Tudor England, Colonial U.S., Devil Water
• Mary Lee Settle -- English Civil War, Colonial U.S., U.S. Civil War, O Beulah Land
• Jeff Shaara -- American Revolution, U.S. Civil War, Rise to Rebellion
• Michael Shaara -- U.S. Civil War, The Killer Angels
• Neal Stephenson -- 1600s Europe, Age of Enlightenment, series, Quicksilver
• Irving Stone -- Biographical novels: Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Darwin, The Agony and the Ecstasy
• Elswyth Thane -- Colonial U.S.-WWII, family saga, series, Dawn’s Early Light
• Bodie & Brock Thoene -- Holocaust, also post-WWII Palestine, Christian, series, Vienna Prelude
• James Alexander Thom -- Colonial U.S., 1700s-1800s frontier, Lewis & Clark, Follow the River
• Rose Tremain -- 1660s England, royalty, also 1600s Denmark, Restoration
• Sigrid Undset -- Medieval Norway, transl., Kristin Lavransdatter
• Leon Uris -- 1840s-1916 Ireland, WWII & post-WWII Europe & Israel, Trinity
• Gore Vidal -- Biographical novels, American Revolution, U.S. Civil War, Burr
• Susan Vreeland -- 1600s Amsterdam, Italy, Girl in Hyacinth Blue
• Mika Waltari transl. -- Ancient Egypt, also Ancient Rome,, The Egyptian
• Jessamyn West -- U.S. Civil War, Quakers, frontier, The Friendly Persuasion
• Janice Woods Windle -- 1830s-1940s Texas, family saga, True Women
• Barbara Wood -- 1800s Australia, also 1800s New York, The Dreaming
• Richard Woodman -- Napoleonic wars, British Navy, series, An Eye of the Fleet
• Herman Wouk -- WWII Europe & U.S., post-WWII Israel, family saga, The Winds of War
• Frank Yerby -- American Revolution, U.S. Civil War, 1800s Africa, The Foxes of Harrow