The Best Historical Fiction Books

(according to 400+ really successful people)

These are the best books about Historical Fiction.

Sources include interviews, biographies, podcast transcripts, public online lists, and more.

One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6 recommenders
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recommended this book on Twitter.
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The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead
4 recommenders
Adam Sessler recommended this book on Twitter.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
4 recommenders
"Remains one my favorites to this day." - Amelia Boone
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A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
4 recommenders
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list.
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War And Peace
Leo Tolstoy
3 recommenders
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
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Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
2 recommenders
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list.
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The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett
2 recommenders
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club."
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The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead
2 recommenders
Adam Sessler recommended this book on Twitter.
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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
2 recommenders
On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.
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The Color Purple
Alice Walker
2 recommenders
"I've heard amazing things about this book from a person that I trust." - Emma Watson
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Shōgun
James Clavell
2 recommenders
"I devoured [this book]." - Edward Norton
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Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
2 recommenders
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list.
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All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
2 recommenders
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List."
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Wolf Hall
Hilary Mantel
1 recommender
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list.
Washington Black
Esi Edugyan
1 recommender
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list.
The Water Dancer
Ta-Nehisi Coates
1 recommender
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club."
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
1 recommender
"A beautiful book by a writer who fought in Vietnam." - Caroline Paul
The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen
1 recommender
"This thrilling story about a double agent lived up to the hype." - Bill Gates
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller
1 recommender
“I loved it.” - J.K. Rowling
The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert
1 recommender
"I can’t stop thinking about [this book]." - Hillary Clinton
The Other Boleyn Girl
Philippa Gregory
1 recommender
"I've always loved history, and [the author] makes it...salacious." - Jennifer Lawrence
The Mirror & the Light
Hilary Mantel
1 recommender
"Illustrates the use, abuse, and limitations of influence—particularly when the stakes are high." - Craig Newmark
The Clan of the Cave Bear
Jean M. Auel
1 recommender
"A rich blend of imagination and information about everything from plants that were used for medicine to the rituals and taboos of Neanderthal man." - Hillary Clinton
The Book of Night Women
Marlon James
1 recommender
Adam Sessler recommended this book on Twitter.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
1 recommender
"The author uses language that is very, very rich and colorful. [...] You can really immerse yourself into that world and kind of get a sense of what things were like, at that time." - Alice Little
Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders
1 recommender
"Despite being a work of fiction, it offered fresh insight that made me rethink parts of [Abraham Lincoln's] life." - Bill Gates
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke
1 recommender
"Like Jane Austen's huge lost fantasy novel about the return of magic to England." - Neil Gaiman
I, Claudius
Robert Graves
1 recommender
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi
1 recommender
Most Recommended Books reached out to Kathryn Minshew directly.
Beloved
Toni Morrison
1 recommender
Adam Sessler recommended this book on Twitter.
Beautiful Ruins
Jess Walter
1 recommender
"Very good book." - Anderson Cooper

See which books made our other lists