Best Historical Fiction Books of All Time

I’ve been an avid reader of historical fiction since I was a teenager and used to read under the covers with a flashlight. As my love for literature developed, so did my love for exploring the world and I love to learn about different countries through historical fiction novels. I’ve read 1000s of books in my lifetime and these are my absolute favourites that I recommend again and again! This list is for anyone who already loves reading historical fiction and wants some haunting and powerful reads that teach you about the world – and all spoiler free recommendations.

I’m an English teacher living in Bangkok Thailand. I studied English literature at University and I’ve visited over 35+ countries so far.

If you love reading around the world, then you will love my Book Globe. It’s a spinning planet where you can click on a country and get my curated reading list and recommendations for that place.

Best Historical Fiction Read: Colonisation & Africa

My first book, in no particular order, is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I am a huge Kingsolver fan, and I think this was one of the first books of hers I read. It is this incredible story of a missionary family who travels to the Congo. It is about their arrogance in assuming that the people of the Congo want to be “saved” by them, and it really taught me so much about the damage of colonisation, particularly in a religious context.

It was really heartbreaking and moving and definitely had me sobbing at parts. It was also one of those books that just makes you so angry at one of the characters. I think that when a book makes you feel such strong emotions, you know it has to be an incredible story.

Best for: learning about religion and colonisation

Best Historical Fiction Books set in India

This is one of my favourite books of all time. It is called The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye. It is set during British colonisation in India and follows the adventures and stories of the main character, who is called Ash.

There are all sorts of fascinating and heartbreaking things that happen in this book, but the main things I learned were about the Second Afghan Civil War. I also learned a lot about the Indian Mutiny, which is also called the First War of Independence, that happened when Indian soldiers mutinied against the British.

I also learned a lot about some Indian cultural traditions from the past, such as suttee, which is where brides, often quite young brides, were expected to immolate themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. I later went to India and saw some of the handprints of some of those suttees, so that book really affected me and meant a lot to me.

One of the main places that I visited from the book was the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, so I was really excited to see a palace that I had also read about in one of my favourite books.

Best for: adventure and learning about India

I have so many India book recommendations on my Booktube – this is my top 30 books – most of which are historical fiction.

Best Young Adult Historical Fiction

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an incredible read, that still appeals to adults even though it’s aimed at younger readers. One of the really interesting things about this story is that the narrator is Death, so it is told from the point of view of Death.

It is set during World War II and particularly references the burning of books by the Nazis. It follows a young girl as she encounters the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust.

Best for learning about Germany and the Nazis

Best Historical Fiction Book about Biafra

This book is not for the unstable – it was very emotional! I’m talking about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. From this book, I learned so much about Nigeria and about what became known as the Civil War in Nigeria.

I also learned about one of the worst human atrocities that happened when the world watched as people in the Biafra area of Nigeria were starving. I had no idea about this and was very ignorant before reading this novel. I had never even heard of it before reading this book, and it really is a powerful and quite traumatic read, as you can imagine.

However, it is a book that I think is important and that people should read, although it does come with several trigger warnings.

Best for learning about Nigeria and recent events

For more historical fiction books from around the world, check out my Book Globe

Best for European WWII Historical Fiction

This book is set during World War II, and it is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It has recently been made into a Netflix show, so some people may have seen that.

I learned a lot from this book. It was not necessarily new information about World War II, because I feel that we learned a lot about Europe and World War II when I was at school. However, I learned a lot about the sympathies that existed and the struggles through this book which focuses on a blind girl and her bravery.

One of the characters is a German soldier, and I found that storyline really interesting as it made you sympathise with the soldiers caught up in a war, not of their own making. This hit home with me personally, because my grandmother was German and met my Grandad just after the war – a war which they were on opposite sides for!

Best for Europe centered WWII historical fiction

Best for South Asia Historical Fiction

My book number six is The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. I could not decide between this one and Sea of Poppies, but I decided to go for The Glass Palace because it spans a wide range of countries.

It covers India, Malaya, and Burma at that time, and I learned a lot about that part of the world and how people moved between the different countries. I also learned about the importance of timber during that time, and there were references to the opium trade.

There are moments where this book can be a little confusing because there are so many characters – so be prepared to focus hard when reading it!

I definitely recommend it for learning more about parts of Asia, particularly what happened under colonisation in some of those countries.

Best for South Asian historical fiction

US Historical Fiction

My next book is the famous The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This is probably one of the most famous books to come out of the United States.

For me, it was one of the first books I read that had very spicy lesbian feelings in it. I think that was just really powerful and had an effect on me in terms of feeling liberated.

You are really on the side of the character who has been abused and downtrodden. I also learned a lot from that book about the treatment of Black people in the United States at the time, particularly poor people, and about the abuse and oppression that happened.

Best for learning about oppression in the US

I have my top 30 books set in the USA here on my Booktube.

Best Historical Fiction Book Set in Vietnam

This is a huge, fat book, and I really enjoyed it. It is one of my favourites and it is Saigon by Anthony Grey.

It is a multigenerational read that is set in different areas of Vietnam, despite being called Saigon. I learned a lot about the French colonisation of Vietnam and, subsequently, the Vietnam War, which happened when the United States invaded and sent troops to support the French who were there.

It was also a civil war between North and South Vietnam. I think the book does a really good job of explaining, through fictional characters, how that came about.

I felt much more knowledgeable about Vietnam and its history after reading this book, which should not be that surprising because Anthony Grey is actually a journalist first and foremost rather than a novelist.

While it did read like a novel and does have fictional characters, it also has real historical figures, such as Ho Chi Minh himself, who appears as a character in the story.

Best for South East Asian historical fiction

For my top South East Asia books, watch my Booktube video here. I love reading about this area because I live in Thailand and travel extensively in the region.

Best Historical Fiction set in Georgia (the country)

This is another HUGE book and it is The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili, and I actually love this book so much that I named one of my foster cats Nino after the author.

This book taught me so much about the country of Georgia. Stalin is a character in this book, and again, like most of my favourites, it is this entwined multigenerational story that starts with grandparents and goes down through the generations.

It covers all the things that have happened in Georgia, including its connections with Russia and communism. It includes really fascinating parts of history, and I really recommend it.

However, make sure you leave yourself enough time to read this book because it is really big and not for the faint hearted!

Best for readers who love long books

Best Historical Fiction centering women & witches

This book kind of broke me. It is The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

It is set in the 1400s in Norway. Right at the beginning of the book, a freak wave, almost like a tsunami, wipes out all the fishermen in this small, remote village.

You might think it would be a good thing that there are only women left. However, there is then a witch hunt and a series of witch trials because the men, particularly Christian figures, cannot stand the idea that women are running this area.

One of those men is based on a real historical figure. It is just a heartbreaking book and one of those books that really makes you feel the injustice.

There is a bit of a trigger warning there, but I really think it is a book that everybody should read. It will probably make you really angry, like it made me.

Best Historical Fiction novel set in Korea

This has to be one of my favourites (I know I say that a lot but I mean it!). The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. I think this should go into two categories because it centres a lot around the ocean, which is one of my favourite topics to talk about, and it is also historical fiction.

It is set on the island of Jeju in South Korea and tells the story of female divers who free dive to collect sea cucumbers and sea urchins to feed their families.

It is all about what happens when the Japanese invade. It talks a lot about sympathisers and resistance to the colonisers.

I definitely recommend it for the history and also for this powerful story of female friendship and female support.

Best for WWII historical fiction about Japan and Korea (and not just Europe!)

All my favourite books from around the world are featured on my Book Globe.

Best Historical Fiction & Magical Realism

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende merges historical fiction with magical realism in the most powerful way. (Also don’t trust the film of this, the book is so much more, in every way!).

It is all set against the backdrop of Chile and what happened when there was a military coup. Again, it follows the story of one family.

Isabel Allende’s own family was actually affected by military coups and lived in exile, so I think that made it even more powerful.

I think this has to be up there as one of my favourite books. Again, there are some very dark and heavy sections of this book, as you would expect with the brutality of the army taking over and putting down any resistance to their rule.

However, I definitely still recommend it.

Best Tudor Historical Fiction Novel

Number thirteen is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I do think this one is a little bit niche because I am British, and this is set during the time when the Tudors were on the throne, particularly Henry VIII.

It tells the story of a real historical figure called Thomas Cromwell, who was one of the advisers to Henry VIII. It is actually the first part of a series, and it talks about his rise to power.

One of the things I learned from this book, which I was surprised to find out, was that this adviser to the King of England was actually quite lowly. He was a person with no rank, and that disgruntled a lot of the aristocracy at the time.

I was quite surprised that someone from such a background could manage to rise through the ranks and actually become one of the King’s top advisers, someone who would be listened to.

I think lots of us, even if you are not British, are fascinated by Henry VIII and the six wives he had. This book talks about his first three wives.

If you are interested in information about Henry VIII and the tales of his six wives, then I definitely recommend this because there was lots to learn.

The other thing to note about this book is that it is quite difficult to tell when people are talking and when people are thinking, which is quite a unique style of writing.

Best for readers who love the Tudors (and or history in the England).

I’ve got my top 30 UK books here on my Booktube channel, Books That Teach Us, including historical fiction

Best Malaysian Historical Fiction Novel

This book is set in Penang, Malaysia and it is The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng.

It’s set during World War II and follows the story of an Anglo-Malayan family who lives in Penang. The son in the family befriends a Japanese man.

Again, it is one of those stories where people are meant to be enemies because of what is happening politically at the time, during World War II and in the run-up to World War II.

I learned so much about Southeast Asia during that time. I have also visited Penang a couple of times, so I found it really interesting when the book referenced places in the story, such as the fort that you can visit when you are in Penang.

Best for South East Asian WWII learning

Watch my top South East Asia book recommendations here on my Booktube channel.

Best Historical Fiction set in Sri Lanka

This story is incredible and it is Mosquito by Roma Tearne.

It is essentially a doomed love story between two people set against the civil war in Sri Lanka.

A bit like India, I am really obsessed with reading books about Sri Lanka. I have visited Sri Lanka several times, and I think this book does a really good job of explaining what was happening during the civil war.

It educates people about the senselessness of what happened during the Sri Lankan Civil War, which went on for a minimum of twenty-five years.

Best for readers who love Sri Lanka

Watch my top 10 Sri Lanka books here on my Booktube channel.

Best Historical Fiction: Jamaica and the UK

I found this book fascinating because it covered a whole section of history that I did not really know much about and that book is Small Island by Andrea Levy.

I feel like I should know about it because it involves British colonisation of Jamaica. Jamaicans were invited to England to work and help boost the workforce in England, but they were met with discrimination and outright racism.

They found it very difficult to rent places because people did not want to rent to Black people.

I learned so much from this book. I think it is a fantastic story as well, and there is a huge twist at the end that I definitely did not see coming.

There’s also a play version out now which I would love to go and see at the theatre!

Best for readers who want to read things that affect current events.

Best Historical Fiction that will break you

This is another book that kind of broke my heart, which is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

It is all set in India and follows the story of four friends from when they are young adults all the way through to later adulthood.

It is just really heartbreaking. It is also really interesting because it covers roughly the last fifty years of Indian history and a lot of the political turmoil that was happening.

It shows how those friendships interweave, change, and shift as a result of what is happening in India at the time.

I definitely recommend it. I especially recommend it if you need to cry because it is definitely a tearjerker of a book that taught me so much about poverty.

Best for books that make you ugly cry

Best Historical Fiction Book set in India

I do love books all about India and this is another one – it is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.

I think this book does a really good job of capturing traditions, different families, and different religions in India.

It follows a range of different characters whose lives all interlink during the book. I think it does this incredible job of capturing India, making you want to visit India, and teaching you about the different cultures and traditions that are there.

Best for: readers who love India (the British TV version of this was also excellent)

Best Historical Fiction Classic

For this one I have gone off in a slightly different direction and I’m talking about Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.

I wanted to try to include a range of books from different time periods, and this one is set in eighteenth-century England.

I was not sure what to expect when I first picked up this book, but honestly, I think I just love any books that are about women behaving badly. That is definitely Moll Flanders.

You see this incredible story involving crime and punishment, as well as the treatment of women at the time, particularly women from poorer backgrounds.

I really recommend it. I think it explains a lot about Britain at the time and about people’s attitudes towards women then too.

Best for classical readers that also want historical fiction

Watch all my classic recommendations that you will actually enjoy on my Booktube.

Best Afghanistan Historical Fiction

I feel like you cannot go wrong with any of Khaled Hosseini’s books and this time I’ve picked The Kite Runner.

This was the first Khaled Hosseini book that I read. It was actually a recommendation from my English teacher when I was at school.

She gave each of us a little note with a book recommendation that was personalised for us, and she was absolutely not wrong. I adored this book.

Again, it is very heartbreaking. It is all set in Afghanistan.

There is an event that happens, and everything after that event is connected with guilt, redemption, and how we treat each other.

It is just really powerful.

Best for: another heart breaking read

Best Light Hearted Historical Fiction

This choice is a little bit more lighthearted because there have been a lot of quite heavy books on my historical fiction list so far.

I have gone for an Elif Shafak book called The Forty Rules of Love.

I did not know what to expect with this book because I love Elif Shafak, but I think this book reads quite differently from some of her others.

There are two storylines in this book. One of them follows a modern-day woman who is in an unhappy marriage. She is married with children and searching for something.

That story is interspersed with information about the poet Rumi, set in the twelfth century in what is now modern-day Turkey.

If you have not heard of Rumi, you might have seen some of his poems. They are all over places like Pinterest, and he writes so beautifully.

I think the book gives a really interesting perspective on Islam at the time, which is quite different from some of our perceptions of Islam today.

I really recommend it to people who have an interest in Islam, are interested in Turkey, have perhaps heard of the poet Rumi, or love poetry.

I definitely recommend reading this book. Again, it is a little bit more lighthearted than some of the others on my list.

Best for learning about Islam

The best place to see all my global book recommendations is on my Book Globe

Top Historical Fiction for Europe

I adored this book and even though I read it a long time ago it sticks in my mine and it is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.

It is set on one of the Greek islands, Kefalonia and made me want to visit there.

I think it was one of the first books where I saw soldiers coming back from war and realised the brutality of war, how it affects people, and how it really changes them.

I think this book does a really good job of capturing that. It is just tragic.

I also learned a lot about World War II on the Greek islands, as well as events that happened in Albania.

Best for: if you are interested in European history and a part that is often ignored.

Best Historical Fiction & Unusual Narration

I love Kate Atkinson and so chose her book Life After Life.

She writes a lot of books based in Cambridge, which is actually my hometown. This book is based in London, but it is really clever.

It is called Life After Life, and it is about all the different storylines that could have happened to one character based on different situations and different decisions that she made.

I love a storyline like that and am obsessed with the ‘what if’ books where characters replay scenes and we find out what happened if…

A lot of it covers World War I and World War II in England. There were sections about the Blitz in London that I remember very vividly from reading this book.

Best for if you are interested in world war historical fiction

True Story Historical Fiction

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. I thought this book was absolutely fascinating. It is based on a couple who decided to resist the Nazis and Hitler’s rule by posting postcards all around Berlin and it’s all a true story.

This is a tale of this couple, their bravery, and their resistance in the face of what was happening at the time.

There are absolutely terrifying scenes involving what might happen to them if they are caught.

It is really tense in sections, so it is quite thrilling, but it also teaches you a lot about Berlin during World War II.

Best for tense stories that are true

Best European Historical Fiction – True Story

I adored this book and it has really stayed with me over the years and it is The Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin.

Again, this is a World War II historical fiction book. It is about Jewish people trying to escape from Europe to safety and get away from persecution by the Nazis.

They are put on this train to Istanbul, which has offered to provide protection for Jewish people if they manage to arrive there.

They charter this train into the heart of Germany during the peak of Hitler’s rule which seems insane and so dangerous and it all really happened!

I think it is a fantastic book. It covers a lot of different areas of Europe, and it is based on events that really happened.

If you want more books from around the world then get my Book Globe as a fun, innovative way to find your next read.