If you enjoy historical fiction like me, then you are always on the lookout for new ones to read. But it is not as easy as it sounds. Every book is different and few authors can write an amazing historical fiction tale. That is why we decided to list the best historical fiction books of the past 25 years to see which ones are the best of the best.
Instead of limiting ourselves, we decided to list the ones that we thought were the best historical fiction novels. Even then, we are sure to have missed a few because there just are too many books. You can see our full list below.
The Best Historical Fiction Books of the Past 25 Years
- THE WATER DANCER BY TA-NEHISI COATES
- TRUST BY HERNAN DIAZ
- THE NIGHTINGALE BY KRISTIN HANNAH
- AT NIGHT ALL BLOOD IS BLACK BY DAVID DIOP, TRANSLATED BY ANNA MOSCHOVAKIS
- ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE BY ANTHONY DOERR
- WASHINGTON BLACK BY ESI EDUGYAN
- THE NIGHT WATCHMAN BY LOUISE ERDRICH
- THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH BY RICHARD FLANAGAN
- HOMEGOING BY YAA GYASI
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS BY MARLON JAMES
- THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS BY HONOREE FANONNE JEFFERS
- PACHINKO BY MIN JIN LEE
- THE SLEEPING CAR PORTER BY SUZETTE MAYR
- THE GOOD LORD BIRD BY JAMES MCBRIDE
- CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER
- THE SYMPATHIZER BY VIET THANH NGUYEN
- HAMNET BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL
- THE ALICE NETWORK BY KATE QUINN
- FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE BY INGRID ROJAS CONTRERAS
- DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING BY MADELEINE THIEN
- THE BOOKS OF JACOB BY OLGA TOKARCZUK, TRANSLATED BY JENNIFER CROFT
- A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW BY AMOR TOWLES
- THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BY COLSON WHITEHEAD
- HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD BY C PAM ZHANG
Modern Classics
This list contains a lot of critically acclaimed books. Some of these we have read and others have been sitting in our to-read list for years. Hopefully, this is the push needed to read some of them.
The historical fiction genre contains some of my favorite books of all time. The Nightingale is a personal favorite of mine and made me a fan of Kristin Hannah. The Gentleman in Moscow is an amazing book and one I recommend to friends often. Pachinko is a modern classic in my opinion and should be read by everyone that loves reading.
Other books that I also enjoyed on this list include The Water Dancer, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, The Alice Network, All the Light we Cannot See and The Underground Railroad. I know I will be using this list and reading some of the ones that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet.
Conclusion
What did you think of the best historical fiction books of the past 25 years list? How many of these books have you read or plan to? What books should have been included on this list? Let us know in the comments below!
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I guess that books that actually have mass market appeal don’t count, otherwise how could you ignore Bernard Cornwell and Steven Pressfield?
Any list of “best” historical books which omits The Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar is immediately suspect. The author was the first woman elected to the French Academy.
Any list of “best” that includes the Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is also immediately suspect. Just because a book engages a person’s emotions doesn’t make it a good historical fiction. Too many incidents of inconsistencies and lazy writing should never put this book on a “best” list when there are many other worthy works.
I haven’t read all of the books on this list, but there is at least one popular book on the list that I enjoyed, but had a few historical inaccuracies. There are other less popular books I’ve read by authors who take the time and effort to get every historical detail correct while weaving their fictional stories in with the history. I won’t argue that they are better (even though I think they are) because that’s subjective, but I will argue that “best” is thrown around way too often just to get article clicks.
Amore Towles is a master at his craft. You post was an interesting read, too
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee was one of the best books I have ever read! Good post! Sharon