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45 Best Historical Fiction Books of All Time


Our goal: Find the best Historical Fiction books according to the internet (not just one random person's opinion).

    Here's what we did:
  1. Type "best historical fiction books" into our search engine and study the top 6+ pages.
  2. Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
  3. Rank the results neatly for you here! 😊
    (It was a lot of work. But hey! That's why we're here, right?)

(Updated 2024)

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Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024

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  1. 1
    The Pillars of the Earth
  2. 2
    The Underground Railroad
  3. 3
    Things Fall Apart
  4. 4
    Pachinko

    Pachinko

    Min Jin Lee

  5. 5
    Wolf Hall

    Wolf Hall

    Hilary Mantel

  6. 6
    Beloved

    Beloved

    Toni Morrison

  7. 7
    The Sympathizer

    The Sympathizer

    A Novel

    Viet Thanh Nguyen

  8. 8
    Homegoing

    Homegoing

    Yaa Gyasi

  9. 9
    The God of Small Things
  10. 10
    The Dovekeepers
  11. 11
    The Four Winds

    The Four Winds

    A Novel

    Kristin Hannah

  12. 12
    The Red Tent

    The Red Tent

    A Novel

    Anita Diamant

  13. 13
    Alias Grace

    Alias Grace

    A Novel

    Margaret Atwood

  14. 14
    Girl with a Pearl Earring
  15. 15
    The Name of the Rose
  16. MOST RECOMMENDED!
    16
    One Hundred Years of Solitude

    One Hundred Years of Solitude

    Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  17. 17
    A Gentleman in Moscow
  18. 18
    All the Light We Cannot See
  19. 19
    The Poisonwood Bible
  20. 20
    Lincoln in the Bardo
  21. 21
    Outlander
  22. 22
    The Book Thief

    The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak

  23. 23
    Atonement
  24. 24
    The House of the Spirits
  25. 25
    The Book of Longings
  26. 26
    The Night Watchman
  27. 27
    The Marriage of Opposites
  28. 29
    Fingersmith

    Fingersmith

    Sarah Waters

  29. 30
    Cold Mountain

    Cold Mountain

    A Novel

    Charles Frazier

  30. 32
    The Buddha in the Attic
  31. 33
    The English Patient

    The English Patient

    Michael Ondaatje

  32. 34
    March

    March

    A Novel

    Geraldine Brooks

  33. 35
    Human Acts
  34. 36
    Alex & Eliza

    Alex & Eliza

    Melissa de la Cruz

  35. 37
    Lavinia

    Lavinia

    Ursula K. Le Guin

  36. 38
    The Twentieth Wife
  37. 39
    The Night Watch

    The Night Watch

    Sarah Waters

  38. 40
    Arthur & George

    Arthur & George

    Julian Barnes

  39. 41
    Abundance
  40. 42
    As Meat Loves Salt

    As Meat Loves Salt

    Maria McCann

  41. 43
    The Twelve Rooms of the Nile
  42. 45
    My Brilliant Friend
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