Historical novels, anyone?

[Lel0uch]

The Last of the Wine
The Persian Boy
most books written by Mary Renault

[hopesville]

hardback
343 pages
copyright 2005
ISBN 0-312-33708-6

THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE - CAROLLY ERICKSON



In the tradition of The Birth of Venus and The Other Boleyn Girl, this captivating retelling of Marie Antoinette's life gives heart and mind to one of the most sensational -- and most complex --- historical figures of all time.

The 16th of October at four-thirty in the morning
My God have pity of me!
My eyes have no more tears to cry for my poor children.
Farewell, farewell!
- MARIE ANTOINETTE


Imagine that, on the night before she is to die under the blade of the guillotine, Marie Antoinette leaves behind in her prison cell a diary telling the story of her life from her privileged childhood as Austrian Archduchess to her years as glamorous mistress of Versailles to the heartbreak of imprisonment and humiliation during the French Revolution.

Carolly Erickson takes the reader deep into the psyche of France's doomed queen: her love affair with handsome Swedish diplomat Count Axel Fersen, who risked his life to save her on the terrifying night the Parisian mob broke into her palace bedroom intent on murdering her and her family; her harrowing attempted flight from France in disguise; her recapture and the grim months of harsh captivity; her agony when her beloved husband was guillotined and her young son was torn from her arms, never to be seen again.

Erickson brilliantly captures the queens voice, her hopes, her dreads, and her suffering. We follow, mesmerized, as she reveals every detail of her remarkable, eventful life --- from her teenage years when she began keeping a diary to her final days when she awaited her own bloody appointment with the guillotine.

ayoko nito!

ABUNDANCE ang the best para sa akin kung historical novel featuring Marie Antoinette ang pag-uusapan.

The best para sa akin:

The Other Boleyn Girl (super ***** si Anne)
The Queen's Fool (Super ***** din si Elizabeth 1)

Love ko silang dalawa! Girl power!

[quick_ben]

James Clavell's Shogun
Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire
Wallace Breem's Eagle in the Snow

[brrrrr!!!]

CATCH-22 - JOSEPH HELLER



Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1944 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century.[2] It has a distinctive non-chronological style where events are described from different characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot.

The novel follows Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters. Most events occur while the airmen of the fictional 256th squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea west of Italy. -Wikipedia

[blastdinosaur]

define historical?

I'm reading Raptor by Gary Jennings right now, and I must say I am immensed in this book. It is set on the medieval age(I think) and stars a unique protagonist. This is my first book that is labeled as historical and I think I'll buy another one, ^^

[f0r5aK3n]

^^ I believe historical novels are defined as stories with authentic, factual events with fictional characters immersed in it. For example, events in Horatio Hornblower stories are real but Hornblower himself is fictionalized. (Although, I believe he is based on a real person).

[C.I.C.C.I]

define historical?

your'e kidding right?

HISTORICAL - A novel that re-creates a period or event in history and often uses historical figures as some of its characters

NOVEL - a FICTITIOUS prose narrative of considerable length

[C.I.C.C.I]

hardback
384 pages
copyright 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1-58567-834-1
ISBN-10: 1-58667-834-1

SISTER TERESA - BARBARA MUJICA




Spoiled with beauty, riches, and adoration, a young girl from Avila is sent to a convent by her father to avoid the scandal caused by her budding relationship with a local bachelor, but discovers instead an unparalleled spiritual fervor-- one so powerful as to be condemned as sinful by some. She is Saint Teresa de Ahumada, the woman who will become Saint Teresa --- known as a visionary, reformer and founder of convents, she was the author of numerous texts that introduced her radical religious ideas and practices to a society suffering through the repressive throes of the Spanish Inquisition. In Barbara Mujica's masterful tale, her story --- her days of youthful romance, her sensual fits of spiritual rapture, secret heritage as a Jewish convert to Catholicism, cloak-and-dagger political dealings, struggles against sexual blackmail, and mysterious illness --- unfolds with a tumultuous urgency. Blending fact with fiction in vivid detail, painstakingly researched and beautifully rendered, Mujica's tale conjures a brilliant picture of sisterhood, faith, the terror of religious persecution, the miracle of salvation, and to one woman's challenge to the power of strict orthodoxy, a challenge that consisted of a crime of passion --- her own personal relationship with God.

[spoiler start]
Sister Teresa was in love with her cousin
Angelica has an affair with her father confessor. (Fictional Characters in the book)
[spoiler end]

[cpa]

1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

[bothwell]

Partial list of my Historical books collection. Some of them are narrative but reads better than novels.

Gates of fire - Steven Pressfield
The Family - mario puzo
Hannibal - theodore ayrault dodge
Alexander of Macedon 356-323BC - Peter Green
Robert the Bruce: King of Scots - Ronald McNair Scott
Two Queens in One Isle - Alison Plowden
The Children of Henry VIII - Alison Weir
Courtesan: A Novel - Diane Haeger
The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinett- Carolyn Meyer
The Winter Queen: Elizabeth of Bohemia - Carola Oman
Immortal Queen: Mary Queen of Scots - Elizabeth Byrd
Mary Queen of Scots - Antonia Fraser
Plotting Hitler's Death - Joachim Fest
Treason by the Book - Jonathan Spence
Queen Victoria - Christopher Hibbert
Tales by Japanese Soldiers - Tamayama and Nunnely

Anyone care to swap or loan for other historical books?

[kim G]

Pillars of earth and World without End both by Ken follet.

One of the most detailed historical fiction i ever read.

May nabasa akong book na based on Josephine"s letter to Napoleon Bonaparte. It is trilogy,historical fiction books. I can't remember the title but bec of these books,i am truly convince that their story is truly one of the greatest love story ever and i am a big fan of Napoleon,whatever lacking in his physical is made insignificant by his great personality.

[quick_ben]

if you loved this:

Hannibal - theodore ayrault dodge

and you liked this:

Alexander of Macedon 356-323BC - Peter Green

you should read dodge's Alexander the Great.

[yakibuke]

silipin nyo naman yung history ng pilipinas sa paraang matatawa kayo

Etsa Puwera - Jun Cruz Reyes

[TakeFive]

OMG Raptor by Gary Jennings! hahaha hermaphrodite yung bida!!! Pero di lang puro sex exciting yung story! Pinakamabilis ko na binasang 700+ page na book to...

[thekaisermarc]

why don't anybody try f. sionil jose? the rosales saga is a very good read.

[jerseyvixen]

I've read both 1421: the year china discovered america and 1434: the year a magnificent chinese fleet sailed to italy and ignited the renaissance by gavin menzies

believe at your own risk lol

[bothwell]

if you loved this:



and you liked this:



you should read dodge's Alexander the Great.

Don't want to have a surfeit of Alexander the Great stories. Want to move on to others'.

@jerseyvixen. Is that the book about Admiral Zheng He? He's the greatest navigator during his period. There's not enough direct evidence to prove the author's theory, though. Only seen this on History Channel.

[brrrrr!!!]

On the classics side Tolstoy's War and Peace easily comes to mind, maybe not everyones cup of tea but it worked great for me, and backreading on the napoleonic era russia while not necessary would make for better appreciation of the historical bits in the novel just so we dont miss their implication. Not Tolstoy's best but it is certain to make an impression on you as with the many who revere Tolstoy as the finest of novelists. Dont get intimidated by the size, the prose is actually straightforward and easy to follow (Pevear's translation for that matter is highly acclaimed) despite the huge cast of 500+ characters both real and fictional.

[jerseyvixen]

@bothwell - both books are about zheng he's last voyages - I saw thc's feature on the admiral too and one time I was hanging out at barnes & noble and saw a copy of 1421 and bought it - I didn't get to read it until two months after but bought 1434 shortly after I finished reading 1421 - after reading both books I started reading evidences that debunk much of menzies' theories

[Arjay143]

Just sharing a blog-o-novel about Lakandula's Descendant Sumuroy:

http://arjdalumat.wordpress.com/