What will you be reading this summer? We asked 12 well-known and well-loved authors to each suggest a couple of books they recommend for history lovers to enjoy over the next couple of months – and long after. They’ve come back with a wide-ranging mix of history and fiction spanning 2,000 years, with a foray into ancient myth as well.
Melanie Backe-Hansen
My summer reading suggestions are both non-fiction, but I highly recommend them both for fascinating journeys into our past.
Rule, Nostalgia by Hannah Rose Woods. In our current political turmoil where the cry of the ‘good old days’ is often shouted and proclaimed as the ideal and used as a political tool, Rule, Nostalgia provides a fascinating journey into previous centuries to give much-needed historic context and reveals the desire for the old days is nothing new. It also offers insight into where we have come from and a genuinely captivating look at the generations that have gone before while offering context to our current times.
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade is part biography of five women (who deserve more recognition anyway) and part history of London during the 1920s and 1930s. Wade tells the story of these five brilliant women and their lives through the lens of their time living in Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, London. As a house historian, I wholeheartedly support the idea of historical discovery through the history of our houses, but Square Haunting also provides insight into the lives of women during a period of great cultural and social change. While it was released a short time ago, it is certainly not to be forgotten.
Melanie Backe-Hansen is a house historian, specialising in the social history of buildings. Her Historic Streets and Squares: The Secrets On Your Doorstep came out in paperback on 10 November, 2022. She’s also the author of House Histories: The Secrets Behind Your Front Door and, with David Olusoga, of A House Through Time.
Sharon Bennett Connolly
Anne O’Brien‘s The Queen’s Rival is a thoroughly engaging story looking at the Wars of the Roses through the eyes of the matriarch of the House of York matriarch, Cecily Neville. The narrative is a combination of traditional storytelling and correspondence between Cecily and her sisters, Anne and Katherine. These letters are particularly entertaining, telling the story while at the same time giving an insight into the sisters as they share recipes, beauty tips and family news — many of which will leave the reader giggling in amusement.
I love the sisterly relationship between Cecily, Anne and Katherine, especially seeing as it isn’t all loving and friendly all the time: the snide remarks and unwanted advice offered in the correspondence provides a wonderful contrast to the nationally important events of the story. Anne O’Brien portrays Cecily and her family in such a unique and intimate way that the reader is drawn into the narrative and feels like a fly on the wall, watching the events through Cecily’s own eyes. It’s perfect!
Catherine Hanley‘s Two Houses, Two Kingdoms has just come out in paperback. What a fabulous concept for a book. A joint biography of the ruling houses of England and France from the time shortly after the Norman Conquest to the reign of Edward II. Catherine Hanley considers both the political and personal relationships of the two royal houses, demonstrating how they intertwined to create a love-hate relationship that directed the course of European politics for two centuries. While presented with the best academic rigour applied, the narrative flows freely and comfortably, making it a book that can be read simply for pleasure but also used for research. This is a book that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the histories of France or England — or both!
Sharon Bennett Connolly is a historian specialising mainly in bringing to light the women of the medieval period. Her fifth book, King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye, came out on on 5 May, 2023. She first wrote about Nicholaa in her 2020 book, Ladies of Magna Carta. She’s the co-presenter, with Derek Birks, of the A Slice of Medieval podcast. Sharon was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
DV Bishop
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara is an absorbing, resonant novel about a Japanese-American family arriving in 1944 Chicago after being released from the Manzanar internment camp. When the elder adult daughter Rose is killed by a subway train, her sister Aki is determined to uncover the truth… This is a powerful and evocative tale with plenty to say about the treatment of newcomers, but at heart it is a gripping and thrilling mystery.
The Maiden by Kate Foster is a fascinating tale set in 17th-century Edinburgh. It is based on the true crime story of Lady Christian, who was accused of murdering her lover with his own sword. Foster brings the period alive through the deft use of two viewpoints: Lady Christian, and a prostitute called Violet. This is an evocative narrative that keeps you guessing. Whatever you do, don’t read the historical note at the end of the book before you finish the novel!
Ritual of Fire by DV Bishop was published on 1 June, 2023. It’s the third in his award-winning Cesare Aldo historical crime series set in Florence in the 16th century. Earlier this month the second Aldo novel, The Darkest Sin — which was released in paperback in March this year — won the 2023 CWA Historical Dagger Award. Ritual of Fire has been longlisted for the 2023 Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize.
Elizabeth Fremantle
This summer I’m recommending two debut novels. Firstly, classicist Costanza Casati’s Clytemnestra, a new portrait of history’s irredeemably wicked Queen of Mycenae, whose murder of her husband Agamemnon continued the cycle of vengeance on the House of Atrius. Casati’s Clytemnestra is wholly rounded, a princess of Sparta, raised to fight and forced into marriage to the man who has brutally murdered her husband and son, the man who sacrifices their daughter for a fair wind, so he may go to war. She reigns with aplomb in his absence as her revenge simmers for years until it can be meted. A thrilling and dynamic debut.
Secondly, Alex May’s The Housekeepers. Billed as Oceans 11 meets Downton Abbey, this description, though accurate, doesn’t do justice to all the historical detail, nor Hay’s fluent and vivid writing. It is a wonderfully conceived Edwardian heist story, with a cast of colourful female characters from both upstairs and downstairs, at its heart. A hugely entertaining read.
I personally will be catching up with the second part in Elodie Harper’s brilliant Wolf Den trilogy – The House with the Golden Door. I’m dying to follow Amara’s journey out of Pompeii’s Lupanar. Harper is a writer of incredible skill, balancing the harrowing and the compelling on a knife edge. I can’t wait.
Elizabeth Fremantle‘s latest novel, Disobedient, about the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, is published on 27 July, 2023. Her 2013 novel Queen’s Gambit has been made into a film, Firebrand, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law. It premiered at Cannes earlier this year and will be in cinemas this Autumn. A new edit of her novel, also called Firebrand, will be published by Penguin to tie in with the film.
Hazel Gaynor
Weyward by Emilia Hart. I loved this clever captivating story of female resilience and the power of nature, told through the voices of three very different and brilliantly imagined women. Spanning 400 years — from 17th-century witch trials to the 1940s and up to the present day — this is a book to be devoured in a couple of days. A superb debut that I couldn’t put down.
Mrs Van Gogh by Caroline Cauchi. A fascinating and beautifully written novel about the life of Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger, sister-in-law to Vincent. The novel moves between 19th-century Paris and Amsterdam, and takes the reader into the emerging movement of impressionist art. Intricate and absorbing, this is a book to take your time over as the layers of this fascinating woman’s life are slowly revealed.
Hazel Gaynor is the bestselling author of The Last Lifeboat, published on 8 June, 2023. Her 2014 debut novel, The Girl Who Came Home, won the 2015 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year. Hazel’s novels have been translated into 18 languages and published in 25 territories.
Matthew Harffy
British Woodland by Ray Mears. The natural world is like another character in my novels. Our forebears lived in close proximity with nature and the elements, relying on trees and plants for a huge array of purposes, from the obvious, such as fire, tools and weapons, to less commonly thought of tasks like medicine and navigation.
In this book Ray Mears pulls on his deep knowledge of natural history and practical woodcraft skills, gained over a lifetime of travels to remote regions, to offer a different way to experience and value our wooded landscapes. He looks to our ancestors, and shows how man’s hand in shaping woodland is critical to what it is and how closely connected we are to nature. He looks at the historical evolution of woodland in Britain and encourages a sense of connection to individual trees. His hope is clear: that with an appreciation of these landscapes we’ll learn how to live inclusively in nature, preserving for future generations something that has shaped the land and the people who walked it before us.
Battle Song by Ian Ross. I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this first novel in a planned trilogy and I absolutely adored it. Ian Ross’s Roman books are great, and I’ve long been a fan, but this is even better. Breathtaking in its attention to detail, Battle Song exudes authenticity as Ross brings the world of the 13th century to exciting, vivid, colourful life. With a perfect balance of rich historical atmosphere and a galloping pace, I couldn’t put it down. Simply put, Battle Song is wonderful and the best historical novel I’ve read in a long time.
Matthew Harffy‘s most recent novel, Forest of Foes, was released as a paperback on 8 June, 2023. It’s the ninth book in his Bernicia Chronicles series, set in the war-torn 7th century. Matthew’s also the author of the A Time for Swords trilogy; the third in the series, A Day of Reckoning, is scheduled to come out on 28 September, 2023. He’s also the co-presenter of the Rock, Paper, Swords podcast along with Steven A McKay.
Vaseem Khan
Viper’s Dream by Jake Lamar explores a vital time and place in American history: Harlem from the 1930s through to the post-war period. A coming of age tale that follows the eponymous Clyde ‘Viper’ Morton, Lamar’s narrative conjures up the evolution of Harlem, ‘Black America’, and Viper’s own journey from country bumpkin with dreams of musical stardom to ruthless killer and drug kingpin. A jazz-infused crime odyssey.
One Fine Day by Matthew Parker. Parker’s meticulously researched book takes a unique look at the British Empire — on the day that marked its zenith, 29 September, 1923. By bringing to life voices from across an empire that stretches to a quarter of the globe, this book informs current debates that we’re having about the legacy of that empire. [This is out in September, but worth keeping in mind.]
Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India: the Baby Ganesh Agency series in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger. Death of a Lesser God, the fourth and last in the Malabar House series, is published on 8 August, 2023. Vaseem also co-hosts The Red Hot Chilli Writers, a crime fiction podcast, with Abir Mukherjee. Earlier this month he took over as chair of the Crime Writers’ Association.
Julie Owen Moylan
Other Women by Emma Flint. The fictionalised account of a true crime set in 1920s London. This book is beautifully written and so evocative of the period that you feel yourself to be there walking alongside these women.
Walking in Berlin: A Flaneur in the Capital by Frank Hessel. I was entirely entranced by this account of strolling through Weimar-era Berlin. You can travel without leaving your armchair and it’s filled with fascinating period details.
Julie Owen Moylan is the author of That Green Eyed Girl, which came out in paperback on 16 March, 2023, and was Waterstone’s Welsh Book of the Month in March this year. Her second novel, 73 Dove Street, is published on 20 July, 2023.
Andrew Taylor
I learned a great deal from Clare Jackson‘s Devil-Land, which looks at 17th-century England through the eyes of foreigners. To them, England appeared a failed state. The book offers a refreshing, and indeed humbling, perspective on English history.
I’m not sure whether Ysenda Maxtone Graham‘s Terms and Conditions qualifies as historical but it’s such an entertaining read I mention it to everyone I meet. It’s a gossipy account of life in girls’ boarding schools between 1939 and 1979, crammed with jaw-dropping and often very funny anecdotes. It also provides a fascinating perspective on the social history of the period.
Finally, Laura Shepherd-Robinson‘s latest novel, The Square of Sevens, is an intricately constructed, Gothic-tinged extravaganza set against the gorgeous backdrop of eighteenth-century England. The narrative grips you from the first page, and you can’t break free until, exhausted yet happily sated, you reach the last.
Andrew Taylor is the best-selling author of the Marwood and Lovett series of novels set in Restoration London. The Shadows of London, the sixth in the series, was published on 2 March, 2023, and is out in paperback in February next year. He has written over 40 novels and has won the HWA Gold Crown Award (for The King’s Evil, in 2020) and the CWA Diamond Dagger for lifelong excellence.
LJ Trafford
Men of the Cross by Charlene Newcomb is my go-to summer re-read, as comforting in its familiarity as a cool glass of ouzo by the hotel pool. Set during the crusade of Richard the Lionheart, it follows knights Henry and Stephen as they battle their way to the Holy Land. So far, so like many other books. But there’s a gloriously angsty twist as our two knights fight not only the enemy but also their growing attraction to each other. Wonderfully engrossing.
Caesar’s Soldier (The Mark Antony Series book 1) by Alex Gough. Unfairly overshadowed by the men he served and the woman he loved, it’s about time someone shone the light back on the life of Mark Antony and the chaotic, dramatic and destructive times he lived in. Alex Gough is that man, deftly handling the complex politics and tricky personalities that populated the era and placing Mark Antony back in the forefront of history where he belongs.
LJ Trafford is a novelist and historian specialising in the Roman period — particularly the weirdest and nastiest emperors and the bits you don’t get taught at school. Her most recent book, Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Rome, was published on 23 September, 2021, and her next, Ancient Rome’s Worst Emperors, will be out in November, 2023. She’s also the author of the Four Emperors novels set in AD69.
Mark Turnbull
The 17th century has continued to blossom in the last year. This under-explored and turbulent era has all a writer could ask for and is fertile ground for fiction and non-fiction. There are deep political crises, tragic family dramas, a brutal civil war and the killing of a king.
Leanda de Lisle‘s Henrietta Maria: Conspirator, Warrior, Phoenix Queen raises Henrietta Maria up from a long-standing mire of propaganda. We read about her exploits in comparison to those of her mother and sisters, which provides a European context to Britain’s lurch towards war. A beautifully written narrative illustrates her story so well.
In fiction, Eleanor Swift-Hook‘s six-book Lords Legacy series mixes history and mystery in an adventure that vividly brings the period to life. But more than this, it’s peppered with romance and murder. Gideon Lennox, an ex-lawyer is caught up in the civil war along with Philip Lord, a mercenary. Their two stories weave beautifully around the plot.
Mark Turnbull is a novelist and historian who specialises in the 17th-century Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The King’s Cavalier, the third in his Rebellion trilogy, came out in July, 2022. His next book, Charles I’s Private Life, is published on 30 August, 2023. Mark also hosts CavalierCast, the podcast focused on the British Civil Wars.
Simon Turney
Caesar’s Soldier by Alex Gough. A new historical adventure series based on the life of a figure often eclipsed by his peers until his later days: Mark Antony. Alex Gough’s new novel covers the early life of Antonius as he takes his first steps on the ladder of political and military roles, which even as a young man bring him into the dangerous whorl of Roman politics and makes him dangerous enemies as well as lifelong friends. Highly recommended reading for anyone who loves Roman military novels.
Roman Special Forces and Special Ops: Speculatores, Exploratores, Protectores and Areani in the Service of Rome by Simon Elliott. A new and must-have non-fiction work for any student of the Roman military. This book covers a subject rarely touched upon, delving into the history, organisation, operations, and fate of a number of the more arcane and secret of Rome’s military, from intelligence gathering units to elite special forces. Drawing from a wealth of sources, the book covers the subject in detail and is beautifully illustrated, including works by the great Graham Sumner.
Simon Turney (who also writes as SJA Turney) is the author of more than 30 novels, including the bestselling Marius’ Mules series. His most recent book, Para Bellum, which plays out against the backdrop of the 4th-century Roman Empire, was published on 6 July, 2023; the paperback edition of his Bellatrix, set in Egypt in 25BC, was out on the same day. Wolves around the Throne, the fourth and final book in his Wolves of Odin series, is due on 23 November, 2023.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration for summer reading from our contributors’ recommendations. For more historical fiction and non-fiction suggestions, have a look at our round-up of books published in 2023. And join us again in December, when we’ll have our annual Christmas books feature (last year’s is still live, if you’d like to have a look).
Image:
Sunlight and Shadow by Winslow Homer, 1873: Cooper Hewitt Collection (public doman)
