The 24 Best Historical Fiction Novels of All Time

From sweeping wartime epics to intimate court dramas, these novels turn centuries of real history into unforgettable stories. Ancient empires, revolutions, and quiet acts of courage all make the cut — cast your vote!

1

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy's sweeping epic of Russian society during the Napoleonic Wars, widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written.

1000pts

2

Suite Française

Irène Némirovsky's posthumously published novel depicting France under Nazi occupation, written as it happened.

654pts

3

Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese's acclaimed novel of twin brothers born in Ethiopia amid political turmoil.

600pts

4

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah's bestselling novel about two sisters navigating occupied France during World War II.

535pts

5

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo's monumental epic of redemption and revolution in 19th-century France.

485pts

6

Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden's bestselling novel chronicling the life of a geisha in pre- and post-war Japan.

485pts

7

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel following a blind French girl and a German soldier during World War II.

485pts

8

Beloved

Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel confronting the trauma of slavery in post-Civil War America.

428pts

9

Year of Wonders

Geraldine Brooks's acclaimed novel of an English village that quarantines itself during the 1665 plague.

428pts

10

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller's award-winning retelling of the Trojan War through the bond between Achilles and Patroclus.

362pts

11

The Name of the Rose

Umberto Eco's erudite murder mystery set in a 14th-century Italian monastery.

362pts

12

Doctor Zhivago

Boris Pasternak's epic novel of love and upheaval during the Russian Revolution.

362pts

13

The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett's immersive epic about the building of a cathedral in 12th-century medieval England.

362pts

14

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel tracing Thomas Cromwell's rise in the court of Henry VIII.

362pts

15

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Tracy Chevalier's novel imagining the story behind Vermeer's iconic 17th-century Dutch painting.

285pts

16

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver's celebrated novel of a missionary family's upheaval in the Belgian Congo.

285pts

17

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning saga of love and survival in the American Civil War South.

285pts

18

The Other Boleyn Girl

Philippa Gregory's popular novel dramatizing the rivalry between the Boleyn sisters at the Tudor court.

285pts

19

I, Claudius

Robert Graves's classic novel narrated by the reluctant Roman emperor Claudius, chronicling imperial intrigue.

285pts

20

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak's acclaimed novel narrated by Death, about a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany.

285pts

21

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens's classic novel set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

285pts

22

The Winds of War

Herman Wouk's sweeping saga following an American naval family through the outbreak of World War II.

195pts

23

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas's classic tale of betrayal and revenge set in early 19th-century France.

195pts

24

Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier's National Book Award-winning novel of a wounded Confederate soldier's journey home.

86pts