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. 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. 2
   Suite Française

   Irène Némirovsky's posthumously published novel depicting France under Nazi occupation, written as it happened.
   654pts
3. 3
   Cutting for Stone

   Abraham Verghese's acclaimed novel of twin brothers born in Ethiopia amid political turmoil.
   600pts
4. 4
   The Nightingale

   Kristin Hannah's bestselling novel about two sisters navigating occupied France during World War II.
   535pts
5. 5
   Les Misérables

   Victor Hugo's monumental epic of redemption and revolution in 19th-century France.
   485pts
6. 6
   Memoirs of a Geisha

   Arthur Golden's bestselling novel chronicling the life of a geisha in pre- and post-war Japan.
   485pts
7. 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. 8
   Beloved

   Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel confronting the trauma of slavery in post-Civil War America.
   428pts
9. 9
   Year of Wonders

   Geraldine Brooks's acclaimed novel of an English village that quarantines itself during the 1665 plague.
   428pts
10. 10
    The Song of Achilles

    Madeline Miller's award-winning retelling of the Trojan War through the bond between Achilles and Patroclus.
    362pts
11. 11
    The Name of the Rose

    Umberto Eco's erudite murder mystery set in a 14th-century Italian monastery.
    362pts
12. 12
    Doctor Zhivago

    Boris Pasternak's epic novel of love and upheaval during the Russian Revolution.
    362pts
13. 13
    The Pillars of the Earth

    Ken Follett's immersive epic about the building of a cathedral in 12th-century medieval England.
    362pts
14. 14
    Wolf Hall

    Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel tracing Thomas Cromwell's rise in the court of Henry VIII.
    362pts
15. 15
    Girl with a Pearl Earring

    Tracy Chevalier's novel imagining the story behind Vermeer's iconic 17th-century Dutch painting.
    285pts
16. 16
    The Poisonwood Bible

    Barbara Kingsolver's celebrated novel of a missionary family's upheaval in the Belgian Congo.
    285pts
17. 17
    Gone with the Wind

    Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning saga of love and survival in the American Civil War South.
    285pts
18. 18
    The Other Boleyn Girl

    Philippa Gregory's popular novel dramatizing the rivalry between the Boleyn sisters at the Tudor court.
    285pts
19. 19
    I, Claudius

    Robert Graves's classic novel narrated by the reluctant Roman emperor Claudius, chronicling imperial intrigue.
    285pts
20. 20
    The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak's acclaimed novel narrated by Death, about a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany.
    285pts
21. 21
    A Tale of Two Cities

    Charles Dickens's classic novel set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.
    285pts
22. 22
    The Winds of War

    Herman Wouk's sweeping saga following an American naval family through the outbreak of World War II.
    195pts
23. 23
    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas's classic tale of betrayal and revenge set in early 19th-century France.
    195pts
24. 24
    Cold Mountain

    Charles Frazier's National Book Award-winning novel of a wounded Confederate soldier's journey home.
    0pts

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