Great Historical Fiction

[SKO]

I'm nherdy enough to read alot of this shit but I'd like more recommendations. I like ancient/medieval stuff mostly and for that you can't top Steven Pressfield. He's got Gates of Fire, which is a very realistic retelling of the story of Thermopylae that makes 300 look like absolute horseshit, plus Tides of War about the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, Virtues of War about Alexander the Great, The Afghan Campaign which is a rather brutal and bloody account of a little known guerrilla war that Alexander's troops fought in Afghanistan, and Last of the Amazons which basically takes a little snippet in Plutarch about a long-ago invasion of Athens by the Amazons and fleshes it out into an incredibly engrossing tale about the difference between civilization and savagery. The thing I like is his absolutely amazing attention to detail and his use of guys like Herodotus and Thucydides, but his ability to fill in the gaps with his own ideas is incredible. For instance, in Last of the Amazons he studied the Sioux Indians and other Great Plains tribes in order to help him develop a realistic description of horse-based cultures. There's not one I wouldn't recommend, but Gates is definitely the must-read of the group.

Bernard Conwell has some awesome medieval stuff. He's most famous for the Sharpe's books about the Napoleonic War but I've read some of his books about Arthurian Britain and just read Agincourt and enjoyed them more.

Michael Shaara's Killer Angels is obviously the gold standard for American military historical fiction, but his son Jeff's stuff is mostly dry and really just a poor imitation of his dad.

Anyone read those or have any good recommendations?

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Related:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

What SKO said.  Also...

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

For World War II, I really liked The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, even if they were about a bunch of Navy phags.

For 19th Century navy phaggery, the Aubrey–Maturin series is excellent.  It mostly deals with the Napoleonic wars, but it also includes stuff about the Brits getting their asses handed to them by Old Ironsides (U-S-A! U-S-A!).

[Bort]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

[SKO]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

[Bort]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

[SKO]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

[Oleg]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

[SKO]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

I would agree if I weren't too busy rocking out to one of the most kickass guitar solos of all time.

[Bort]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

"I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo..."

[J. Walter Weatherman]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

"I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo..."

Heh.

[Slaky]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

At first I hated Load but then I was like hey this is pretty good. Then I hated Reload instead. But then I was like hey there are a couple of decent songs on here. But after that? Blurgh.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

What, no Johnny Got His Gun?

That's not so much historical fiction in my mind as a philosophical discussion with a thin veneer of history.

That and a totally wicked Metallica video...

Amen. Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror.

Fucking sellouts.

At first I hated Load but then I was like hey this is pretty good. Then I hated Reload instead. But then I was like hey there are a couple of decent songs on here. But after that? Blurgh.

[Yeti]

World War I, the list begins and ends with All Quiet on the Western Front.

For World War II, I really liked The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, even if they were about a bunch of Navy phags.

All's quiet on the Western Front is one of my favorite movies. It's been on my list of "should read's".

And I actually was coming here to inquire about War and Remembrance.

[Quality Start Machine]

All's quiet on the Western Front is one of my favorite movies. It's been on my list of "should read's".
[/quote]

Lewis Milestone's 1930 version? Brilliant.

There's one coming out in 2012 with Daniel Radcliffe. It has a lot to live up to.