Beginner Historical Fiction Recommendations

Welcome to The Brothers Gwynne as we recommend historical fiction works that we think are great and also accessible to beginners. Hope you enjoy!

Channels Mentioned:
@TheLibraryofAllenxandria

#booktube #bookrecommendations #historicalfiction

[PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

The Brothers Gwynne is officially the best place on YouTube for historical fiction recommendations! Not to mention the copious charm, camaraderie, and occasional cheese joke! 😁

[MatthewHarffyAuthor]

Thank you for the recommendation of Wolf of Wessex! I'm honoured to be mentioned along with those amazing authors.

[myrarucker]

Westerns are absolutely historical history!! “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee” Lonesome Dove the Native American tribes and their stories and history. The history of Chief Joseph (Nez Pierce tribe)and how he started the Appaloosa horses. How camels and elephants were brought over to U. S. So many great stories of true western sheriffs and gunfighters. James Brothers Billy the Kid. Wild Bill Hickok and Annie Oakley!Apache Junction, Arizona and the Superstition Mountain!! Gunfight at O K Corral go visit Tombstone, Arizona or Old Tucson where I met a friend of my dads, the great grandson on Cochise. So much history !!

[nirajsolanki]

Finally someone included The Sisters Brothers. It’s such a lyrical book about - you said it - two brothers fighting throughout the novel. It’s beautifully written, and if Westerns could be written so well, I want to read more of them. Thank you for the video. 🎉

[Matt-ijpe]

I love how prominently you display your dad's books in your recording space. I'd like to imagine his initial confusion as to why you needed no less than three copies of each Bloodsworn book, and the smile that split his face when he saw just how cool the display looks.
Also, I'm so glad you mentioned Cornwell's Arthurian books! I'm a huge fan of the film adaptation of The Last Kingdom and have been meaning to acquire both series. It's good to know that the sons of my favorite author can give their seal of approval. I'm sure I'll soon be happily joining the League of Lads Who Hate Lancelot.
And I second the Gates of Fire recommendation! It's a beautifully written and wonderfully heartbreaking piece of storytelling that I was very fortunate to have been allowed to read as a choice book in high school with a group of friends (we did not tell our teacher how colorful Pressfield's language could be, lol)
Wonderful content as always, Ed & Will. Keep up the great work!

[bartborghs]

Oh yeah lonesome dove is historical greatness!

[elcolmiloblanco]

This is great, I have never read historical fiction before and wanted to dive into this interesting genre! Thank you for sharing Brothers Gwynne!

[alynam]

Sorry brothers, but I got a very long comment for you... read when you got 10 min to spare...
-- FYI, You are the pioneers of the genre (at least within this corner of booktube community)!! Thank you for helping to bring historical fiction into the forefront!
So many of these books mentioned, I have yet to read. I've been building a Conn Iggulden collection over the past year, I'm start with his War of the Roses books soon.
Sisters Brothers is another one I've had on my Kindle for a while, looking forward to that as well.
I'm actually reading Gates of Fire 🔥 right now, started it yesterday. This was upon your recommendation 😀 You are absolutely right about Pressfield's writing, his prose is so unique! And I like the setup, how he's a captive relaying his story to an interpreter (because he's not allowed to speak directly to His Majesty, Xerxes)
Anyways, here's a few honorable mentions for ya, in case you want to look them up:
Sharon kay Penman- she writes big books, primarily set between 1100s-1300 - beautiful writing and lighter on the action, but heavy on character development and political intrigue. Even the romances are done very well, and that's not something I usually comment on.
John Jakes -- if you like American Civil War, his North and South trilogy was fantastic. Covers the years leading up to the war, then during the war, and finally post-war reconstruction era. Quite an epic!
James michener - I've read 3x of his books so far. He writes sagas that usually takes place in a particular setting. They're huge tomes, but they tend to move right along. I started with Centennial, and became a fan from there.
Finally -- Robert McCammon-- his popular books are Boy's Life and Swan Song, and is currently being talked about within booktube community. But he just released book 8 of his Matthew Corbett series -- my favorite historical fiction series to date. Starts with Speaks the Nightbird set in American south 1699. I think you brothers would love it, and any of his books.

[davidhofsess]

Glad to see more HF content! Gates of Fire and Warlord Chronicles are now high on my list. Reading Lonesome Dove currently, and I am all for the movement of including Westerns in HF.

[donaldmartineau]

Really love historical fiction. Tolstoy, Clavell, Michener, Follett, many more. Great video with some new recommendations for me! Great video :)

[alexbento]

You guys got me into historical fiction a while back with a Cornwell recommendation and it has quickly become one of my favourite genres. The interview with Christian Cameron got me into reading his books, and for that, I am especially grateful. Just got done reading killer of men and its one of the best books I've read this year

[marya]

Lots of great suggestions here. Thanks so much boys!

[Aluminatihusker]

It’s because of you guys I started to read historical fiction, as well as Bernard Cornwell. I couldn’t thank you guys more for that too!! Thanks bro’s!

[ronnysarkar]

This video has been an Eye Opener for Me, Thank You so so Much guys, You Rock Brothers Gwynne

[thecofe]

The Winter King was BRUTAL for me to get in to. I think part of it was that I had no prior context to the setting and it was my first historical fiction to read. It’s not very easy to get in to. I actually didn’t enjoy it at all until I finished it. I think it’s because it took Cornwell so long to get into the action of the book.

[zeevausman]

I couldn't resist suggesting you this historical fiction novel as I was watching your video: (The Thief, the Harlot, and the Healer) My favorite genre is historical fiction.

[wpsam]

Great video. I started reading historical fiction after watching some of your HF reviews.

[dlf]

Have you guys tried Rosemary Sutcliff? A lot of her books are Young Adult but they are excellent. Eagle of the Ninth is her most famous portrait of Roman Britain.
Many of her books are linked by a ring with a dolphin figure that characters from Hadrian's time down to Cromwell's bear linking protagonists utterly unaware of one another.

[jamespringle]

Thank you for this. Been looking for historical fiction recommendations.

[havocwreak]

Subscribed for this genre alone! Keep this coming guys..