Historical fiction genre books (1754)


1691.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy EN

Rating: 4 (18 votes)
Country: Europe / Russia flag Russia
Description:
From Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the best-selling, award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov, comes a brilliant, engaging, and eminently readable translation of Leo Tolstoy’s master epic. • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read War and Peace centers broadly on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the best-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who le... continue

1692.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Sri Lanka flag Sri Lanka
Description:
In a narrative as mysterious as memory itself - at once both shadowed and luminous - Warlightis a vivid, thrilling novel of violence and love, intrigue and desire. It is 1945, and London is still reeling from the Blitz and years of war. 14-year-old Nathaniel and his sister, Rachel, are apparently abandoned by their parents, left in the care of an enigmatic figure named The Moth. They suspect he might be a criminal, and grow both more convinced and less concerned as they get to know his eccentric crew of friends- men and women with a shared history, all of whom seem determined now to protect, a... continue

1693.

Wartime Lies : A Novel by Louis Begley EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Ukraine flag Ukraine
Description:
"Extraordinary...Rich in irony and regret...[the] people and settings are vividly realized and his prose [is] compelling in its simplicity." THE WALL STREET JOURNAL As the world slips into the throes of war in 1939, young Maciek's once closetted existence outside Warsaw is no more. When Warsaw falls, Maciek escapes with his aunt Tania. Together they endure the war, running, hiding, changing their names, forging documents to secure their temporary lives—as the insistent drum of the Nazi march moves ever closer to them and to their secret wartime lies.

1694.

Watch Us Dance by Leila Slimani EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Africa / Morocco flag Morocco
Description:
'Engrossing' The Times 'Beautifully atmospheric. . . a panoramic, classic quality' Financial Times The seductive, vibrant new novel from international bestselling author Leïla Slimani. Morocco, 1968. As she stands at the window, Mathilde reflects on the opportunities before her, and all she has achieved. Looking out at her elegant - not to say expensive - garden, the roses, brought in from Marrakech, have bloomed and their sweet, fresh scent pervades the air. Anything feels possible, and she is determined to celebrate it. Don't they have the right to enjoy life, after dedicating their best yea... continue

1695.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen EN

Rating: 4 (10 votes)
Description:
Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope. Reader's Guide included. Reprint.

1696.

Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
The writer son of a quiet sympathizer with the Pinochet regime reflects on the progress of his novel, in which an unnamed boy from a Chilean suburb witnesses an earthquake and meets an older girl who asks him to spy on her uncle.

1697.

We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / England flag England
Description:
____________________________________ 'You can't stop birds from flying, can you, Sameer? They go where they will...' 1960s UGANDA. Hasan is struggling to run his family business following the sudden death of his wife. Just as he begins to see a way forward, a new regime seizes power, and a wave of rising prejudice threatens to sweep away everything he has built. Present-day LONDON. Sameer, a young high-flying lawyer, senses an emptiness in what he thought was the life of his dreams. Called back to his family home by an unexpected tragedy, Sameer begins to find the missing pieces of himself not... continue

1698.

We Do Not Part by Han Kang EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / South Korea flag South Korea
Description:
THE NEW NOVEL FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE “[Han Kang’s] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”—The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize “Unforgettable.”—Hernan Diaz Han Kang’s most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter in Korean history. One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has ... continue

1699.

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Nepal flag Nepal
Description:
"In the wake of China's invasion of Tibet throughout the 1950s, Lhamo and her younger sister, Tenkyi, arrive at a refugee camp in Nepal. They survived the dangerous journey across the Himalayas, but their parents did not. As Lhamo--haunted by the loss of her homeland and her mother, a village oracle--tries to rebuild a life amid a shattered community, hope arrives in the form of a young man named Samphel and his uncle, who brings with him the ancient statue of the Nameless Saint--a relic known to vanish and reappear in times of need. Decades later, the sisters are separated, and Tenkyi is livi... continue

1700.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo EN

Rating: 4 (15 votes)
Country: Africa / Zimbabwe flag Zimbabwe
Description:
A remarkable literary debut--shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize! The unflinching and powerful story of a young girl's journey out of Zimbabwe and to America. Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this ... continue