Recommendations based on Sarum: The Novel of Englandby Edward Rutherfurd

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. London

    by Edward Rutherfurd
    Historical novel tracing the 2000-year history of the English capital.

    Here is Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning 2,000 years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and ... (Goodreads)

  2. Russka: The Novel of Russia

    by Edward Rutherfurd
    A sweeping historical novel that follows the lives of several families through the tumultuous history of Russia.

    The narrative spans 1,800 years of Russian history. The families that provide the focus for the story are the Bobrovs, Romanovs, Karpenkos, Suvorins and Popovs. The five families span the main ethnic ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Princes of Ireland

    by Edward Rutherfurd
    Epic chronicle of Irish history, spanning from ancient times to the present day.

    Brilliantly weaving impeccable historical research with stirring storytelling, Edward Rutherfurd explores our shared Celtic roots in a magnificent epic of Ireland spanning eleven centuries. While ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Source

    by James A. Michener
    A historical novel spanning 12,000 years, exploring the history of Israel through the eyes of various characters and their descendants.

    In the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago. Through the predecessors of four ... (Goodreads)

  5. The Sunne in Splendour

    by Sharon Kay Penman
    Historical fiction about the life of King Richard III, from his childhood to his death on the battlefield.

    The story begins in 1459 with Richard as a young boy, and ends in 1485 with his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field . When their father is killed, Richard's older brother Edward leads the House of ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Hawaii

    by James A. Michener
    Epic saga of the history, culture and people of the Hawaiian Islands.

    The novel tells the history of Hawaiian Islands from the creation of the isles to the time they became an American state, through the viewpoints of selected characters who represent their ethnic and ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Here Be Dragons

    by Sharon Kay Penman
    Epic story of love, war and betrayal set against the backdrop of 13th century England.

    Here Be Dragons is the first of Penman's trilogy about the medieval princes of Gwynedd and the monarchs of England. , England's King John uses his out-of-wedlock daughter Joanna as a negotiating tool ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers

    by Margaret George
    The life of Henry VIII, as told through his own words and the observations of his court jester, Will Somers.

    The Autobiography of Henry VIII, is the magnificent historical novel that established Margaret George's career. Evocatively written in the first person as Henry VIII's private journals, the novel was ... (Barnes & Noble)

  9. Fall of Giants

    by Ken Follett
    Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.

    The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)

  10. World Without End

    by Ken Follett
    Epic tale of love and war, tracing the lives of two families over centuries.

    The novel begins in the fictional city of Kingsbridge, England in the year 1327 . Four children - Merthin, Caris, Gwenda, and Merthin's brother Ralph - head into the woods on All Hallows Day . ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Odessa File

    by Frederick Forsyth
    The uncovering of a sinister Nazi plot, while searching for the truth of a young boy's death.

    In November 1963, shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy , Peter Miller, a German freelance crime reporter, follows an ambulance to the apartment of Salomon Tauber, a Holocaust survivor ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Covenant

    by James A. Michener
    Epic saga of a South African family spanning generations, exploring the power of love, loyalty, and faith.

    Michener writes largely from the point of view of the Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers and French Huguenot immigrants who traveled to South Africa to practice freedom of worship in the ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Roots: The Saga of an American Family

    by Alex Haley
    A multigenerational saga tracing the journey of an African American family in the U.S.

    Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte —a young man taken from the Gambia when he was seventeen and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States. Kunta, a Mandinka ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Voyager

    by Diana Gabaldon
    A grand adventure across time and space, filled with romance, danger and mystery.

    Voyager opens on the battlefield at Culloden , where Jamie Fraser finds himself gravely wounded and his rival Jack Randall dead. Jamie is carried to a nearby farmhouse where 18 Highland soldiers have ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The First Man in Rome

    by Colleen McCullough
    The rise of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the Roman Republic, leading to the downfall of the aristocracy.

    The main plot of the novel is generally concerned with the rise of Marius, his marriage to Julia, his success in replacing Metellus as general in charge of the Numidian theatre of war, his defeat of ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Shipping News

    by Annie Proulx
    A man's attempt to rebuild his life in a small Newfoundland town, discovering compassion and joy.

    The story centers around Quoyle, a newspaper reporter from upstate New York , whose father had emigrated from Newfoundland . Shortly after his parents' joint suicide, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Exodus

    by Leon Uris
    The story of the birth of Israel, following the lives of Jewish refugees from WWII to the establishment of the state.

    In 1946 American foreign correspondent Mark Parker and American nurse Kitty Fremont reunite as old friends. Kitty is an American volunteer at the Karaolos internment camp on Cyprus , where thousands ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Clan of the Cave Bear

    by Jean M. Auel
    A young woman's journey of survival and self-discovery in prehistoric times.

    A five-year-old girl, Ayla , who readers come to understand is Cro-Magnon, is orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. She wanders aimlessly, naked and unable to ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Fiery Cross

    by Diana Gabaldon
    Epic saga of a time-traveling couple navigating the dangers of 18th century Scotland.

    Claire, the heroine of Outlander , figures in The Fiery Cross as a reluctant oracle and wife to Jamie Fraser, her 18th-century partner, and faces the politics and turmoil of the forthcoming American ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Lonesome Dove

    by Larry McMurtry
    Epic tale of two former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

    It is the late 1870s. , Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae, two famous retired Texas Rangers , run the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium in the small Texas border ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Cold Mountain

    by Charles Frazier
    A Confederate soldier's homecoming journey, filled with danger and adventure.

    The novel opens in a Confederate military hospital near Raleigh, North Carolina , where Inman is recovering from battle wounds during the American Civil War . The soldier is tired of fighting for a ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Prince of Tides

    by Pat Conroy
    A man's search for solace and understanding in his troubled family's past.

    Tom Wingo is a middle-aged man with a wife and three young daughters who has recently lost his job as a high school English teacher and football coach. He learns that his twin sister, Savannah, has ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Wolf Hall

    by Hilary Mantel
    A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.

    England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Name of the Rose

    by Umberto Eco
    A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.

    In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Jonathan Livingston Seagull

    by Richard Bach
    An exploration of self-expression and personal growth as a seagull learns to defy the boundaries of his flock.

    The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself and learns everything he can about ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Captains and the Kings

    by Taylor Caldwell
    The rise of an Irish immigrant from poverty to wealth and power, and the corruption and tragedy that follow.

    Young Joseph Armagh, recently of Ireland, who promised his dying mother to care for his younger siblings lands in Boston . His determination carries him through years of shady-deal making and his ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Winds of War

    by Herman Wouk
    The story of a family caught in the middle of World War II and their struggles to survive.

    Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation. , Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  28. Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles

    by Margaret George
    A historical novel about the life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, and her tumultuous reign.

    She became Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Thorn Birds

    by Colleen McCullough
    A powerful tale of forbidden love, set in rural Australia in the early 20th century.

    The story begins in New Zealand on 8 December 1915, the fourth birthday of Meghann "Meggie" Cleary who is the only daughter of Padriac ("Paddy"), an Irish farm labourer, and Fiona ("Fee"), his wife. ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Winter of the World

    by Ken Follett
    Epic saga of war, family, and love during the tumultuous times of the 20th century.

    The story follows characters from Germany , Britain , the United States and the Soviet Union , who become linked by events leading to World War II , and continues through the war and its immediate ... (Wikipedia)