Historical Era

[nj1]

Which era do you think produces the best backdrop for a historical novel?

At the moment I seem to enjoy mostly books based in the Roman and ancient Greece time frames.

I now a book depends on the author but these time periods seem to catch my attention more than others.
I would also like to read some more about the Persian empire (Rome's greatest rival), can anyone recommend some books on thier histories, battles etc.

 

[Connavar]

I think i prefer Ancient Greece most even more than Ancient Rome.

Then i prefer the time of Atilla, The time of Ghengis and the rise of The Mongols.

The days of Egyptian empire and the days of Carthage.

 

[ice.monkey]

I don't think any era produces a better backdrop to a novel than any other era. They've all got their attractions.

Maybe I haven't found the books themselves but there are a few eras that seem to be overlooked. The Age of Reason, for one. I've always thought you could write some great stories with that age as the backdrop.

Unfortunately, I haven't come across any books based on the Persian empire so, sorry, I can't help you there.

 

[Connavar]

Many eras are overlooked. Specially the ages of Persian Empire. These days of hate against Iran and the middle east in west i dont see that changing soon.....


I dont think either any era is a better backdrop for any HF but i prefer some eras more than others just cause of interest in those times and the great authors that have written great books about them that i have read.

 

[Stenevor]

I've not read it myself but Tom Hollands Persian Fire might be the type of thing you're looking for. I've recently read Rubicon by the same author which covers the last century or so of the Roman republic, it was good, easy to read, entertaining history.

 

[nj1]

I've not read it myself but Tom Hollands Persian Fire might be the type of thing you're looking for. I've recently read Rubicon by the same author which covers the last century or so of the Roman republic, it was good, easy to read, entertaining history.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it

 

[nj1]

In 480 B.C., Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For seventy years, victory—rapid, spectacular victory—had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. As a result of those conquests, Xerxes ruled as the most powerful man on the planet. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out. The Persians were turned back. Greece remained free. Had the Greeks been defeated in the epochal naval battle at Salamis, not only would the West have lost its first struggle for independence and survival, but it is unlikely that there would ever have been such an entity as the West at all.

Tom Holland's brilliant new book describes the very first “clash of Empires” between East and West. As he did in the critically praised Rubicon, he has found extraordinary parallels between the ancient world and our own. There is no other popular history that takes in the entire sweep of the Persian Wars, and no other classical historian, academic or popular, who combines scholarly rigor with novelistic depth with a worldly irony in quite the fashion that Tom Holland does.

Got this off Fantastic Fiction. Think I' ll Get this

 

[Connavar]

Let me know how good it is nj1.

Hope its more about Persian empire and its world than the famous greek victory of that time from the persian view.

 

[svalbard]

Persian Fire is a cracking read. Holland's prose makes it so easy to read. Although it deals with the Greek and Persian wars, it is mainly about Persia. A fascinating insight to that empire.

 

[paranoid marvin]

A tricky question - I always thought Roman times , partly because there were so many interesting events occurring , particulary with the Julian/Claudian dynasties

I recently read the Sansom books based in a Cromwellian (Thomas) England and found these incredibly enjoyable , as are the Cornwell novels from the Napoleonic era with Sharpe and 100 years war period with Hookton

I guess if push comes to shove I'd have to say Roman history , mainly thanks to Graves' magnificent I,Claudius novels