Complete reading orders for popular historical fiction series.
The Conqueror series by Conn Iggulden comprises five epic novels that chronicle the rise of the Mongol Empire across three generations. The series follows the legendary Genghis Khan from his brutal childhood on the Mongolian steppes through his creation of…
The Emperor Series brings ancient Rome’s most legendary figure to vivid life through meticulously researched historical fiction that combines brutal warfare, political intrigue, and the making of a legend. Conn Iggulden’s epic saga follows Julius Caesar from his boyhood through…
The Century Trilogy is Ken Follett‘s most ambitious work: three enormous novels that follow five interconnected families through the whole of the 20th century. It begins in a Welsh coal town on the day of King George V’s coronation in…
The Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel is one of the great achievements of modern historical fiction. Across three novels published between 2009 and 2020, Mantel follows Thomas Cromwell from a beaten boy in Putney to the most powerful man…
Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge novels follow one fictional English town across more than eight hundred years, from a Viking-raided ferry crossing in 997 to the mills and riots of the 1820s. Each book has a new cast and a new century,…
Richard Sharpe is one of the great heroes of historical fiction: a London gutter child who joins the army to escape the hangman and rises from the ranks to become an officer in Wellington’s army. Across 24 novels and three…
The Last Kingdom series (also known as The Saxon Stories or The Saxon Chronicles) is Bernard Cornwell’s epic tale of England’s birth. Spanning 13 novels and over 6,000 pages, this is the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon nobleman…
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels follow two friends, Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, through the wars against Napoleon. Reviewing the series in The New York Times Book Review in 1991, Richard Snow called them “the best…
The Asian Saga by James Clavell stands as one of the most ambitious and sweeping historical fiction series ever written, transporting readers across four centuries and multiple Asian nations. These epic novels blend meticulous historical research with unforgettable characters, political…