We asked nine well-loved authors to each recommend two historical books for Christmas 2022 to give, receive, or treat yourself with. These include many of the most absorbing books, fiction and non-fiction, published recently. We hope these suggestions inspire you.
DV Bishop
The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola. A winter’s tale full of mystery and Gothic dread, set in Paris of 1750. A craze for automatons grips the aristocracy while children as disappearing off the city’s streets. This tale had me gripped from the start, and I can’t wait to read whatever Mazzola writes next.
An Honourable Thief by Douglas Skelton. A rip-roaring yarn set in 1718 which sends Jonas Flint – gambler, thief, man of honour – on a dangerous quest to recover the lost will of the late Queen Anne. Part espionage thriller, part high adventure, this reads like a modern-day Robert Louis Stevenson tale.
DV Bishop is the author of the award-winning Cesare Aldo thrillers set in Renaissance Florence, which began with City of Vengeance, shortlisted for the 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. The Darkest Sin followed in 2022 and his third Aldo book, Ritual of Fire, will be out in June 2023.
Elizabeth Buchan
A friend pressed on me Sasha Swire‘s Diary of an MP’s Wife: Inside and Outside Power, which I tackled more out of duty than inclination. My unenthusiasm soon vanished. Whatever your political persuasion, you will relish the sharp eye, robust views, the sailing-close-to-the-wind opinions, plus the portrait of a marriage which must work around a third party: politics. Taking no prisoners, she details the rubber-chicken and ministerial circuit, a Parliament of the louche, the ambitious and the hangers-on from 2012–2019 and throws in some memorable character appraisals.
The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty by Sarah Gristwood. A hugely readable analysis of how the code of courtly love affected Tudor politics, government, marriages, and public display. Stuffed full of terrific detail, reflective, scholarly, it throws a subtly different light on subject that, to put it mildly, well worn. To read it is to revisit, to learn and to be thoroughly entertained.
Elizabeth Buchan is the author of 17 books, including the New York Times bestseller Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman. Her most recent, Two Women in Rome, was published in June, 2021, and came out in paperback on 12 May, 2022. Her short stories have been published on BBC Radio 4 and she has written reviews for a number of national newspapers, including (currently) the Daily Mail. She was chair of the HWA Non-fiction Crown Award judges this year.
Nicola Cornick
Andrea Penrose‘s Wexford and Sloane series is a delight for those who enjoy historical mystery. I’ve relished the entire series so far and the latest book, Murder at the Serpentine Bridge, is one I’m recommending to everyone.
Set against the scientific and industrial developments of the Regency period, the series combines a winning crime fighting duo in the Earl of Wrexford and undercover satirical artist Charlotte Sloane with a vivid and authentic depiction of a much-loved but often over-romanticised historical period.
In Murder at the Serpentine Bridge the peace celebrations of 1814 form the background to the murder of an inventor with murky arms-dealing connections. It’s deftly plotted and compulsive.
In Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts, Dr Nadine Akkerman explores the neglected story of Elizabeth of Bohemia, the Winter Queen, daughter of King James I. This is a subject close to my heart as Elizabeth Stuart is a part of the story of Ashdown House, the National Trust property where I work, and I feel she has been largely overlooked in history. Dr Akkerman redresses the balance brilliantly, showing Elizabeth to be a powerful 17th-century diplomat, stateswoman and patron of the arts.
Nicola Cornick is the internationally bestselling author of over 45 historical romances, including her popular Regency series. Recently she has focussed on dual-timeline novels featuring characters who have been lost or neglected in history. The Winter Garden, her latest, published in October, 2022, introduces us to Anne Catesby, the mother of the Gunpowder Plotter Robert Catesby.
JD Davies
John Biggins has been one of my favourite historical fiction authors for a long time. Although he’s published only half a dozen books, they’re all characterised by incredibly detailed storytelling and a very high degree of historical accuracy.
His latest title, The Lion Ascendant, is the second charting the life of apprentice surgeon Frans van Raveyck and is set against the backdrop of the early years of the Thirty Years’ War, with van Raveyck having adventures in Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands, as well as discovering more about his remarkable and dangerous parentage as the secret son of Francois Ravaillac, the assassin of King Henri IV of France.
Michael Pye‘s The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are is a beautifully written, thought-provoking study of the North Sea’s place in history, focusing primarily on the early and medieval periods. Pye stands squarely with those who see seas principally as highways and conduits, not barriers, and he provides fascinating insights into the ways in which those who lived around the North Sea for many centuries saw it as a source of livelihoods, an engine for trade, sometimes a threat and a destroyer of entire towns and regions, and ultimately as a springboard for opening up new worlds far beyond their own shores. It is an important corrective to the regrettably widespread ignorance of and complacency about the sea’s importance in our lives and histories.
JD Davies writes both fiction and non-fiction, primarily with a naval theme and usually set in the 16th to 18th centuries. His award-winning non-fiction books mainly focus on the 17th century and offer a wider perspective on the navy during the time Pepys worked for the Navy Board. David’s bestselling Quinton Journals novels are set in the same period. He’s recently begun a new series of thrillers taking the French point of view of the sea war with Revolutionary France. Sailor of Liberty is published on 19 January, 2023.
Tim Hodkinson
Book one is Knight with Armour by Alfred Duggan. It’s a bit old now but this is the novel that first got me into historical fiction. I picked it up in a second hand bookshop when I was about fourteen and its tale of a poor young knight who journeys to the Holy Land as part of the First Crusade really caught my imagination and probably set me on the path I’m on today. I re-read it recently and it’s still a great story.
Book two is Egil’s Saga — the Penguin classic translation by Leifur Eiriksson. Is this historical fiction? In my opinion, yes. The events it depicts were as far in the past for the original medieval author as Waterloo is to Bernard Cornwell. In my opinion it is without doubt the viking saga par excellence and goes a long way to dispelling a lot of silly modern notions about the vikings that have blossomed in recent years. Hacks like me might try to recreate the viking world, but if you really want to get inside the mind of a medieval Icelandic berserker, this is the closest you can get.
Book three would be Matthew Harffy‘s new one: Forest of Foes. I’ve followed Matthew’s hero Beobrand for many years now and I’m really interested to see where he heads off to on what is now his ninth outing. Wait a minute — this is supposed to be books for others, right? Well hopefully it will get someone else interested in the series, then.
Tim Hodkinson is the author of the Whale Road Chronicles, the adventures of a company of úlfhéðnar, wolfskin-clad viking warriors, in the early 10th century. The most recent, The Bear’s Blade, was published in hardback in April 2022 and in paperback on 7 July, 2022. Blood Eagle, the last in the series, is out on 2 March, 2023. Tim also writes the Knight Templar Richard Savage series; The Waste Land came out in December 2021. The Spear of Crom, his latest book, is set in first-century Britain, and hit the shelves on 10 November, 2022.
Chris Lloyd
My two choices for Christmas reading are a book that I’m hoping to receive – and believe me, I’ve been dropping some seriously unsubtle hints in the last couple of weeks – and one that I’ve read and loved and would happily leave under any history-lover’s tree.
The first book, the one that I’m hoping to receive – and as hints go, including it in this list ranks as one of my least unsubtle – is Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. I’m a huge fan of Robert Harris and his ability to write convincing stories set in vastly different historical periods. He has that knack of turning times and places that are often unfamiliar to me into perfectly detailed and atmospheric worlds, with all their smells and sounds, to the point where I’m lost in a complete and immersive image of the age.
In this case, he’s created a dark thriller, set in mid-17th-century America, where the lines drawn between one side and another are indistinct and unsettling, to tell a story of division and persecution that I have no doubt will resonate powerfully in today’s world.
The second book, the one that I’ve enjoyed this year – and probably will leave under a tree or two this Christmas – is Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman. A true story, which takes place in the summer of 1962 about students digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall and the people who would help or hinder them, it is as beautifully structured and filled with suspense as the best fictional thriller. The fact that it is a real story, with real people, and real courage and real betrayal, adds heart aching tension to a portrayal of East Berlin under the Stasi thumb that is every bit as claustrophobic as the tunnel itself, and a narrative that is thoroughly compelling.
Chris Lloyd writes crime novels. He’s the author of the Elisenda Domènech series, police procedurals set in Catalonia. In 2020 he published his first historical crime, The Unwanted Dead, a tense thriller set in Paris at the start of the Nazi occupation in 1940. It was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger Award and won the 2021 HWA Gold Crown Award. His second Eddie Giral novel, Paris Requiem, is out on 23 February, 2023.
Anna Mazzola
For the goths in your life, I’d highly recommend This Mortal Coil: A History of Death, which is in fact as much about life as it is about death and is utterly fascinating. Professor Andrew Doig looks at the different causes of death throughout history and the growing medical and social knowledge that has tackled them. The perfect antidote to too much Christmas schmaltz.
Sticking with the mortality theme, I also really enjoyed Suzie Edge‘s Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths, which is a highly entertaining race through regicide, deadly rivalry, and dastardly plots. Sort of Horrible Histories for adults with brilliant anecdotes to read out over your Christmas dinner to horrify your aunt.
In fiction, this has been the year of Sarah Dunant for me. I can’t believe I hadn’t read her before. Exquisite evocations of Renaissance Italy, brilliant characterisations and the best retelling of the Borgia story I’ve found. My mum is getting Blood & Beauty and In the Name of the Family for Christmas, and if she doesn’t like them, there will be some fallings out on Boxing Day.
Anna Mazzola writes historical thrillers and Gothic fiction. When not writing, she’s a human rights and criminal justice solicitor working with victims of crime, so it’s not surprising that her novels explore the impacts of crime and injustice. Her first novel, The Unseeing, won the Edgar Allan Poe award. Her third, The Clockwork Girl, is a Sunday Times Historical Fiction pick for 2022 and comes out in paperback on 19 January, 2023. Anna is also a writing coach at the Novelry.
Caroline Shenton
I’m giving at least one friend Robert Sackville-West‘s The Searchers: The Quest for the Lost of the First World War. This is a really fascinating and brilliantly-written account of the ways in which the nation and individuals came to terms with the tens of thousands of men whose bodies went missing on the battlefield. It’s sometimes gruesome, but always moving and thought-provoking about how humans dealt – and continue to deal — with uncertainty, hope and loss.
My second book is one I hope I’ll get for Christmas. It’s Midge Gillies‘s Piccadilly. The Circus at the Heart of London. It’s a great idea and everything Midge writes is worth reading, so I expect, as a historian of London myself, to be greatly entertained by this over the holidays. Hint!
Caroline Shenton is a public historian, archivist and writer. Her first popular history book, The Day Parliament Burned Down, won the Political Book of the Year Award in 2013. Caroline’s latest, National Treasures, about the evacuation of London’s galleries and museums in the Second World War, was published in paperback on 27 October, 2022, and was shortlisted for the HWA Non-fiction Crown Award.
AJ West
Death on the Pier by Jamie West. This cosy murder mystery set in the glory days of British vaudeville theatre crackles with vibrant characters and a great mystery. Jamie West (no relation) has worked tirelessly to bring his book to the world and it’s a real cracker — I admire his determination and passion.
Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass. A thrilling murder mystery set in the claustrophobic confines of a Regency ship rocked as much by events below deck as by the ocean. It’s a smart book for smart readers and well… if Christmas reading isn’t about mystery and danger to the sound of the whipping wind then I’m an elf’s uncle.
AJ West won the 2022 Debut Crown Award for his first novel, The Spirit Engineer, a chilling gothic tragedy set in Northern Ireland in the early 20th century. He’s currently working on his second book.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our authors’ pick of the best Christmas books. If you’d like some ideas for books to read next year, come back on 1 January when we’ll be publishing our round-up of books coming out during 2023. We’ve already got 52, one for every week of the year, and we’ll be adding many more before New Year’s Day.
