Historical Fiction authors: books in reading order

Julia Quinn

39 books• 12 series

Julia Quinn is the pen name of the American novelist Julie Pottinger, born January 12, 1970. Quinn writes historical romance set among the English nobility, and the catalogue holds 39 books from Dancing at Midnight (1995) through to titles dated 2026. Series include the Smythe-Smith Quartet, Bevelstoke, the Lyndon Sisters, the Two Dukes of Wyndham and the Bridgerton short stories. Quinn's novels have been translated into 41 languages and reached the New York Times bestseller list nineteen times, and the Bridgerton books became a Netflix television series of the same name. The Romance Writers of America inducted Quinn into its Hall of Fame.

Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell (1921-1994), known as James Clavell, was a British and American writer and filmmaker who served as a British Army officer in the Second World War. The Asian Saga novels, some adapted for film and television, are the work he is best known for. The catalogue lists 10 books from King Rat (1962) to Escape (1995), including Tai-Pan (1966), Shogun (1975), Noble House (1981), Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993). Clavell also wrote the screenplays for The Fly (1958) and The Great Escape (1963), and wrote and directed To Sir, with Love (1967). Subjects include prisoners of war, Hong Kong and World War II.

Maggie Hope, an American working in wartime Britain, carries Susan Elia MacNeal's historical spy series from Mr. Churchill's Secretary (2012). Women spies, cryptography and undercover operations during the Second World War are the recurring subjects. MacNeal's catalogue opens earlier with non-fiction, Wedding Zen (2004) and Infused (2006), and runs to 14 titles through The Last Hope in 2024.

Roberta Kagan has 60 books in the catalogue, published between 2012 and 2026, and the site files the name under Historical Fiction. Series titles include A Jewish Family Saga, A Holocaust Story, Auschwitz Twins, All My Love, Detrick, Michal's Destiny, Eidel's Story, Margot's Secret and Blood Sisters. A Flicker of Light and All My Love, Detrick are among the 2012 titles, and After the Betrayal (2026) is the newest on file.

Anna Stuart writes historical fiction, with subject tags pointing to England, Great Britain, Norway, biography and romance. The catalogue lists 26 books published between 2015 and 2026, opening with The Chosen Queen and The Christmas Court in 2015 and reaching The Children on the Train (2026). The series headings are Queens of Conquest, Shakespeare's Queens, Women of War and Inspirational WW2 Stories. Just the Two of Us (2020) carries the byline Jo Wilde. Anna Stuart is still publishing.

Historical war fiction is Lee Jackson's genre. Nine books run in sequence from After Dunkirk (2020) to Crossing the Rhine (2026), taking in Eagles Over Britain (2021), Turning the Storm (2021), The Giant Awakens (2022), Driving the Tide (2023), Riding the Tempest (2023), Into the Cauldron (2024) and Storming the Reich (2025). Volumes median 300 pages, at roughly one a year, and Jackson remains actively publishing.

William Dietrich writes historical adventure novels and natural-history non-fiction. The Ethan Gage series, set during the Napoleonic Wars, has been translated into 28 languages and includes Napoleon's Pyramids (2007) and The Rosetta Key (2008). Dietrich has also set novels in the Roman Empire, Antarctica and Australia, while his non-fiction covers the natural and environmental history of the Pacific Northwest, where he grew up and worked as a newspaper journalist. The catalogue holds 20 titles, from The Final Forest (1992) to The Trojan Icon (2016).

S.J.A. Turney writes historical fiction. The catalogue lists 71 books, from Interregnum (2009) to King of the Mountains (2026). Named series include Praetorian, Tales of the Empire, Damned Emperors, Rise of Emperors, Legion XXII, Rider of Rome, Agricola, Knights Templar, Wolves of Odin and the Ottoman Cycle, and Marius' Mules is listed as a recurring line. Rome, druids and the Belgae appear among the subject headings.