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Historical novels

The Candlemass Road by George MacDonald Fraser (HarperCollins, 1994) £5.99
Lawlessness and danger on the Anglo-Scottish border in the 16th century.

A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess (Vintage, 1994) £6.99
The life of Christopher Marlowe, who was killed in suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in Deptford 400 years ago. This novel portrays a theatre genius riven by sexual and political conflicts.

Death of the Fox: A novel of Elizabeth and Raleigh by George P Garrett (Harcourt, 1991). US edition only; available through online bookshops.
The author freely enters the inner thoughts of Ralegh, his entourage and a world of cunning intrigue in this recreation of Elizabethan England.

Doctor Copernicus by John Banville (Picador, 1999) £6.99
Based on the life of Polish astronomer Copernicus, whose theories overturned the medieval view of the universe.

Fatal Majesty by Reay Tannahill (Orion, 1998) £6.99
Life and death of Mary Queen of Scots, recounted as saga of political and sexual intrigue.

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Penguin, 1999) £8.99
Part of the 'Lymond Chronicles' – a series of six novels about the 16th century seen through the eyes of a soldier.

Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais (Penguin, 1999) £8.99
A fantasy of life among the monks and friars of 16th-century France.

The House of John Dee by Peter Ackroyd (Penguin, 1994) £7.99
Centred on the famous 16th-century alchemist and astrologer John Dee, imprisoned by Queen Mary for allegedly attempting to kill her through sorcery. When Matthew Palmer inherits an old house in Clerkenwell, he feels that he has become part of its past.

Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en (Penguin Books, 1961) £8.99
Written in the middle of the 16th century, this updates an ancient Chinese legend about Tripitaka's journey to India.

My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk (Faber, 2001) £10.99
In the late 1590s, the Turkish sultan secretly commissions a book celebrating his life and his empire, but one of the illustrators is murdered. When originally published in 1998, this was the fastest-selling book in Turkish history.

Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba: Angola, Africa 1595 (Royal Diaries) by Pat McKissack (Scholastic, 2000). US edition only; available through online bookshops.
Rare to find fiction about this period of history in Africa. Aimed at young adults.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (HarperCollins, 2001) £16.99
Anne Boleyn's rival and sister Mary – Henry VIII's mistress and mother to two of his children – is brought to life.

The Privateer: A pirate for the queen by R C Andersen (Spring Publications, 1999) £12.50
Queen Elizabeth's young cousin is kidnapped, abducted from her ship as she is sailing home to be married. The race to recover her ladyship and England's honour is led by the notorious captain Maxwell. This is a story of pirates and privateers.

The White Rose Murders by Paul Doherty (Headline, 1992) £6.99
The first in a series where protagonist Sir Roger Shallot investigates mystery and murder in the house of Henry VIII's sister Margaret.

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