Websites | Books |Historical novels | Historical films

Historical novels

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal (Penguin, 1999) £6.99
Fabrizio del Dongo, an ardent young aristocrat, joins Napoleon's army after the invasion of Italy in an epic romantic story that relishes the political plotting within the courts of the time.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Oxford Paperback, 1998) £8.99
Through accounts of the battles of Austerlitz, Borodino and the sacking of Moscow, Tolstoy illuminates each of his characters through their romantic and military battles.

The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag (Vintage, 1993) £7.99
An historical novel based on the time Lord Nelson spent in Naples with Sir William Hamilton and his wife Lady Emma Hamilton, with whom he had a passionate affair. The characters are well placed in this story of revolution, the condition of women and the relentless progress of history and nature.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (HarperCollins, 1996) £7.99
The English navy of the early 18th century is captured in this story of a friendship between a ship's surgeon and the captain of one of Nelson's ships during the Napoleonic wars.

Désirée by Annemarie Selinko (Phoenix, new ed available July 2002) £9.99
Charts the passions and intrigues of Bonaparte's court seen through the eyes of the merchant's daughter from Marseilles who was Napoleon's fiancée and rose to become the queen of Sweden. A glorious romantic wallow.

Top