Historical Fiction

All countries Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bangladesh Barbados Belize Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Burundi Canada Chile China Congo, Democratic Republic Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cuba Cyprus Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Egypt El Salvador Ethiopia Fiji France Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Libya Madagascar Malaysia Mexico Moldova Morocco Myanmar Netherlands Nigeria North Korea Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Romania Rwanda Saudi Arabia Senegal Singapore Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Türkiye Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Newest first Oldest first
1
The Island of the Day Before
The Island of the Day Before
Umberto Eco
Set in the seventeenth century, The Island of the Day Before follows Roberto della Griva, an Italian nobleman who survives a shipwreck and finds himself stranded aboard an abandoned vessel in the South Pacific. The ship lies near a beautiful island that he can see but cannot reach, partly because he cannot swim. Alone, Roberto reflects on his childhood, his experiences of war, his education, and his complicated ideas about love and destiny. He becomes increasingly preoccupied with the island’s location on the opposite side of the international date line, imagining that it might hold the secret to travelling into yesterday. Through his reflections and encounters with the history of scientific discovery, Eco explores the relationship between time, knowledge, and human perception. Blending historical fiction, philosophy, and adventure, the novel examines the limits of reason and the ways solitude can transform a person’s understanding of reality.
Italy 1994
2
Moon and the Bonfires
Moon and the Bonfires
Cesare Pavese
The Moon and the Bonfires follows Anguilla, a man who returns to the rural village in northern Italy where he grew up after spending years abroad, including a period in America. Born into poverty and raised by foster parents, he left his homeland in search of a better life. Now successful but unsettled, he hopes to reconnect with his past and understand the forces that shaped his identity. As Anguilla revisits familiar landscapes and reconnects with his childhood friend Nuto, memories of his youth mingle with the painful realities of wartime Italy. The countryside he remembers has been transformed by poverty, political violence, and the consequences of the Resistance. Through these encounters, Cesare Pavese explores belonging, exile, memory, and the impossibility of truly returning home. The title refers to rural rituals associated with the changing seasons, evoking a world where ancient traditions coexist with modern upheaval. Both a personal quest and a reflection on Italy’s troubled history, the novel asks whether a person can ever recover the place they once called home.
Italy 1950