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1500 - 1780

Bruce Alexander, Blind Justice. Mystery
Sir John Fielding-magistrate of the Bow Street Court-investigates the death of a man found in a locked room. First in a series.

Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders.
In 1666, a Derbyshire village is stricken by the plague and villagers must decide whether to quarantine themselves or flee.

Fiona Buckley, To Shield the Queen. Mystery
Queen Elizabeth sends a lady in waiting to care for Robert Dudley’s sickly wife, but a suspicious accident threatens scandal. First in a series.

Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring.
A servant girl in the household of the Dutch painter Vermeer becomes intimate with her master and poses for one of his most renowned paintings.

James Clavell, Shogun.
A shipwrecked English navigator becomes a key player in a dynastic struggle between two lords vying to be Shogun of Japan.

Stephanie Cowell, Nicholas Cooke.
A man in Elizabethan England overcomes a family tragedy and embarks on a variety of careers as an actor, a soldier, a physician, and a priest.

Sara Donati, Into the Wilderness.
An Englishwoman who comes to America to teach is pressured by her father to marry a man who wants her land but she is drawn to a man who was raised as a Mohawk. First in a series.

Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers.
D’Artagnan and his three companions pit their wills and their swords against Cardinal Richelieu in their gallant defense of the Queen of France.

Dorothy Dunnett, The Game of Kings.
Lymond returns to Scotland despite a charge of treason and leads a company of outlaws against England in defense of his homeland. 1st in a series.

Robert Elegant, Manchu.
A mercenary seeking his fortune lives in China during the fall of the Ming dynasty to the Manchus.

Elizabeth Eyre, Death of a Duchess. Mystery
In Renaissance Italy, Sigismondo investigates a kidnapping and a murder that may be connected to a feud between two noble families. First in a series.

Patricia Finney, The Firedrake’s Eye.
Troubled by visions, the mad son of a prominent Catholic family wanders the London streets, where he finds evidence that his brother has launched a scheme to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I.

Thomas Fleming, Dreams of Glory.
American and British spies are at work and a plan to kidnap General Washington is afloat as the army struggles to survive the harsh winter of 1780.

Peter Forbath, Lord of the Kongo.
A 15-year-old Portuguese cabin boy is stranded on his own in the Kongo and becomes enmeshed in dangerous politics in the king’s court.

Dale Furutani, Death at the Crossroads. Mystery
At the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a ronin roams the countryside trying to fulfill a promise to find the daughter of his late Lord. First in a series.

Diana Gabaldon, Outlander.
An Englishwoman travels back in time to 1743 Scotland and becomes caught up in the Jacobite uprising with a young Scotsman and his clan. First in a series.

Margaret George, Autobiography of Henry VIII.
A fictional memoir of King Henry VIII, interspersed with comments by his jester Will Somers.

Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl.
Anne, Mary, and George Boleyn are sent to King Henry VIII’s court to advance their family’s fortunes and they become involved in schemes and intrigues.

Thomas Hoover, The Moghul.
Captain Brian Hawksworth is sent by the East India Company to open up trade with India and becomes the center of intrigue at the Moghul court.

John Jakes, The Patriots.
A man whose half-brother claimed his birthright travels to America and becomes involved in the Revolution. (Includes The Bastard and The Rebels.)

Gary Jennings, Aztec.
An Aztec scribe, warrior, and traveling merchant describes the glories of his people’s civilization to the Spaniards who conquered it.

Philip Kerr, Dark Matter.
In 1696, a young man becomes Sir Isaac Newton’s assistant at the Royal Mint and discovers a group of counterfeiters embroiled in a plot that reaches the highest echelons of society.

Karleen Koen, Through a Glass Darkly.
In 17th century England and France, a young lady is determined to win the love of her much older husband but he has a secret that comes back to haunt them both.

Rosalind Laker, To Dance with Kings.
The story of four generations of women at the Court of Versailles during the reigns of Louis XIV and XVI.

Louis L’Amour, Sackett’s Land.
Barnabas Sackett is declared an outlaw and flees Elizabethan London for the colony of Virginia.

Margaret Lawrence, Hearts and Bones.
In a small town in Maine where the scars of the Revolutionary War have not yet healed, a midwife discovers a murder that may have been committed by the father of her illegitimate child.

Judith Lennox, The Italian Garden.
In 16th century Venice, an artistic lady who is not allowed to become a painter expresses her creativity and emotions in an Italian garden.

David Liss, A Conspiracy of Paper. Mystery
In 18th century London, a thief-taker is hired to investigate a murder that may be related to his own father’s death.

Amin Maalouf, Balthasar’s Odyssey.
A book dealer travels around the Mediterranean seeking a mysterious religious text that may prevent the feared coming of the Antichrist in 1666.

Edward Marston, The Queen’s Head. Mystery
Nicholas Bracewell suspects a plot to ruin his acting troupe when an actor is murdered. First in a series.

James Nelson, The Guardship.
A former pirate takes command of the Virginia colony’s guardship and thwarts a brigand trying to steal the colony’s wealth. First in a series.

Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red.
In 16th century Istanbul, a sultan commissions an illuminated manuscript celebrating himself, but one of the artists disappears leaving behind only half-finished illustrations as clues.

Jacqueline Park, Secret Book of Grazia Dei Rossi.
The story of a woman in Renaissance Italy who is the daughter of a Jewish banker, wife of the Pope’s physician, and lover of a Christian prince.

Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost. Mystery
Four witnesses each tell their side of the story when an Oxford don is found murdered in 1663.

Daniel Peters, The Incas.
During the last twenty years of the Inca Empire, a young man cast out by his father as a weakling becomes a warrior.

Judith Merkle Riley, The Oracle Glass.
A girl who reads fortunes is caught up in a secret society of witches in the court of King Louis XIV.

Laura Joh Rowland, Shinju. Mystery
In 17th century Tokyo, a samurai investigates what appears to be a murder-suicide of a peasant man and a noblewoman. First in a series.

Jean-Christophe Rufin, The Abyssinian.
In 1699, Abyssinia has been closed to foreigners for years, but when the King of Abyssinia falls ill a French physician is sent with a diplomatic mission.

Jeff Shaara, Rise to Rebellion.
A vivid account of the pivotal events leading to the American Revolution, from the Boston Massacre to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Indu Sundaresan, The Twentieth Wife.
In 17th century India, a woman overcomes many obstacles to marry the Crown Prince and she becomes a powerful force in the Mogul Empire.

James Alexander Thom, Follow the River.
A pioneer woman taken captive by the Shawnee escapes and follows the Ohio River for 1,000 miles.

Chantal Thomas, Farewell My Queen.
One of Marie Antoinette’s ladies in waiting is haunted by the memories of the final days of the Court of Versailles.

Betsy Tobin, Bone House.
When a woman who entertained the men of a small English village dies in a fall, a midwife’s daughter is drawn into investigating her past and her mysterious death.

Rose Tremain, Restoration.
A man caught up in the excesses of Charles II’s court loses the King’s patronage and goes to work in an insane asylum and finds redemption in plague-ridden London.

Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi.
The classic samurai novel about the exploits of the legendary Miyamoto Musashi, who traveled far and wide across Japan following the Way of the Sword.