Arie ten Cate's favourite historical books
I have very much enjoyed reading the following books. Unless stated
otherwise, they are about the (European) Middle Ages or Renaissance.
All of them are available in English.
Fiction
- Edward Rutherfurd's books
- Barbara Willard's Mantlemass series
- Ellis Peters' Cadfael detective series
- Umberto Eco: The name of the rose
- Susan Curran: The Heron's Catch
- Michael Clynes' series about The White Rose Murders
- Ken Folett: The pillars of the earth
- Jean M.Auel's series about the prehistoric Earth's Children,
including the girl Ayla
- Rosemary Suthcliffe's books on a wide range of historical periods,
including Britisch Roman times
- Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong moved me very much; World War I
- David Robbins: War of the rats; World War II
Non fiction, or semi fiction, or a biographic novel
- Barbara Tuchman: several books, in particular The guns of August,
about the start of World War I in August 1914
- Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (I am pro Richard III ever since...)
- Sharon Kay Penman: The Sunne in Splendour (also Richard III)
- Hella Haasse's book about Charles of Orleans; originally written in
Dutch; translanslated into English as In a dark wood wandering
- Antonia Fraser: Mary Queen of Scots
Autobiographies from the 20th century
- Nelson Mandela: Long walk to freedom
- Thomas J.Watson Jr. (& Peter Petre): Father, son & co (IBM)
- H. Norman Schwarzkopf (& Peter Petre): It doesn't take a hero
- Peter Arnett: Live from the battlefield
- Robert S. McNamara (& Brian VanDeMark): In retrospect
Last updated December 2006