Yet another XMAS book round-up.

Sorry folks, it's yet another Christmas book round-up! This year, thanks to my monthly review column in The Times, and my chairing of judging panel for the Historical Writers' Association (HWA) Gold Crown award, I think that I have read more than 120 works of historical fiction. That is a hefty dose of swords, togas and corsets. This is an entirely personal, subjective taste of my favourites.

Some of these books were technically published in 2016, due to the way the awards were structured. But let's not quibble. There were some incredible books out there, by some talented writers. Rather than the usual structure of these lists, I thought I'd give a chronological flavour of my favourites this year.

Ancient Greece.

OK. So I'm starting with something entirely cheaty here, because these books have been out a while. But this was the year I discovered Christian Cameron's Long War series. Starting with Killer of Men, this covers the Persian Wars, through the eyes of Arimnestos, a Platean warrior. Cameron has that rare gift of making history seem vividly real. Mary Renault meets CS Forester

Ancient Egypt

Emily Holleman continues her spirited portrayal of the House of Ptolemy in The Drowning King. This is a beautifully written and fascinating series – and if it feels a little melodramatic, blame the source material. It deserves a wider audience.

Ancient Rome

Ben Kane is one of the masters of Roman military fiction. I have loved his most recent trilogy which began with a massacre of Roman legionaries in the Teutoberg Forest. In March, he brought the series to a close with Eagles in the Storm. Lucius Tullus, who survived the original massacre, is determined to discover his legion's lost eagle. Arminius is refusing to let the dream of crushing Rome die. An enthralling end to the series.

Vikings

For the Odin-lover in your life, the obvious choice is the complete works of modern skald, Giles Kristian. His book this year, Wings of the Storm is the last in a trilogy about revenge and honour, as Sigurd Haraldson seeks to avenge his murdered family. Violent and compelling, with one of the best battle scenes I have ever read.

I also very much enjoyed Theodore Brun's novel A Mighty Dawn. Part Viking, part fantasy this is a big, fat and entirely satisfying fireside read.

Middle Ages:

Kingdom Come by Toby Clements is the concluding book in a four-part series about the War of the Roses which should be required reading for all fans of historical fiction. It is 1470. Katherine and Thomas, the ordinary couple whose lives have been buffeted by the ongoing war amongst England’s nobility, are drawn back into the fighting. A fitting end to an unmissable series.

SD Sykes continued her wonderful medieval crime series in City of Masks. Her hero Oswald de Lacy is pulled into a new mystery, but this time in the deceiving, beautiful surrounds of Venice.

Rennaisance

Disclaimer: I adore Sarah Dunant. But I particularly love her two books about the Borgia family. Beautiful, dense prose and an extraordinary story collide in the second one out this year, In the Name of the Family.

Second disclaimer, as much as I love Sarah Dunant, there is a second writer of Rennaisance Italy who is just as good but does not get as much oxygen. If this fascinating era of art, money and power is your reading heaven - and how could it not be? - read all the works of Philip Kazan immediately.

Early Modern

Bernard Cornwell rather bamboozled his fans this year by bringing out a book with no swords, no battles, no blood and few beards. Fools and Mortals is the story of William Shakespeare's younger brother - a jobbing actor in a lively, theatrical London. Funny, playful and great fun.

Angus Donald kicked off a new series with the utterly delicious Blood's Game - the adventures of a young and peculiar hero in the court of Charles II.

And I wrote one too set in Cromwell's London - The Tyrant's Shadow. It's not bad.

Eighteenth Century

Squeezing in (it is set in 1799!) is Andrew Martin's new crime novel Soot. A shade painter is found dead, and a young debtor is released from gaol with a mission to find the murderer. Inventive, erudite and vivid. We were also treated to Birdcage Walk, the last novel by the late, great Helen Dunmore: a stunning portrait of a failing marriage and the sad erosion of the great ideals of the French Revolution.

Nineteenth Century

I was very taken with a debut Australian writer, Lucy Treloar, whose book Salt Creek portrays a family's struggles in the wilds of South Australia. A riches to rags tale, which takes a stark look at racism and failure. A second Australian debut was Sarah Schmidt's fantastic See What I have Done, a dark, claustrophobic and macabre take on the infamous Lizzie Borden murders.

The HWA prize for histfic went to Ian Maguire for his tale about whalers, The North Water. I urge you to read this brutal but brilliant story about murder and man's descent into darkness. Also on the shortlist was The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, a wonderful book about ideas and monsters set in the Essex marshes.

Early Twentieth Century

This year I discovered Abir Mukherjee, who writes marvellous crime novels set in colonial India. In A Necessary Evil, Captain Sam Wyndham becomes embroiled in the political wrangling between a tenacious colonial Government and the Indian princely states.

World War 2

Stephen Uhly's Kingdom of Twilight was translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch and released in January. An unflinching snapshot of the war and its aftermath, in which the shooting of an SS officer by a young Polish Jew reverberates through the decades.

Sarah Day's outstanding debut Mussolini's Island revealed the little-known story of the fascist oppression of gay men. Her well-drawn protagonists are sent to prison island where they must grapple with betrayal and fear.

I also loved William Ryan's mesmerising novel The Constant Soldier, another HWA Gold Crown shortlistee. Inspired by the pictures of the Auschwitz rest-camp, where genocidal SS officers enjoyed jolly downtime, this is a heartbreaking, haunting novel.




Some of the best historical fiction reads have also been amongst the most feted and publicised this year: among these are Robert Harris' Munich; Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach and George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. What have been your best reads of 2017?

@tonisenior
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New Historical Drama for 2017 by Katherine Clements

With the proliferation of historical drama now available on our small screens, you might think we’d be suffering from costume overload. But dramatists and filmmakers are still turning to the past for inspiration and viewers continue to lap it up (good news for us History Girls!). In 2017 we can expect the return of several lavish TV productions, The Last Kingdom, Peaky Blinders, The Crown, Versailles and Poldark to name a few, plus several promising offerings from across the pond that will doubtless make their way onto Netflix and Amazon. Here are a few that I’ll be adding to my watch list this year.

Taboo
Stephen Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, has made quite a name for himself as the go-to man for period pieces with an alternative slant. This new series is the brainchild and long-cherished project of Tom Hardy and his dad, Chips. After previous successful collaborations, Knight must have seemed an obvious choice to pen Hardy’s creative vision. Set in London in 1814, Taboo centres on James Delaney, played by Hardy, who returns to England from Africa following his father’s mysterious death, only to find himself mired in conspiracy and intrigue. It’s a dark, visceral take on the 18th century, the machinations of the East India Company and the burgeoning British Empire. This one is right up my street. Currently airing on FX in the US and BBC1 in the UK.

The Halcyon
Described as ‘Downton in a hotel’ this is ITV’s latest attempt to fill the gap left by the departure of Julian Fellowes and the Crawley family. The Halcyon is set in a glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society during the Second World War. Beginning in 1940, we’re promised intrigue, politics, romance, gorgeous sets and a period soundtrack (with original songs supplied by Jamie Callum). There’s some excellent acting talent to prop it up too. Olivia Williams and Steven Mackintosh usually raise the bar of anything they’re in. I haven’t watched yet but early reviews are good and I’m sure I’ll drool over the costumes.

Harlots
Harlots follows the fortunes of two rival brothel owners in 18th century London. With a great cast (Samantha Morton and Lesley Manville play the madams in question) this show promises a female perspective on the oldest trade, and boasts an all-female writing and producing team. The series takes its inspiration from 'Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies,' the popular Georgian directory of prostitutes published from 1757-95, with the drama apparently based on the stories of real women. It’s a great premise and I hope it’ll deliver, though judging by the trailer, I have my doubts. It’ll be streaming on Hulu and airing on ITV Encore in the UK from 29 March.

Alias Grace
Based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, this show dramatises the real life case of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant in Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott, was convicted of the brutal murder of their employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery, in 1843. James was hanged while Grace was sentenced to life imprisonment, becoming one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of the 1840s. With such great material, some big names involved, and a Netflix budget, this one should be good. Broadcasting in Canada on CBC and streaming globally on Netflix sometime later this year.

Jamestown
Set in 1619, Jamestown follows the first English settlers as they establish a community in the New World. As with Harlots above, the tale will be told, at least in part, from a female perspective, by 'three spirited women from England'. Written by Bill Gallagher and produced by the people behind Downton Abbey, the teaser trailer doesn’t give much away, but I’m predicting a smattering of ripped bodices and some accusations of witchcraft, along the lines of the ill-fated Jimmy McGovern show Banished. I hope I’m wrong. It’ll premier on Sky 1 but there’s no release date yet.

The White Princess
The BBC chose not to option this follow up to Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen, but US channel Starz went ahead anyway, with some of the same production team and Gregory on board as Executive Producer. The White Princess concludes the story of the Wars of the Roses and charts the rise of the House of Tudor through the marriage between Princess Elizabeth of York and King Henry Tudor. The reception to The White Queen was lukewarm and it’s unclear right now when this’ll come to air, or which service might pick it up outside the US, but it was filmed in the UK in 2016 so we can expect it at some point this year.

Britannia
Penned by Jez Butterworth, Britannia charts the Roman invasion of what would become Great Britain in 43 A.D. and the rise of iconic female warrior Boudicca. According to the Radio Times, ‘in this dramatisation, the Celtic lands the Romans invade are ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who claim to channel the forces of the underworld.’ With a great cast – David Morrissey, Zoe Wanamaker and Kelly Reilly all feature – and an unusual period setting, this one will be worth a look. It’s unconfirmed when or where this Sky/Amazon co-production will air but it’s slated for some time in 2017.

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