🗺️ Historical Fiction · International
Best Historical Fiction Books from International
Historical fiction places imagined characters in the documented past, using the tools of the novel — interiority, scene, dialogue — to make history legible and emotionally immediate in ways that non-fiction rarely achieves. International has produced some of the most internationally recognised works in historical fiction, with titles that have appeared on major prize lists and critical surveys worldwide. This page ranks the best historical fiction from International by editorial consensus.
#1
literary-fiction
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson· 1880
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#2
literary-fiction
Анна Каренина
Лев Толстой· 1876
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#3
literary-fiction
The Jungle
Upton Sinclair· 1791
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#4
literary-fiction
War and Peace
Лев Толстой· 1864
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#5
literary-fiction
The Red Badge of Courage
Stephen Crane· 1855
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#6
literary-fiction
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Emma Orczy· 1900
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#7
literary-fiction
Flatland
Edwin Abbott Abbott· 1884
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#8
literary-fiction
She
H. Rider Haggard· 1886
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#9
literary-fiction
Ivanhoe
Sir Walter Scott· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#10
literary-fiction
Peter Pan
J. M. Barrie· 1911
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#11
literary-fiction
Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-Vingts Jours
Jules Verne· 1872
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#12
literary-fiction
The pioneers
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#13
literary-fiction
Kidnapped
Robert Louis Stevenson· 1886
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#14
literary-fiction
The Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton· 1920
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#15
literary-fiction
Daisy Miller
Henry James· 1877
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#16
literary-fiction
Tarzan of the Apes
Edgar Rice Burroughs· 1912
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#17
literary-fiction
Washington Square
Henry James· 1880
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#18
literary-fiction
Heidi
Spyri, Johanna· 1885
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#19
science-fiction
Eaters of the Dead
Michael Crichton· 1976
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#20
literary-fiction
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott· 1848
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#21
literary-fiction
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper· 1826
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#22
literary-fiction
The Pathfinder
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#23
literary-fiction
The warlord of Mars #3
Edgar Rice Burroughs· 1914
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#24
literary-fiction
White Fang
Jack London· 1905
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#25
literary-fiction
The Gods of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs· 1918
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#26
literary-fiction
The Chessmen of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs· 1922
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#27
literary-fiction
David Balfour
Robert Louis Stevenson· 1883
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#28
literary-fiction
Michel Strogoff
Jules Verne· 1876
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#29
literary-fiction
The way of all flesh
Samuel Butler· 1900
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#30
literary-fiction
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O’Dell· 1960
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#31
literary-fiction
Vikram and the Vampire
Richard Francis Burton· 1870
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#32
literary-fiction
Novels (The Call of the Wild / White Fang)
Jack London· 1962
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#33
literary-fiction
The Once and Future King
T. H. White· 1939
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#34
literary-fiction
The Talisman
Sir Walter Scott· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#35
literary-fiction
The Headsman: Or, The Abbaye Des Vignerons. A Tale
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#36
literary-fiction
Roots
Alex Haley· 1861
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#37
literary-fiction
Jack Tier or the Florida Reef
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#38
literary-fiction
Caddie Woodlawn
Carol Ryrie Brink· 1935
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#39
literary-fiction
Homeward Bound, Or, The Chase: A Tale of the Sea
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#40
literary-fiction
Plein Ciel
Danielle Steel· 1988
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#41
literary-fiction
The sea lions
James Fenimore Cooper· 1800
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#42
literary-fiction
Outlander
Diana Gabaldon· 1991
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#43
literary-fiction
Works (Poems / Wuthering Heights)
Emily Brontë· 1907
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#44
literary-fiction
With a Mind to Kill
Anthony Horowitz· 2022
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#45
literary-fiction
Solo
William Boyd· 2013
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#46
classic-literature
Crucial Instances
Edith Wharton· 1901
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#47
classic-literature
The Whipping Boy
Sid Fleischman· 1986
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#48
fantasy
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia· 2020
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#49
mystery-thriller
The Quest
Nelson DeMille· 1975
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#50
mystery-thriller
More Stories to Remember -- Volume II
Thomas Bertram Costain· 1958
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100




















































