Why am I passionate about this?

I am fascinated by how societies conduct war. Who is expected to fight, and how are they organized? How is technology developed, implemented, and improvised in the heat of battle? And, most importantly, how do its participants make sense of the carnage around them? History is replete with tales of savagery and courage, of honor and depravity. Perilously few of these have been formed into novels, leaving an incomplete and disjointed understanding of thousands of years of struggle. Many authors, including those listed here, paved the path for holistic depictions of historical battle fiction – my hope is to contribute tales from oft-neglected societies, beginning with Belisarius and the 6th-Century Roman Empire.


I wrote

The Last Dying Light

By William Havelock,

Book cover of The Last Dying Light

What is my book about?

Twilight has come to the husk of the Roman Empire, mired in corruption and decay. As a new dynasty ascends…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Winter King

William Havelock Why did I love this book?

Bernard Cornwell is the undisputed master of the shield wall. What makes The Winter King special is its painstaking detail into early medieval weaponry and tactics, wrapping intimate duels, raids, and outright battle into a fabulous retelling of King Arthur.

The Battle of Lugg Vale, however, is what sets the standard of battle fiction. Meticulously foreshadowed, the reader can picture the movements of the Dumnonian Army across Dark Age Britain, but maintain focus on a narrow front of shield wall by our protagonists. Lugg Vale is a hopeless last stand, equal parts poetry and carnage. You can feel the exhaustion wearing upon its combatants, struggling to hold their lines intact against merciless charges by a more numerous enemy.

By Bernard Cornwell,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked The Winter King as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade. As he struggles to unite Britain and hold back the Saxon enemy, Arthur is embroiled in a doomed romance with beautiful Guinevere.


Book cover of Cloud of Sparrows

William Havelock Why did I love this book?

Some might buck at describing Cloud of Sparrows as ‘premodern battle’ – after all, it describes events of the mid-19th Century! However, Takashi Matsuoka’s novel is a soulful retelling of the Bakumatsu, or the twilight of the Tokugawa shogunate as Japan was violently pushed into the age of gunpowder.

Cloud of Sparrows is richly detailed in combat amongst a fading samurai culture. Descriptions abound of the all-important Battle of Sekigahara, which had established the Tokugawa shogunate over two centuries prior. More immediate attention is paid to countless duels amongst the retainers of Genji, the Great Lord of Akaoka, who struggle to uphold antiquated notions of honor as Japan’s warrior class confronts gunpowder and cannon. Even the most experienced historical fiction writer will learn from Matsuoka’s descriptions of blades and bows.

By Takashi Matsuoka,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cloud of Sparrows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Warrior clans nursing ancient grudges. Western missionaries brandishing pistols. Beautiful geishas who are deadly ninjas.

1861 - after two centuries of isolation Japan has been forced to open its doors. Now new influences are tearing apart the old order. Japan is as unprepared for outsiders as missionaries are for samurai assassins, executions and honour killings. Genji's life is at risk. He plans his escape to the Cloud of Sparrows but the road is long and there are many places along the way for brutal samurai to attack -The demons of the past, the treachery of the present, an uncertain future…


Book cover of Warlock

William Havelock Why did I love this book?

Wilbur Smith, who sadly passed in November 2021, trailblazed adventure writing. While The River God is perhaps his most memorable entry in his Ancient Egypt series, Warlock is stuffed with descriptions of military training and combat. I particularly enjoyed ‘The Red Road’ sequence – while not battle-focused, Mr. Smith took pains to unpack the various modes of fighting available to contemporary Bronze Age Egyptians.

Smith’s detailing of chariot-centered battle would satisfy everyone from engineers to historians - particularly in Warlock’s climax. Javelins and bows hurtling from hundreds of chariots makes for a unique style of combat that is difficult to acquire elsewhere – as is the struggles of engaging in mass military operations when surrounded by desert.

By Wilbur Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Warlock as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

BOOK 3 IN THE BESTSELLING ANCIENT EGYPT SERIES, BY THE MASTER OF ADVENTURE, WILBUR SMITH

'Best historical novelist' - Stephen King

'A master storyteller' - Sunday Times

'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' - The Times

'No one does adventure quite like Smith' - Daily Mirror

A RULER DRIVEN BY GREED
THE FUTURE OF EGYPT AT STAKE
ONLY ONE MAN HAS THE POWER TO RESTORE BALANCE

In his long life, Taita has gone from slave to warlock, and now his wisdom and abilities are known throughout the kingdom. But even his immense skills cannot…


Book cover of Lords of the Bow

William Havelock Why did I love this book?

Conn Iggulden is no stranger to historical battle fiction. Like others on this list, at least a dozen other novels could have been selected in this spot. Yet, Lords of the Bow expresses a savage bleakness in Genghis Khan’s earliest campaigns against the Xi Xia and Jin that will linger in the mind of any reader.

Mr. Iggulden’s writing regarding the Battle of Badger’s Mouth is incredible – not only for the complexities of the Mongol-Jin battle but equally due to Mr. Iggulden’s use of terrain and weather to raise tension. The battle is brief on the page, and overtaken by the extensive preparations of the Mongol and Jin armies immediately prior to combat, yet Badger’s Mouth leaves a distinct impression in a vast and growing sea of military historical fiction.

By Conn Iggulden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lords of the Bow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

The brand new novel from the No.1 bestselling author of Emperor, his series on Julius Caesar. The second in the bestselling new Conqueror series on Genghis Khan, it is a wonderful, epic story which Conn Iggulden brings brilliantly to life. The gathering of the tribes of the Mongols has been a long time in coming but finally, triumphantly, Temujin of the Wolves, Genghis Khan, is given the full accolade of the overall leader and their oaths. Now he can begin to meld all the previously warring people into one army, one nation. But the task Genghis has set himself and…


Book cover of Ironfire

William Havelock Why did I love this book?

The Great Siege of Malta – a nearly four-month struggle in 1565, should be essential for any military historian to understand. Sadly, its treatment in fiction has been ludicrously underserved.

Enter Ironfire. Mr. Ball’s work builds slowly, showing the reader how various elements of the Ottoman Army (the Janissaries, in particular) were acquired, trained, and readied for war. Likewise, a failing legacy of crusade, as well as a decline in support for religious military orders, plague Christian leadership in Malta. Ball’s ‘slow burn’ narrative ignites into the island’s famous siege by a massive and well-equipped Ottoman army, facing a motley band of knights and Maltese locals reliant upon blades and fire to desperately hold their walls. Ironfire is a master class on premodern siege warfare in fiction.

By David Ball,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ironfire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the acclaimed author of Empires of Sand comes a mesmerizing new adventure that Jean Auel cites as “crowded with events that both forecast and mirror the conflicts of today.” Sweeping from the drawing rooms of Paris to the palace of Suleiman the Magnificent to the dark hold of a slave ship racing across the sea, here is a dazzling story of love and valor, innocence and identity, an epic novel of the clash of civilizations on a barren island where the future was forged.

The Mediterranean, the sixteenth century: Lying squarely in the midst of the vital sea lanes…


Explore my book 😀

The Last Dying Light

By William Havelock,

Book cover of The Last Dying Light

What is my book about?

Twilight has come to the husk of the Roman Empire, mired in corruption and decay. As a new dynasty ascends to the purple, a band of patricians hatch a desperate scheme to restore the Empire to its glory. Their first task is to bring peace to the provinces, including the distant northern lands of Chersonesus, where towns are being slowly razed by an unseen enemy, all signs of life erased in their wake.

The new Emperor calls upon his undermanned armies to voyage across the Euxine Sea. Once there, however, the Empire’s soldiers find few survivors within the hinterlands, and pervasive darkness inhabiting its mists. They are not alone, and have only a promising young general to lead them through the carnage ahead.

Book cover of The Winter King
Book cover of Cloud of Sparrows
Book cover of Warlock

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A School for Unusual Girls

By Kathleen Baldwin,

Book cover of A School for Unusual Girls

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Kathleen Baldwin Author Of Sanctuary for Seers: A Stranje House Novel

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Loves God Mother to Many Wilderness Adventurer History Enthusiast

Kathleen's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

A spy school for girls amidst Jane Austen’s high society.

Daughters of the Beau Monde who don’t fit London society’s strict mold are banished to Stranje House, where the headmistress trains these unusually gifted girls to enter the dangerous world of spies in the Napoleonic wars. #1 NYT bestselling author Meg Cabot calls this exciting historical series "completely original and totally engrossing."

A School for Unusual Girls

By Kathleen Baldwin,

What is this book about?

A School for Unusual Girls is the first captivating installment in the Stranje House series for young adults by award-winning author Kathleen Baldwin. #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot calls this romantic Regency adventure "completely original and totally engrossing."

It's 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England's dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society's constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young…


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Interested in the Ottoman Empire, nobility, and Mongols?

Nobility 88 books
Mongols 16 books