The most recommended books about civil war

Who picked these books? Meet our 29 experts.

29 authors created a book list connected to civil war, and here are their favorite civil war books.
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Book cover of Dawnlands

Marie Jones Author Of Those We Trust

From Marie's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Adventurer Romantic Passionate Reader Writer

Marie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Marie Jones Why did Marie love this book?

I love how this author brings together historical facts with fiction and brings every character to life in a relatable way. 

History in a living, breathing way with people who walked this earth and made decisions, especially kings and queens of England and political leaders that changed the course of history forever. This story fascinated me around the uprising of King James that I knew little about.

By Philippa Gregory,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The new historical novel from Philippa Gregory, the Number One bestselling author of Tidelands and Dark Tides.

In a divided country, power and loyalty conquer all...

It is 1685 and England is on the brink of a renewed civil war against the Stuart kings with many families bitterly divided. Alinor, now a successful businesswoman, has been coaxed by the manipulative Livia to save Queen Mary from the coming siege. The rewards are life-changing: the family could return to their beloved Tidelands, and Alinor could rule where she was once lower than a servant.

Inspired by news of a rebellion against…


Book cover of The Sunlit Man: A Cosmere Novel

K.N. Salustro Author Of Chasing Shadows

From my list on Sci-fi with worlds that may as well be characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a science fiction and fantasy author with an obsession with outer space and dragons. I grew up on those genres and managed to convince my college professors to let me write about dystopian science fiction for my senior thesis. I’ve always loved sci-fi and fantasy because of their unique ability to take imagined worlds that seem so distant and show how, actually, those worlds can be within reach. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s for better or for worse.

K.N.'s book list on Sci-fi with worlds that may as well be characters

K.N. Salustro Why did K.N. love this book?

Brandon Sanderson hardly needs an introduction as one of the modern-day heavy hitters of sci-fi and fantasy. This book, though, has a wonderfully creative setting, with a world plagued by sunlight so intense it’s only livable in the thin band of twilight that preludes the dawn.

One of my favorite things about science fiction is when an author creates a fantastical world that has deeply impacted the shaping of its society, from the rulers to the rebels and everyone in between. Sanderson delivers on this front, and I love how integral its setting is to its plot and the development of its characters.

By Brandon Sanderson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Sunlit Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson―creator of The Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn Saga, and countless bestselling works of science fiction and fantasy―comes this standalone novel showing a rare glimpse of a future Cosmere universe.

Running. Putting distance between himself and the relentless Night Brigade has been Nomad’s strategy for years. Staying one or two steps ahead of his pursuers by skipping through the Cosmere from one world to the next.

But now, his powers too depleted to escape, Nomad finds himself trapped on Canticle, a planet that will kill anyone who doesn’t keep moving. Fleeing the fires…


Book cover of The History of Man

Helen Moffett Author Of Charlotte

From my list on Historical novels by Southern African women.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a closet historian who’s always been fascinated by the power of novels to enable readers to travel in time and space and stand in the shoes of historical characters–blending imagination and enlightenment. As a scholar, I’ve worked to uncover women’s unknown and secret historieshistories of subversion, disruption, and humor. As a South African who grew up under apartheid, I passionately believe that if we don’t confront history, we’re doomed to repeat its nastier passages. As a writer, I’ve published a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice that showed me how immersion in another historical era can enable us to grapple with truths about our current societies.

Helen's book list on Historical novels by Southern African women

Helen Moffett Why did Helen love this book?

I’m in awe of this author’s trilogy of award-winning novels about Zimbabwe’s colonial history. Haunting and hypnotic, they blend magical realism, epic history, and social satire. Although they form a series with some recurring characters, all are standalone reads.

Her first, The Theory of Flight, won South Africa’s biggest literary award. The second, recommended here, is a sustained act of grace in which the author climbs into the skin of an alpha white male Rhodesian, Emil Coetzee, whose ambitions lead to his running the doomed colony’s sinister secret police. It humanizes him without excusing him in an imaginative tour de force that asks a burning question: why do we sometimes choose evil?

If you love this book (you will), Ndlovu’s third novel, The Quality of Mercy, brings the series to a redemptive close.

By Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From 2022 Windham Campbell Prize winner Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

Book 2 in the City of Kings trilogy, including  her multiple award-winning debut novel The Theory of Flight

Set in a southern African country that is never named, this powerful tale of human fallibility—told with empathy, generosity, and a light touch—is an excursion into the interiority of the colonizer.

Emil Coetzee, a civil servant in his fifties, is washing blood off his hands when the ceasefire is announced. Like everyone else, he feels unmoored by the end of the conflict. War had given him his sense of purpose, his identity. But…


Book cover of Dawnlands
Book cover of The Sunlit Man: A Cosmere Novel
Book cover of The History of Man

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