I'll start. I just finished reading the two novels written by TBDnik Michael Castleman - "Lost Gold of San Francisco" and "Death Caps." They were good mysteries with some great history as part of the plots. If you've been reading other tbd posts, you will also guess that there's some hot sex in there too. Check them out - worth the read and nice to support a fellow member.

I wholeheartedly second the recommendation. I read 'em and loved them both. There is indeed some very hot sex, particularly in Death Caps :-)

Check out, if you haven't already, Russell Banks's Cloudsplitter. It's about John Brown and his sons. Very interesting, less so for its chronicling of abolitionism and more so for what it is like to live in the slipstream of a great yet arguably demented and fanatical leader. Particularly if he is family.

Thanks for this recommendation. This is an era that hasn't yet made it to the top of my list, but I know that lots of good stuff has been written about Civil War era.

THE PROUD BREED, by Celeste DeBlasis, a three-generational saga covers a strong Californio woman, Tessa, and her tempestuous relationship with Irish immigrant, Gavin, from pre-1849 through New Year's Eve 1899. At times poetic in its descriptions and at 753 pages a sprawling, enjoyable, historical read.

Of course, you can't beat Larry McMurtry's LONESOME DOVE trilogy (next two are COMANCHE MOON and DEAD MAN'S WALK). His latest series of six books on the English Berrybinder family touring the West from the 1820's through the early 1840's are hilarious, true to life, and great characterizations. BUFFALO GALS, about Calamity Jane is good.

Matt Braun writes historically accurate biographies about Wyatt Earp, John Wesley Hardin, Black Fox, Stoudenmire, Bill Tilghman, the Kid at Newton Crossing.

But hands down, no one matches James Michener: TEXAS, ALASKA, CHESAPEAKE, THE COVENANT, THE DRIFTERS, HAWAII, THE SOURCE, MEXICO, BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI, etc. The depth of research, intermingling of fictional characters with historical figures, places, smells and sounds translated through his words give me shivers. My all-time favorite of his is CENTENNIAL. But I've read and re-read his books time and again.

Enjoy!

My top five favorite books are: Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Frank Herbert's Dune (sci-fi novel about two feuding royal families), Douglas Addams's The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (so witty and funny I had to reread some lines several times), Philip Caputo's Horn of Africa (CIA thriller set in 1980s Ethiopia) and James Clavell's Tai-Pan (historical novel about the founding of Hong Kong).

I finally got around to reading Gore Vidal's "Burr" and am getting ready to move on to "Lincoln". And though it's not historical fiction in the strict sense, I just finished Doris Lessing's "Children of Violence" series, which chronicles life in Rhodesia/South Africa from the years just before to just after WWII. If you want to learn about that time, and get a deep coming-of-age story as well, those are great books.