Summer Reads for History/Historical Fiction Fans

Summer vacation is the perfect time to catch up on your TBR list. If you are looking for suggestions to add to that list, several well-known authors are back with new works that are sure to appeal to history/historical fiction fans. Check out the list below for a selection of both fiction and nonfiction titles, and click on the links for additional information, to read reviews, and to place a hold on your favorite titles.

The Pioneers

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, McCullough, tells the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory in the late 18th century.

City of Girls

In Gilbert's novel, an elderly woman reflects back on her involvement with the New York theater scene in the 1940s, and the direction her life took afterward as a result.

The American Agent

The Blitz is in full swing, and Maisie is operating as a volunteer ambulance driver in London, in this 15th installment of the bestselling Maisie Dobbs mystery series. When an American reporter is murdered, both Scotland Yard and the American Embassy call on her investigative skills to help solve the crime.

Spying on the South

Horowitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, retraces a journey made by Frederick Law Olmsted through a pre-Civil War American South where he reported on conditions there for the New York Times. Horowitz, in his journey, provides insights into contemporary life in the rural South.

Summer of '69

This is Hilderbrand's first historical novel. As usual, It is set on her favorite islands off the coast of Cape Cod, but during the tumultuous summer of 1969.

The Nickel Boys

The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad is back with this story of two boys sentenced to time in a brutal reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. 

The Golden Hour

In this World War II-era novel by the author of the bestselling The Summer Wives, a young American reporter is dispatched to the Bahamas to report on the activities of the newly appointed Governor, the Duke of Windsor, and his notorious wife, Wallis Simpson.

American Moonshot

On the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing, award-winning historian, Brinkley, takes a fresh look at the space program, and the men and women who made the dream a reality.

The Island of Sea Women

Two young girls become members of their village's unique all-female diving collective on the Korean island of Jeju in this story set over many decades. It begins during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1930s and 40s, and continues through World War II, the Korean War and into modern times.

The Plaza

This definitive history of New York's iconic Plaza Hotel includes all the gossip about the hotel, the celebrity guests, and the many owners, including Donald Trump who managed to bankrupt it.