I haven't read very many. I did read something a few years ago that I liked, though, but I don't know if it falls under the category of more "traditional" historical fiction. It was a time-travel story about someone who's sent back in time to I think the 1940s and prevents someone from saving Ronald Reagan from drowning off the coast of Catalina. It was clear the author really hated the politics of Reagan โ or Reagan himself. But I love a good time-travel story, and that's why I read it. I don't even remember what it's called now, but the cover or the blurb on the back reminded me of Jack Finney's work, and I like his stuff, so I read it.
Ah, here it is: "Time On My Hands" by Peter Delacorte.
I liked reading stuff about the late 19th century to maybe the 1950s. Going back further than that is difficult for me because I'm not too much of a scholar when it comes to history.
But now that I think of it, I've read two other kind of historical fiction-type books:
"Lent" by Jo Walton, about Girolamo Savonarola. It was a tough read for me and maybe if I knew more about the Renaissance and Savonarola, it might have been easier. Evidently, author Jo Walton has no shortage of fans. This was the only book of hers I've read and I did not like it at all.
"Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar," by Robert Alexander. This one was a lot more enjoyable for me. It tells the story of the last days of Nicholas Romanov and his family, as told through the eyes of their kitchen boy.
I happened upon the book, and read it, a few months before the one hundred year anniversary of the massacre of the Romanovs in July 2018 and became very interested with that event in history...but then I was sort of bothered that there was virtually no news stories about the family's murder on the actual anniversary. Apparently, even a century later, Russia continues to strongly discourage any observations about that event.
