1950s
-
The Chinese Bell Murders (1958), Robert van Gulik
Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Legal procedure, customs and administration are exact, though van Gulik openly mixed Ming…
-
Fire, Burn! (1957), John Dickson Carr
Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Strong on the founding of the Metropolitan Police in 1829 and the public…
-
Captain Cut-Throat (1955), John Dickson Carr
Rating: 6/10 Accuracy: Good on the Boulogne camp of 1805, Napoleon’s planned invasion of Britain, and…
-
The Chinese Maze Murders (1956), Robert van Gulik
Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Solid on legal and frontier administration, with van Gulik’s usual candid blending of…
-
By Night Under the Stone Bridge (1953), Leo Perutz
Rating: 8/10 · Translated from German; English edition 1989 Accuracy: A rich, precise evocation of Rudolf…
-
The Devil in Velvet (1951), John Dickson Carr
Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Carr knew Restoration London closely and appended notes explaining his sources. Plot: A…
-
The Daughter of Time (1951), Josephine Tey
Rating: 10/10 Accuracy: Historians still argue over Tey’s verdict, but her method, ranking contemporary records above…
-
The Bride of Newgate (1950), John Dickson Carr
Rating: 6/10 Accuracy: Lively on Regency London’s prisons, boxing, gaming and dress, but the history serves…
-
Hawaii (1959), James A. Michener
Rati.Rating: 6/10 Accuracy: Broadly grounded in the real waves of settlement, but built from composite families…
-
Exodus (1958), Leon Uris
Rating: 5/10 Accuracy: Draws on real events, including the 1947 Exodus affair and the Cyprus detention…
-
The Leopard (1958), Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
RaRating: 10/10 Accuracy: Grounded in the Sicily of 1860 and the author’s own family; the politics…
-
The King Must Die (1958), Mary Renault
Rating: 9/10 Accuracy: Speculative but grounded in archaeology; the myths become plausible Bronze Age politics, ritual…
