1950s – Page 2 – History and Mystery Reads

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…

Rating: 9/10 Accuracy: Speculative but grounded in archaeology; the myths become plausible Bronze Age politics, ritual…

Rating: 9/10 · Translated from Russian Accuracy: The Revolution, Civil War and early Soviet years carry…

Rating: 8/10 · Translated from Japanese; English edition 1975 Accuracy: Built on the real mission that…

Rating: 6/10 · Translated from Finnish Accuracy: Rich in period detail on the Greek, Sicilian and…

Rating: 8/10 · Translated from French Accuracy: Closely based on the chronicles of Philip IV’s final…

Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Deeply researched, with real figures such as Captain Henry Wirz and real events…

Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Built on two real puzzles: a wingless bronze eagle dug up at Silchester,…

Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Carefully researched; the known outline of Katherine Swynford’s life is followed, but her…

Rating: 8/10 · Translated from Greek (original title Kapetan Michalis) Accuracy: The Cretan uprising of 1889…

Rating: 8/10 · Translated from French Accuracy: Among the most authentic portraits of 13th-century France; Oldenbourg…

Rating: 7/10 · Translated from Dutch; English edition decades later Accuracy: Well researched Renaissance Rome, with…