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Our history is full of great figures who led fascinating lives. This week you get to read a little more about one of them, whether it be fiction or non-fiction.

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Suggestions:

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Popular Historical Figures Books

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Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
- Which historical figure is featured?

I didn't include the many historical fiction book lists in the suggestions above. That's simply because I'm sure they are a mix of more broad historical fiction, focused on individuals living in a time period, rather than actually providing a historical figure. But I'm sure many of those lists would have some with historical figures.

This is one of the categories I'm most excited about. I have nearly every book on this list added to my plan as potential reads for a lot of different categories in the hopes that I can get around to them all.

The Red Tentby Anita Diamant (Dinah from Bible)
I, Claudius by Robert Graves (Tiberius Claudius)
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (Cornwall)
The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard (Manahattan Project Women)
America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray (Thomas Jefferson)
The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (Nikola Tesla)
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears (Cromwell)

I'm not sure if the Kearsley book fits.. it was the only one that I couldn't pinpoint exactly which historical figure was being touched on.

And, if plans go awry, as they like to do, I can always use a Philippa Gregory novel that I haven't read yet!

Yeah, this was one of my suggestions! My original plan was to go non-fiction which I still may do with by either finally reading Chernow's Alexander Hamilton or Grant or Doris Kearns Goodwin's new one Leadership: In Turbulent Times.

There are so many great historical fiction novels on my tbr as well so it will be a tough call, most definitely based on my mood.

Because I loved America's First Daughter so much when I read it this year, I am going to read My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton this year because it is written by the same author. (And because I am obsessed with anything and everything having to do with Hamilton!)

My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton is at the top of my list too. I'm also thinking about White Houses, a novel about Eleanor Roosevelt, or Empress.

Jill and Chrissy, I highly recommend My Dear Hamilton. I too am obsesses with all things Hamilton and I loved this novel.

Thanks for the reminder about White Houses Chrissy. I may put that in as a possibility for this prompt as well as the reject prompt about a hero/heroine.

My Dear Hamilton sounds good! I have had True History of the Kelly Gang on my plan for the last 3 years so I'm going to try again this year to read it!

White Houses and My Dear Hamilton sound really good. I should probably use this opportunity to read Bring Up the Bodies. I read Wolf Hall many years ago.

You'd think with my background (post-grad degree in history) I'd be all over this category. And with my goal to read more non-fiction a biography would be the logical choice. But...I'm not really feeling it yet. I may go with Paula McLain's Love & Ruin which features Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. I used to fancy becoming a investigative journalist so it should be a good fit. Or I may wait (and search) for the perfect title to present itself to me.

I'm usually more interested in the forgotten people in history than those that count as historical figures but there are two books on my wishlist that would count:
Trinity by Louisa Hall (Oppenheimer)
Little by Edward Carey (Madame Tussaud)

For two years now, I've been telling myself to read Circling the Sun by Paula McLain and John Adams by David McCullough. So, probably one of those. But I have lots more in my backup plans!

Here are some lists if anyone is looking for ideas:

Jill, I'm so glad you liked America's First Daughter! My mom loved it, but I'm hit or miss with enjoying her recommendations, so I'm glad to see someone else mentioning it!

What do you guys think of as historical figures? Do they have to be famous?
I want to read Dora Bruder. It is based on a true story of a Jewish teenager in Paris during WW2, but she is absolutely not famous.
I may also just stumble upon something. That "stumbled upon" prompt seems redundant for me, since I am inherently a book stumbler.

Johanne wrote: "What do you guys think of as historical figures? Do they have to be famous?
I want to read Dora Bruder. It is based on a true story of a Jewish teenager in Paris during WW2, but she i..."

My interpretation would be someone that is known. Otherwise, the phrasing would be more like a book based on a real person.

Johanne wrote: "What do you guys think of as historical figures? Do they have to be famous?
I want to read Dora Bruder. It is based on a true story of a Jewish teenager in Paris during WW2, but she i..."

For my own personal challenge, I'm trying to stick to either people who are historically famous, or people who would have been famous for something, if not for their race/gender/class.

So a random historical fiction wouldn't work, but something like The Atomic City Girls would, even though they aren't exactly famous.

That being said, I think that, for your challenge, any book based on a real person could be considered within the realm of the prompt.

For me a "historical figure" is someone who is known and famous (or should be famous). Either I've heard of them already or I know about their accomplishments and I SHOULD know their name (for example: we SHOULD know Rosalind Franklin's name, but instead we all hear about just Watson and Crick).

Alright. I´ll see if something strikes my fancy during the year. This is one of the genres/topics I don´t particularly enjoy reading, but when I think about it, I have read some that I like.

Given everyone's recommendations for it, I'm gonna go with 11/22/63 for this, which features Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated JFK

I do not think a historical figure has to be someone well-known, partly because that leads to the grey territory of defining that.

I mean, does it have to be someone so famous that a grade school child knows about them? Or can it be more esoteric, like someone who is well known but only by those who specialize in a particular field of study?

(Case in point: Nadine mentioned "Watson" and "Crick" in her post as examples of famous people. Who? I think they were scientists, maybe, but I'd have to google it to be sure.)

And would "inspired by" count? The book isn't about a famous person but the character or story is inspired by someone famous.

Personally I think any book that's in some way about a person who once actually existed would count for this prompt.

Here are my top three choices:
Love and Ruin - Paula McLain (Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn)
Girl Waits with Gun - Amy Stewart (Constance Kopp)
Illuminations - Mary Sharratt (Hildegard von Bingen)

I'm going to read Vertigo. Part 2 of the book features an episode from the life of Casanova and Part 3 focuses on a difficult period in the life of Kafka.

I would say Lincoln in the Bardo would be an easy fit for this theme. Don DeLillo's Libra is about Lee Harvey Oswald and is a speculative account of what led up to the events in Nov of 63. The Paris Wife features Hemingway and his first wife.

Tammy- Libra and Vertigo both sound really interesting! Thanks for the suggestions. So many options for this one!

I was intrigued by this title about Vincent van Gogh i hope its good especially cause they don't have it at the library so I am going to have to buy it. I am so cheap about buying books! Lol

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

I have a hard time conceptualizing this one. I want to lean more towards the person being known to some degree, even if their actions are known more than the person themself (such as medical research). But when I went on Wikipedia, it seems to be debated. Which I guess just solidifies why we are having a hard time deciding in the group.

"A historical figure is a famous person in history, such as Catherine the Great, Abraham Lincoln, Washington, or Napoleon.

The significance of such figures in human progress has been debated. Some think they play a crucial role, while others say they have little impact on the broad currents of thought and social change. The concept is generally used in the sense that the person really existed in the past, as opposed to being legendary."

I also found an interesting link through that article, to MIT's Pantheon project, where they ranked historical figures on level of memorability:

I kinda think of it like, would a student studying that field know about that guy? not necessarily expert level, but maybe more than the average person.

Like thinking about the watson/crick and rosalind franklin one, maybe some people haven't heard of them, or if they have don't know much about them, but being premed myself, we spent a decent chunk of time learning about these guys in genetics (btw: rosalind got absolutely screwed and i stand by that statement, watson and crick ain't shit without her). And in the field, they're widely regarded as pioneers of modern genetics.

So i guess its relative? like there's certainly gonna be figures in history i know nothing about, especially internationally, who may be regarded as very significant. Different types of education and cultural background will make it so that everyone regards history and significance differently.

I agree Sabrina. To some people a person can have more significance than to someone else.
I am looking forward to learning about the different people picked for this topic. There are so many figures to choose from that may have slipped into obscurity that other members find. I can already see my TBR growing.

I plan on reading about warrior queen Boudica.

This will be an easy category for me, because I can always fall back on one of my presidential biographies. Perhaps Washington: A Life by Chernow. I can tell everyone who is thinking about Alexander Hamilton that is is an amazing book.

Other possibilities:

* The Alienist - I meant to get to this in 2018, but it didn't happen.
* The Last American Vampire - I've owned this for a while.

I think if the prompt was worded "a book about a famous historical figure," we would be required to choose someone instantly recognizable by pretty much anyone. As is, though, I think it's open to a book that includes anyone who actually existed at some point in history or a book that is based on the life of someone in history.

I like the idea of thinking of it as someone with significance - that way they have to have had some kind of impact, but don´t have to be widely known.

dalex wrote: "I think if the prompt was worded "a book about a famous historical figure," we would be required to choose someone instantly recognizable by pretty much anyone. As is, though, I think it's open to ..."

Me limiting myself to someone famous or should be famous is just me trying to limit my options. I read so much historical fiction and have so much more on my TBR.. I had to find some way to limit my choices haha.

Johanne wrote: "I like the idea of thinking of it as someone with significance - that way they have to have had some kind of impact, but don´t have to be widely known."

I like that as well. Doesn't necessarily have to be a household name but someone who has made a difference in some way in history.

A phenomenal book for those looking for a fictional book is The Last Days of Night, which tells the story of the Current Wars involving Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. It's told through the eyes of the one of the lawyers who handled the case.

Kerry wrote: "I plan on reading about warrior queen Boudica."

Awesome idea! I know very little about her.

Angie wrote: "A phenomenal book for those looking for a fictional book is The Last Days of Night, which tells the story of the Current Wars involving Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. It's told th..."

yes! this book is on my TBR! I am adding it now to my list of possibilities for this category ...

I think I will go with Alicia by Alicia Appleman-Jurman who was living in Poland during WWII. The book description says she saved the lives of thousands of Jews. Not someone I previously knew about, but definitely of significance historically.

Nadine wrote: "For two years now, I've been telling myself to read Circling the Sun by Paula McLain and John Adams by David McCullough. ..."

My mom loaned Circling the Sun to me awhile back so I should probably read it. She loved it! Actually, I have both of these books out on loan from her LOL.

I'm going to try one more time to listen to Lincoln in the Bardo on audio. I started last year but didn't finish. As a backup ( another recommendation from my mom, she loves historical fiction) is to start reading Phillipa Gregory. So I have her copy of The Lady of the Rivers sitting around here somewhere.

I was a thousand percent certain what I was going to read for this prompt. But then I heard about Little by Edward Carey. It's about Madame Tussaud and sounds completely quirky and delightful. #mustread #dilemma

Tracy, Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction! I have a few books on my list for this prompt, but my backup is a Gregory book I haven't read yet, since I know they will have a historical figure in them and they are easier reads than the books I have planned.

Emily wrote: "Tracy, Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction! I have a few books on my list for this prompt, but my backup is a Gregory book I haven't read yet, since I know they wil..."

I've been meaning to try her forever but I just never seem to get around to it.

Tracy wrote: "Emily wrote: "Tracy, Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction! I have a few books on my list for this prompt, but my backup is a Gregory book I haven't read yet, since I..."

My favorite is The Other Boleyn Girl, which is certainly her most popular. I credit it for sparking my love of all things Tudor.

Emily wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Emily wrote: "Tracy, Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction! I have a few books on my list for this prompt, but my backup is a Gregory book I haven't rea..."

I think I actually own that one :-)

Emily wrote: "My favorite is The Other Boleyn Girl, which is certainly her most popular. I credit it for sparking my love of all things Tudor...."

Me too! I became obsessed with the Tudors after reading that book and read several of her others afterwards.

I haven't read anything on them in awhile but I recently heard about Alison Weir's (another great historical fiction author!) newish series where she is writing a novel on each of Henry's six wives. I plan to use one of those for the reject prompt about royals.

Rachelnyc wrote: "Emily wrote: "My favorite is The Other Boleyn Girl, which is certainly her most popular. I credit it for sparking my love of all things Tudor...."

Me too! I became obsessed with the Tudors after r..."

That sounds AMAZING. Going look up the series now.

I've been wanting to read Stalking Jack the Ripper and I feel like everyone is using historical figures who did good for the world, but Jack is definitely a historical figure.

Such an interesting debate on what constitutes an historical figure. I've gone for The Tattooist of Auschwitz, because although Lale Sokolov is not a name that's instantly recognisable, the role he played at Auschwitz is. I'm curious to know the story (though I know this is a fictionalised account).

I'm really liking Mr. Dickens and His Carol for this prompt. Has anyone read it?

Not something I generally like, but poking around I found Imperium by Robert Harris and I've read and liked one or two his before so I try this one. The historical figure is Cicero.