Books like Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

A historical novel set in the 12th century, focusing on the building of a cathedral and the surrounding community's fortunes amidst historical events of the time.

In 1714 London, Daniel Waterhouse returns from the Americas to confront a covert war between Isaac Newton’s Master of the Mint and his counterfeiting rival, Jack the Coiner, whose schemes threaten Britain’s fledgling monetary system.

A sweeping saga set in ninth‑century England, following Uhtred of Bebbanburg as he shifts between Viking and Saxon loyalties while King Alfred the Great battles the Scythe‑touched invaders.

A love story set against the backdrop of World War II in Greece.

A tale of intrigue and passion in the court of King Henry VIII, exploring the love and tragedy of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard against the backdrop of the tumultuous Tudor era.

When Charles II flees after the Battle of Worcester, he disguises himself as a bridegroom, relying on a young lady, Juliana Coningsby, to aid his escape across Cromwell's England to France.

In Bernard Cornwell’s vivid historical fiction, mercenary leader Thomas of Hookton, known as Le Batard, searches for the legendary sword of Saint Peter while England faces the pivotal Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

After William IV’s death, 18‑year‑old Alexandrina Victoria unexpectedly ascends the throne of Great Britain, facing skepticism from court and press. Against the odds, she shapes her own reign, choosing her path as sovereign and partner to Prince Albert.

Lady‑in‑waiting Margaret Pole navigates the Tudor court, witnessing Henry VIII’s rise and the rise of Anne Boleyn, while balancing loyalty to his queens and to the old royal line.

Georgette Heyer’s tale follows William, Duke of Normandy, as he rises to become King of England in 1066, detailing his trials, alliances, and the pivotal Battle of Hastings.

In the War of the Roses, 1461 sees Duke of York’s death and Henry VI’s imprisonment as Margaret’s army claims victory, but the birth of Edward of March sparks a new claim to the English throne, triggering civil war again.

A sweeping tale of Catherine the Great’s ascent, seen through the eyes of Varvara, a servant trained in the intrigues of 18th‑century Russia, who becomes confidante to the future empress Sophie.

A true story of a royal marriage that was both celebrated and disputed, focusing on the life of Katharine of Aragon and her brother-in-law Prince Henry.

A contemporary Scottish writer uncovers a secret from 1708 involving a Jacobite invasion and a long‑lost tragedy, as a haunting ancestral memory threatens to unleash the buried truth for all to see.

Henry V, the young and ambitious King of England, ascends to the throne after the death of his father, Richard the Second, and becomes a great conqueror in the Hundred Years' War against France, defeating the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

The first Plantagenet king inherited a blood-soaked kingdom from the Normans and transformed it into an empire stretched at its peak from Scotland to Jerusalem. In this history, Jones resurrects this fierce and seductive royal dynasty and its mythic world. They produced England's best and worst kings: Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice a queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; their son Richard the Lionheart, who fought Saladin in the Third Crusade; and his conniving brother King John, who was forced to grant his people new rights under the Magna Carta, the basis for our own bill of rights. Combining the latest academic research with a gift for storytelling, Jones vividly recreates the great battles of Bannockburn, Crécy, and Sluys and reveals how the maligned kings Edward II and Richard II met their downfalls. This is the era of chivalry and the Black Death, the Knights Templar, the founding of parliament, and the Hundred Years' War, when England's national identity was forged by the sword.

A historical romance novel following the rise and reign of Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty.

Marcus Aquila, a soldier condemned to die for a crime he didn't commit, is thrust into the heart of the Roman Empire's brutal civil war, where he must fight for his honor and life against the odds.