I have always loved reading about the Tudor era, especially Elizabeth I, but am equally fascinated by the French Revolution and The Russian Revolution. What's your favorite historical era or historical "characters" (real or fictional)?

So far I have enjoy reading about the Tudor era ,French Revolution. I read City of Dreams about early Manhatten.Living here in New York. I love reading about that time period.

Hummm...the Pilgrim flight and plight has always fascinated me.  I don't really know  of any HF books  set in those times, but I read non-fiction as I can find it.

Victorian England followed closely by Tudor/Elizabethan England.  Also, I'm getting obsessed with WWII-era books, particularly those which are set in "Eastern" (really Central) Europe.

I like the War of the Roses, the Tudor era (especially Henry VIII), the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution. Now I'm trying to find books set during the American Revolution... :)

I enjoy reading about England up until the Tudor era, then Iose interest. My favorite would be The War of the Roses.

For me it's European history during the middle ages/medieval time period...I'd say from around 1000 A.D. up to about 1450. That's my very favorite. I do enjoy most any historical period, and certainly read a lot of books outside that time frame too...though anything after 1920 usually fails to capture my attention. I am also not a big fan of anything related to the American Civil War, but of course it does depend on the book and the author's ability to capture my attention.

Cheryl

History in general fascinates me.  I think the late 1800s are my favorite period for historical fiction.  Though, the minute I say that I'll probably latch on to something else LOL 

My sister travels frequently to Hong Kong and mainland China on business and always brings me back interesting goodies. I've wanted to read some history about China but so far have limited my perusing to the Internet because I seem to get confused keeping the names straight because of the language difference...somehow I just can't retain them.

Has anyone read any interesting history books, fiction or non-fiction about China that they would recomend? What era have you read about most? Etc.

Marci, Pearl Buck's the Good Earth (there's 3 in the series) and Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan were excellent. 

I think Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was about Japan, wasn't it?

If you read some of Amy Tan's books, they deal with Chinese and American history--The Bonesetter's Daughter was excellent!

Cheryl

I think Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was about Japan, wasn't it?

Nope, definitely China. 

re: Amy Tan - loved The Joy Luck Club when I finally read it. 

Marci - Try Katherine (Kathryn?) Harrison's The Binding Chair.  Its a great book that is partially set in China which you might like.  I did.

Marci, do you still have The Binding Chair?? I would like to read that. I have Amy Tan's book (just borrowed it from my sister).

Alas, The Binding Chair is long gone... one of the first booked I listed and pimped on PBS.   The Joy Luck Club is wonderful - I am so glad I read it.  I've tried her other stuff, but none of it's had the same 'magic' as Joy Luck. 

Marci, try any of the books by Gail Tsukiyama, they're all good reads. I particularly enjoyed Women of the Silk and Language of Threads. They are both about a young Chinese woman who works in the silk industry during the 1920's. Women of the Silk is the first book. There are several copies of each book so no need to wishlist, always a plus!

thanks for all the suggestions. more for my wl/tbr!!!

I'm a sucker for historial fiction, any country, any period; but what is it about those Tudors????  Love 'em to death.  Kind of ironic, as I was never a big history buff in school but maybe that helps in cases of questionable historical accuracy!  My sister recently turned me on to "The Other Boleyn Girl" and I've been reading my way through Philippa Gregory's books.  I also recently finished "The Dante Club" set in post Civil War Boston, and I am about 3/4 of the way through "The Birth of Venus" (Sarah Dunant).  So good I missed my stop on the train this morning!  I may not get any sleep tonight...

I like mostly books about European royalty (especially England) from the time of the Normans through the Tudors.  I also like Arthurian books, some pre-Norman England and would like to find some good ones about Ireland.  I really prefer my historical fiction to be heavy on the historical and not overly fictionalized.  I also really like books where the main characters are historical figures, but I don't mind if the main "narrator" is a fictional character.  At some point I would like to read some historical fiction about the Revolutionary War.

I'm fascinated most by English history from 1066 (the Norman conquest) to 1603 (death of Elizabeth I). But I'm branching out a lot into other eras now.

I took a history class in college that covered England from pre-Norman times through Henry VIII's reign. It was my first exposure to a lot of English history, and it totally turned me off at the time. I thought it was nothing more than a parade of weak, oversexed or tyrannical monarchs. Now the history fascinates me and I can't get enough of it!

I blame Margaret George's Autobiography of Henry VIII for sucking me in. I then read Six Wives of Henry VIII  by Alison Weir, and since then, I've been obsessed.

My favorite era to read about is Ancient Rome, preferably during the late republic. I also enjoy reading about Tudor England.

I seemed to be attracted to Amsterdam in the 1600s.  I've read 3 book already this year covering that period.  Now I'm reading another.  I didn't even know LOL

I've always been attracted to the revolutionary war period. I've read countless stories.. I think I have a past life there or something. I actually read the George Washington story, I have 1776 still pending, and a bunch of historial fiction books. I love that time period.

I'm branching out but love the Tudor/Stuart time period.

I like early Am. History.  Like the Oregon Trail, Gold Rush, Mormon migration, etc.  This all started with a Natalie Merchant/ 10,000 Maniacs song called "Gold Rush Brides"  then I majored in History in college for a few semesters.  My sister gave me a whole 5 volume set of books called "Covered Wagon Women"  a collection of diaries, letters, journals, etc.  Untouched by editors.  They are fascinating to me and since they were actual diaries ...they weren't fiction.  Then later I ventured into the fiction realm.

Presently:  Tudors all the way.