If you are looking for something like James Michener’s epics…
with multiple time periods and characters that showcase the history; novels that are educational and entertaining (like Follett’s Pillars of the Earth–see below), then try…

Edward Rutherfurd’s Sarum
10,000 year saga of England swirling around Stonehenge

Frank Delaney’s Ireland.
Story-within-a-story Ireland’s history

Janet Dailey’s The Great Alone
Character-driven family saga with Alaska’s history as setting

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth
Building of a cathedral in 12th century over 4 decades
Its sequel is World Without End.

Leon Uris’s Trinity
Three families from Potato Famine to Easter Rebellion in Ireland

William Martin’s Harvard Yard
Bibliomystery follows 300 years of Harvard’s history

Barbara Wood’s The Blessing Stone
History of the world through the travels of mysterious stone with feminine point-of-view.

Nancy Zaroulis’s Massachusetts
350 years from the Mayflower to Sacco and Vanzetti

Thomas Kelly’s Empire Rising
Empire State Building’s history

Pete Hamill’s Forever
New York City from the eyes of a single immortal man

David Cruise & Alison Griffiths’ Vancouver
Vancouver from the Ice Age to the 21st Century

David A. Kaufelt’s American Tropic. No longer in Print–Not in NOBLE.
Weaving Florida and compelling characters over 400 years

John Jakes’ The Gods of Newport
Lush saga set on the shores of late 19th C. Newport, RI

Beverly Swerling’s City of Dreams
Manhattan’s 1st C. follows two families from settlement to the Revolutionary War. First of series

Winston Graham’s Ross Poldark
First in series follows Poldark family from American Revolution to Napoleonic Wars.

Herman Wouk’s Winds of War
Follows the Henry Family through WWII; First in series

Taken from material originally developed for the Fitchburg Public Library by Leane M. Ellis; 2008; revised 2010

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