Offering an expertly conjured atmosphere complete with soothsayers, cure-all tonics, technological gadgetry, and daring high-wire acts, Sc...

For today's blog entry, Greg Michaels, author of The Secrets of Casanova (Booktrope Editions, 2013), reveals why he chose one of histor...

Earlier this week I got word about Sujata Massey's new book via an email from one of the bargain e-book sites I subscribe to.  A ...

Gary Schanbacher's Crossing Purgatory (Pegasus, 2013) has been announced as the winner of the 2013 Langum Prize for American Historic...

Martin’s latest novel delves into the lingering questions surrounding the Mary Celeste , an American brig found drifting, intact but aband...

Leah Pileggi, author of Prisoner 88 , is my guest at Reading the Past today.  Prisoner 88 is categorized as a middle-grade historical novel,...

I'm very pleased to welcome Alex Myers to the blog.  Today he's contributed an original essay about the background research for his ...

“You must be able to imagine how good it feels to be assumed capable and intelligent and not always to have to prove this matter,” writes ...

Internationally acclaimed ballet dancer Acosta has encapsulated more than 100 years in the history of his native Cuba into a grandly enter...

Please help me welcome Laurie Loewenstein to the blog today.  Her original essay about Circuit Chautauqua, which features in her historical ...

The first sentence of Scott’s atmospheric debut, set in frozen upstate New York in 1897, proclaims: “Elspeth Howell was a sinner.” Indeed ...

Jenny Barden’s second book, a stand-alone sequel to her Mistress of the Sea , moves smoothly from Old World court etiquette to New World e...

Indu Sundaresan’s newest novel opens with an author’s note on the events surrounding the 186-carat Kohinoor diamond’s controversial journe...

Over the past few weeks, I've enjoyed reading other bloggers' list of notable 2013 reads but have hesitated to write up my own list ...

Horan’s spectacular second novel (following book-club favorite Loving Frank , 2007) has been worth the wait. Brimming with the same artist...

A story should, to please, at least seem true, Be apropos, well told, concise, and new: And whenso'er it deviates from these rule...

“I pulled a novel from my purse. Always, I had a book to read... I read to find out what it was like to be a man. To be Russian, Spanish...

Happy December!  Today's the last day in a five-day stretch where I did very little except read, sleep, eat, and go shopping – a break I...

As part of the requirements for the Plagues, Witches, and War historical fiction MOOC I've been participating in this fall, students we...