BVBook Verdict

If you liked

Books like Antony and Cleopatra

Loved Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare? Here are 10 books with a similar appeal — drawn mostly from historical fiction, ranked by how confidently we'd recommend them next.

10 books · ranked

  1. 1

    Wolf Hall

    Hilary Mantel · 2009 · Historical Fiction

    Thomas Cromwell's rise in the court of Henry VIII; political intrigue rendered in extraordinary close-up prose.

  2. 2

    The Pillars of the Earth

    Ken Follett · 1989 · Historical Fiction

    The building of a cathedral across decades of medieval turmoil; a vast, addictive saga.

  3. 3

    The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak · 2005 · Historical Fiction

    A girl in Nazi Germany who steals books, narrated by Death itself; original, tender and devastating.

  4. 4

    All the Light We Cannot See

    Anthony Doerr · 2014 · Historical Fiction

    A blind French girl and a German boy whose paths cross in occupied France; luminous, intricate storytelling.

  5. 5

    Manon Lescaut

    Abbé Prévost · 1734 · Historical Fiction

    Set in France and Louisiana in the early 18th century, the story follows the hero, the Chevalier des Grieux, and his lover, Manon Lescaut. Des Grieux comes from noble and landed family, but forfeits h

  6. 6

    Death Comes for the Archbishop

    Willa Cather · 1732 · Historical Fiction

    In 1851 French Bishop Latour and his friend Father Valliant are dispatched to New Mexico to reawaken its slumbering Catholicism. Moving along the endless prairies, Latour spreads his faith the only wa

  7. 7

    Memoirs of Fanny Hill

    John Cleland · 1749 · Historical Fiction

    Memoirs of Fanny Hill was written in debtor's prison in 1784 and was the first modern erotic novel in English. A young woman, Fanny Hill, is forced by poverty to go into service, but is tricked into b

  8. 8

    Princesse de Clèves

    Madame de La Fayette · 1678 · Historical Fiction

    The Princess of Cleves is a French novel published in 1678 that is regarded as one of the first psychological novels. The plot is set in the royal court of Henry II of France.

  9. 9

    Astoria

    Washington Irving · 1800 · Historical Fiction

    In 1811 a group of American traders built a fort at the mouth of the Columbia River, named Fort Astoria in honor of its financier, John Jacob Astor. Envisioned as the spur of a fur-trading empire, by

  10. 10

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens · 1800 · Historical Fiction

    Upon its publication in 1857, Little Dorrit immediately outsold any of Dickens's previous books. The story of William Dorrit, imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea Prison, and his daughter and helpmate, A

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