All this delving I’ve been doing into my family history has peaked my interest in knowing how people lived in the past, so here’s where you, my readers, come in. Do you know of any historical fiction or nonfiction that is well written and does a good job of portraying how ordinary people lived? I love a good biography of a famous person, but most famous people did not live ordinary lives. I heard there was a book on medieval Europe that uses actual letters of ordinary folks to reconstruct their lives, have you heard of this and know the name? Cause I don’t remember it.
What comes to my mind immediately (because of the movies) is Cold Mountain and the novella Legends of the Fall. Have you read either and have an opinion good or bad? My main interest at the moment is in 1800′s America, but I don’t want to limit any suggestions you might have, so are there any good history/historical fiction books that you recommend? And by the way, historical inaccuracy in books and film is a big pet peeve of mine, so I probably would not enjoy historical fiction that has little to do with the reality of the times – there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not something I’m into. Thanks!
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“Ordinary people” are different to define after a certain point in historym, as they didn’t do useful things like keep diaries. For twentieth century stuff, though, what about products of the “Mass Observation Project”?
http://www.massobs.org.uk/
Simon Garfield has done several collections. Brit-centric, but fascinating.
A recommendation–A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey. It’s fiction, a woman’s life from the early 1900′s onward, and the story is told through letters.
If you’re interested and cannot easily find a copy, let me know and I’ll loan you my copy via post.
I’m a huge fan of Robert Harris’ work. Yes, it’s fiction, but so factual is it, that it’s almost like having a really interesting professor sitting across from you telling you great stories.
Archangel is a good example of this. I purchased it originally because, although it was fiction, it supposedly had a relatively factual accounting of the death of Stalin. Add to that the fact that in the beginning of the novel you almost need a scorecard to keep track or who’s who… who’s really bad, who’s sort of good, and what their place in history was, and I thought it was well worth the hours invested reading.
Of course Stalin died in the mid-1900′s and he was far from ordinary… you know what,on second thought, ignore everything I just said. heh
@Bowleserised: That’s a cool website. I’m thinking about ordering the post-World War II book. Thanks!
@Heather: Thanks, I’ll check it out and let you know if I have any trouble!
@Eurotrippen: I had never heard of Robert Harris, but his books sound interesting. Sure, it’s not really ordinary people, but I also love history in general. Pompeii sounds really good.