7 min read
Book Guild Round Up: Historical Fiction in 2026
A brilliant year for our historical fiction titles
Historical fiction is a genre that continues to thrive, and continues to be beloved by readers and authors alike. Historical fiction is our most-published genre of 2026, and with books covering periods from the early 1100s to the 20th century, we really have an option for all historical fiction lovers.
Landslide, Robert Garner. £9.99
The book tells the dramatic, partly-fictionalised story of the 1945 General Election, revealing how Labour’s unexpected victory over Churchill marked a turning point in British politics. It draws on personal accounts and Mass-Observation diaries to capture both elite and everyday perspectives on this historic moment.
The Rose Amongst The Thorns, Laura Johnson-Smith. £10.99
In 1484 Leicester, Lady Katherine Turner inherits unexpected power after her brother’s death. Pursued by ruthless suitors, she falls for Lord James Stanford, but faces the dangerous obsession of Lord Tyrell. Amid betrayal and ambition, Katherine must find her strength to protect her love and forge her own destiny.
The Price of Fealty, June Russell Laing. £9.99
This story follows Beryl Allen, born in 1940s Gorbals, as she grapples with poverty, forbidden love and lifelong regret after rejecting her closest friend, Rhea, out of fear and shame.
Blood and White Roses, Rebekah Fanning. £9.99
1461, following the Battle of Towton, Bethany Mortimer becomes a Yorkist spy, uncovering a deadly plot to abduct Edward IV’s brothers. Across a divided England, she and her loyal retainers pursue traitors, leading to justice in Coventry and paving the way for Edward’s triumphant coronation.
Fables & Lies, Elisabeth Storrs. £9.99
1940s Berlin. Museum assistant Freyja Bremer marries SS scholar Kaspar Voigt to protect her father, unaware of his role in Himmler’s schemes. After falling for archaeologist, Darien Lessing, Freyja is drawn to aid a Jewish doctor, confronting moral corruption as she risks everything to safeguard truth, treasure and love amid chaos.
Absent Lives, Rebecca Pells. £9.99
When the Lusitania sinks in 1915, Anita loses her infant son and husband to grief and war. Decades later a young man, Charles, is given a package containing mysterious items by his dying grandfather, which spark a search across time and continents, uncovering a buried family secret.
Raven Must Fall, JG Castro. £9.99
Salamanca, 1812. Victory over the French brings Lord Wellington little peace. A conspiracy threatens his alliance with Spain and only Colonel Thomas Mablethorpe must uncover the truth. Tasked with finding a spy within the general staff, he must navigate treachery, diplomacy and the brutal aftermath of a war without end.
Soldiers of Christ, Jon Byrne. £10.99
The second installment in The Northern Crusader Chronicles series. Exiled knight Richard Fitz Simon joins the Livonian Swordbrothers to seek honour in crusade. Amid rivalries, suspicion and secrets from his past, he battles to reconcile faith and identity.
The Women Who Saved Shakespeare, Mai Black. £9.99
Georgian London. Elizabeth Boyd helps form the Shakespeare Ladies Club – a group of determined women fighting misogyny and scandal to restore Shakespeare’s reputation and claim their rightful place in the world of literature.
Suppression, P.M. Emerson. £9.99
As Henry VIII tears down England’s monasteries, a small Lincolnshire town sparks a rebellion that sweeps the North. A dispossessed monk and a struggling young mother form an unlikely alliance as faith, loyalty and survival collide in the shadow of a ruthless king.
The Posting, Gillian Edwards. £9.99
At fifteen, Jane leaves a quiet Sussex village for a world at war. Told in her own voice, this biographical novel follows her journey from Blitz Britain to the Far East, as she faces danger, loss and love, emerging fiercely independent and profoundly changed by her extraordinary wartime experiences.
The Siren's Daughter, Claire Fuge. £9.99
1126. As the Norman conquest of Wales tightens and rebellion stirs, nineteen-year-old Angharad arrives at Aberteifi Castle for her mother's arranged marriage. Forced to betray her mother, a captive Welsh princess with a dangerous past, Angharad must choose between loyalty and survival.
False Heart. Jane Whiteford. £9.99
In 1914, as war approaches, a young accountant arrives in the village of Stainwick to prepare the local black powder works for conflict. He marries a widowed schoolteacher despite her doubts. When he returns from the trenches with dangerous secrets, explosions shatter more than Stainwick’s peace.
The Housekeeper of Worthley Hall, Beverley Bowry. £10.99
1828, Suffolk. Dismissed from her post, housekeeper Jane Groom enters a perilous world of secrets and scandal. Entangled with two powerful families, her safety and future hang in the balance when buried truths resurface…
Copperopolis, Carolyn Morgan. £9.99
1860s Swansea. A master mariner gambles everything on the deadly copper trade round Cape Horn, while his pioneering wife uncovers the industry’s ruinous toll at home. As ambition and morality collide, their family’s reputation and livelihood hang in the balance.
Dedskull, Howard Taylor. £10.99
A collection of short stories set in Northamptonshire. From famine to revolution, each story follows an elusive soldier, Dedskull, as he drifts through moments of crisis, bearing witness to how ordinary people respond in the face of disaster.
The Bathhouse, Mark R.J. Lucek. £9.99
Roman Spain, 42 A.D. Marius longs for glory beyond harvests. A bathhouse contract promises wealth, until floods devastate his land. Suspecting sabotage, not divine wrath, he uncovers a hidden dam and must decide where his loyalties lie…
Crossing the Lines, Charles Searle. £9.99
Occupied France, 1940. Antoine Martinet returns as the Hooded Man, going undercover to fight ruthless collaborators and the Gestapo. As he moves across a fractured nation, he risks everything to protect his country and to avenge the murder of his lover in a dangerous and deeply personal mission.
The Truro-Bound Coach and Four, Mark Butterworth. £9.99
In the summer of 1795, the coach and four travels from London to Truro bringing together a group of strangers, each with their own secrets and stories. As the journey progresses unexpected friendships and romances form but will the stagecoach reach Cornwall safely?
Black Scorpion, Jacqueline Malcolm. £9.99
A young African king loses his memory and wakes up a slave bound for America. His freedom comes in the form of a pirate ship. His maturity comes in the form of a woman. Both change the course of his life.
Seahouses, Jo Casebourne. £9.99
On the eve of the Second World War, Peggy marries army officer Jock, breaking Bill’s heart. As war sweeps them from Northumberland to the deserts of North Africa and the battlefields of Italy, love and fate collide, changing all three lives forever.
Iceni Rising Book Two, Stephen D Owen. £9.99
Britannia is in revolt. After Rome seizes the Iceni kingdom and brutalises her family, Boudica rallies the tribes of Britain against imperial rule. As towns burn and legions fall, druids, warriors and Romans clash in a struggle for freedom and survival that will shape the fate of Britannia.
To meet our full historical fiction catalogue, check out our bookshop here.
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