Books like 'Flood of Fire'
Readers who enjoyed Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure military, war & conflict historical-fiction literary-fiction war drama multi-pov poc-mc colonization
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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsGhana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery...Categorized as:
classics colonization drama epic historical-fiction journey literary-fiction multi-pov -
![Shōgun, Volume 1 by James Clavell]()
Shōgun, Volume 1 by James Clavell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis is James Clavell's tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration into the struggles and strife of feudal Japan. Both entertaining and incisive, SHOGUN is a stunningly dramatic re-creation of a very different world... -
![The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett]()
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsIt is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns.In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined...Categorized as:
classics drama epic historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war action-adventure -
![Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian]()
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPatrick O'Brian's masterpiece, the Aubrey-Maturin series, follows the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Dr. Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. The series consists of 20 complete and one unfinished novel, the first published in 1970 and the last finished novel in 1999... -
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![The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels (5 Volumes) by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Complete Aubrey/Maturin Novels (5 Volumes) by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPatrick O’Brian’s twenty-one-volume Aubrey/Maturin series has delighted generations of devoted fans, inspired a blockbuster film, and sold millions of copies in twenty-four languages. These five omnibus volumes, beautifully produced and boxed, contain 7,000 pages of what has often been described as a single, continuous narrative...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction nautical war action-adventure adult book -
![Sodan mainingit by Herman Wouk]()
Sodan mainingit by Herman Wouk
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThese two classic works capture the tide of world events even as they unfold the compelling tale of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.The multimillion-copy bestsellers that capture all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of the Second World War -- and that constitute Wouk's crowning achievement -- are available for the first time in trade paperback... -
![My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel]()
My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCentered around the 1986 attempt on the life of Augusto Pinochet, an event that changed Chile forever, My Tender Matador is one of the most explosive, controversial, and popular novels to have been published in that country in decades. It is spring 1986 in the city of Santiago, and Augusto Pinochet is losing his grip on power...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics war 20th-century -
![Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler]()
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLife and Fate is an epic tale of a country told through the fate of a single family, the Shaposhnikovs. As the battle of Stalingrad looms, Grossman's characters must work out their destinies in a world torn apart by ideological tyranny and war... -
![The Winds of War by Herman Wouk]()
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsLike no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation.Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II, as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom... -
![The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara]()
The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIncisive portraits of Lee, Longstreet, Meade, and other Civil War leaders are interwoven with rich historical detail to provide a fictional recreation of the bloody battle at Gettysburg, in a new thirtieth anniversary edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel. 10,000 first printing... -
![Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque]()
Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIt is 1939. Despite a law banning him from performing surgery, Ravic – a German doctor and refugee living in Paris – has been treating some of the city’s most elite citizens for two years on the behalf of two less-than-skillful French physicians... -
![Les Misérables: Volume One by Victor Hugo]()
Les Misérables: Volume One by Victor Hugo
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLes Miserables is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. First published in France in 1862, it is Victor Hugo's greatest achievement--the ultimate tale of redemption. Former prisoner Jean Valjean struggles to live virtuously after an unexpected act of forgiveness by a kindly bishop changes his life...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult audiobook book -
![Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa]()
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics war action-adventure -
![To Live by Yu Hua, 余华]()
To Live by Yu Hua, 余华
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of Brothers and China in Ten Words this celebrated contemporary classic of Chinese literature was also adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. This searing novel, originally banned in China but later named one of that nation's most influential books, portrays one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant... -
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![Les Misérables: Fantine by Victor Hugo]()
Les Misérables: Fantine by Victor Hugo
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne terrible winter, Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread to feed his young nieces and nephews. He is caught and put in jail -- for 19 years When he finally gets out, Jean changes his name and tries to start a new life. But evil Inspector Javert wants him back in jail. As Jean hides from the law, he cares for the sick, the injured, and the poor -- those known as . . .Les Miserables...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Source by James A. Michener]()
The Source by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago... -
![Return to the Island by Kate Hewitt]()
Return to the Island by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhat would her life look like without her beloved island in it? Where would she go? Ellen had come back here—to the place she felt she belonged—thinking she would stay here. But was it home… or just a place to hide?1918, Canada: The First World War is over and those who have been fighting in Europe are heading for home, forever changed... -
![Tai-Pan by James Clavell]()
Tai-Pan by James Clavell
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsAn Alternate Cover of this edition can be found here.Set in the turbulent days of the founding of Hong Kong in the 1840s, Tai-Pan is the story of Dirk Struan, the ruler - the Tai-Pan - of the most powerful trading company in the Far East. He is also a pirate, an opium smuggler, and a master manipulator of men... -
![The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa]()
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsHaunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of 1961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million people... -
![The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić]()
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA vivid depiction of the suffering history has imposed upon the people of Bosnia from the late sixteenth century to the beginning of World War I, The Bridge on the Drina earned Ivo Andric the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. A great stone bridge built three centuries ago in the heart of the Balkans by a Grand Vezir of the Ottoman Empire dominates the setting of Andric's stunning novel...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century -
![Trinity by Leon Uris]()
Trinity by Leon Uris
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLeon Uris’s beloved Irish classic, available in Avon mass market. From the acclaimed author who enthralled the world with Exodus, Battle Cry, QB VII, Topaz, and other beloved classics of twentieth-century fiction comes a sweeping and powerful epic adventure that captures the "terrible beauty" of Ireland during its long and bloody struggle for freedom... -
![Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais]()
Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPerfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg... -
![House of Glass by Pramoedya Ananta Toer]()
House of Glass by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWith House Of Glass comes the final chapter of Pramoedya's epic quartet, set in the Dutch East Indies at the turn of the century. A novel of heroism, passion, and betrayal, it provides a spectacular conclusion to a series hailed as one of the great works of modern literature... -
![Flying Colours by C.S. Forester]()
Flying Colours by C.S. Forester
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsForced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner in a French fortress...Categorized as:
classics epic historical-fiction literary-fiction nautical war 20th-century action-adventure -
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![Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa]()
Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"In the tempestuous closing decades of the sixteenth century, the Empire of Japan writhes in chaos as the shogunate crumbles and rival warlords battle for supremacy. Warrior monks in their armed citadels block the road to the capital; castles are destroyed, villages plundered, fields put to the touch." "Amid this devastation, three men dream of uniting the nation...Categorized as:
classics epic historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan]()
The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Feels revolutionary in its freshness." --Entertainment Weekly"The Arsonists' City delivers all the pleasures of a good old-fashioned saga, but in Alyan's hands, one family's tale becomes the story of a nation--Lebanon and Syria, yes, but also the United States. It's the kind of book we are lucky to have... -
![The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel]()
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis stirring, poignant novel, based on real historical events that made of actual people true heroes, unfolds the tragedy that befell the Armenian people in the dark year of 1915. The Great War is raging through Europe, and in the ancient, mountainous lands southwest of the Caspian Sea the Turks have begun systematically to exterminate their Christian subjects...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Small Country by Gaël Faye]()
Small Country by Gaël Faye
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings‘A luminous and poignant novel about childhood, war, exile and identity…this is literature at its most powerful’ Le Parisien Magazine Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise... -
![The Covenant by James A. Michener]()
The Covenant by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsJames A. Michener’s masterly chronicle of South Africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. From the Java-born Van Doorn family tree springs two great branches: one nurtures lush vineyards, the other settles the interior to become the first Trekboers and Afrikaners... -
![The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower: A Biography of C. S. Forester's Famous Naval Hero by C. Northcote Parkinson]()
The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower: A Biography of C. S. Forester's Famous Naval Hero by C. Northcote Parkinson
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsMany know of Horatio Hornblower's exploits during the Napoleonic Wars through the novels of C.S. Forester, but how many know the true Hornblower—the man who rose from Midshipman to Admiral of the British Fleet? Using Hornblower family papers discovered in the 1970s, C. Northcote Parkinson has set the record straight in this authoritative biography...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction nautical war action-adventure adult book fiction -
![If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi]()
If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPrimo Levi was among the greatest witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In this gripping novel, based on a true story, he reveals the extraordinary lives of the Russian, Polish and Jewish partisans trapped behind enemy lines during the Second World War...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough]()
Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough re-creates an extraordinary epoch before the mighty Republic belonged to Julius Caesar—when Rome's noblewomen were his greatest conquest.His victories were legend—in battle and bedchamber alike. Love was a political weapon he wielded cunningly and ruthlessly in his private war against enemies in the forum... -
![Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay]()
Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a small town like any other small town around Australia live the Maloneys. They are a fifth-generation Australian family of Irish Catholic descent who are struggling to reach the first rung of the social ladder. The Maloneys are a family you won't forget: a strong mother, a father broken by war, three boys and two girls, one of whom has an illegitimate daughter... -
![Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal, Harold Augenbraum]()
Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal, Harold Augenbraum
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn more than a century since its appearance, José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere has become widely known as the great novel of the Philippines...Categorized as:
classics colonization drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics -
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![The Reign Of Greed by José Rizal]()
The Reign Of Greed by José Rizal
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"El Filibusterismo" ("The Subversive") is the second novel by Jose Rizal (1861-1896), national hero of the Philippines. Like its predecessor, the better-known "Noli Me Tangere", the "Fili" was written in Castilian while Rizal was traveling and studying in Europe. It was published in Ghent in 1891 and later translated into English, German, French, Japanese, Tagalog, Ilonggo, and other languages...Categorized as:
classics colonization drama historical-fiction literary-fiction politics action-adventure adult -
![The Kites by Romain Gary]()
The Kites by Romain Gary
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn a small farm in Normandy, as Hitler rises to power in Germany, young Ludo comes of age in the care of his Uncle Ambrose, an eccentric mailman, kite-maker, and pacifist. Ludo’s quiet existence changes the day he meets Lila, a girl from the aristocratic Polish family who own the estate next door. In a single glance, Ludo instantly falls in love forever; Lila, on the other hand, remains elusive...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen]()
We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIt is an epic drama of adventure, courage, ruthlessness and passion by one of Scandinavia’s most acclaimed storytellers.In 1848 a motley crew of Danish sailors sets sail from the small island town of Marstal to fight the Germans. Not all of them return – and those who do will never be the same... -
![The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa]()
The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe War of the End of the World is one of the great modern historical novels. Inspired by a real episode in Brazilian history, Mario Vargas Llosa tells the unforgettable story of an apocalyptic movement, led by a mysterious prophet, in which prostitutes, beggars and bandits establish Canudos, a new republic, a libertarian paradise... -
![Somewhere in the South Pacific by John J. Gobbell]()
Somewhere in the South Pacific by John J. Gobbell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsInspired by the true story of John F. Kennedy's daring naval mission at the height of World War II, this historical thriller brings the unanswered question of the past to life with fast-paced action and vivid detail...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction nautical war action-adventure adult book fiction -
![Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, Naguib Mahfouz]()
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, Naguib Mahfouz
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis is a sweeping and evocative portrait of both a family and a country struggling to move toward independence in a society that has resisted change for centuries. Set against the backdrop of Britain's occupation of Egypt immediately after World War I, Palace Walk introduces us to the Al Jawad family... -
![A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute]()
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsNevil Shute's most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Pereira Declares: A Testimony by Antonio Tabucchi]()
Pereira Declares: A Testimony by Antonio Tabucchi
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsDr. Pereira is an aging, overweightjournalist who has failed to noticethe menacing cloud of fascism overSalazarist Portugal, until one day hemeets an aspiring young writer andanti-fascist. Breaking out of his apolitical torpor, Pereira reluctantly rises to heroism...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century -
![Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani]()
Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThis collection of important stories by novelist, journalist, teacher, and Palestinian activist Ghassan Kanafani includes the stunning novella Men in the Sun (1962), the basis of the The Deceived. Also in the volume are "The Land of Sad Oranges" (1958), "'If You Were a Horse..Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Centurions by Jean Lartéguy]()
The Centurions by Jean Lartéguy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is Jean Larteguy's most famous book that garnered international acclaim and sold millions of copies. It was also the basis for the movie, The Lost Command, starring Anthony Quinn. In his autobiography, Larteguy writes that he got the name of the book from when he was traveling with the Foreign Legion in the Sahara and came across an old Roman column at an oasis...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Leigh Fermor]()
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Leigh Fermor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPainting an unrivalled portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, this story is told through the eyes of two young Transylvanian cousins, Count Balint Abady and Count Laszlo Gyeroffy...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild]()
The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn ancient Assyria, Tiglath Ashur and Esarhaddon, half-brothers, best friends, and rivals for the throne, share their women, secrets, and dreams as together they seek a destiny that will change the course of the empire...Categorized as:
historical-fiction epic politics war romance fiction historical ancient-civilization -
![Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andrić, Joseph Hitrec]()
Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andrić, Joseph Hitrec
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet in the town of Travnik, Bosnian Chronicle presents the struggle for supremacy in a region that stubbornly refuses to submit to any outsider. The era is Napoleanic and the novel, both in its historical scope and psychological subtley, Tolstoyan. In its portray of conflict and fierce ethnic loyalties, the story is also eerily relevant...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure -
![You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr]()
You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn extraordinary debut that explores legacies of abuse, redemption, and the strength of the human spirit--from the Boer Wars in South Africa to brutal wilderness camps for teenage boys. South Africa, 1901. It is the height of the second Boer War. Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred are forced from their home on Mulberry Farm...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics war action-adventure -
![The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw]()
The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Young Lions is a vivid and classic novel that portrays the experiences of ordinary soldiers fighting World War II. Told from the points of view of a perceptive young Nazi, a jaded American film producer, and a shy Jewish boy just married to the love of his life, Shaw conveys, as no other novelist has since, the scope, confusion, and complexity of war... -
![Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts]()
Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis classic novel follows the career of Major Rogers, whose incredible exploits during the French and Indian Wars are told through Langdon Towne, an artist and Harvard student who flees trouble to join the army...
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