Thematic List of M/M Historicals

[erastes]

ETA: This list is no longer being updated at this place. It has moved to my website and can be found at this linke: www.erastes.com/fiction.htm Please either email me on erastes at erastes dot com to let me know of new finds, or use this post.

Ok – I'm making  a thematic list of m/m historicals as it certainly seems to be a growing genre, and there doesn't appear to be a up-to-date list anywhere, switchknife started once 4 years ago but she's gone god knows where.  This is partly for my own records, and will - when it's a little bigger - be going on the website, but in the meantime - if you know of ANY m/m historicals that I haven't mentioned here, please please let me know in the comments?  Many thanks.  What staggers me is HOW FEW there are - when you think of how many heterosexual historical books/romances there are...   There seems to be High Literaratchoor and little else.  Why can't there be NON high literature, like there is for het historicals?

One thing I couldn't help but notice is that Gay Men's Press published a lot of these titles, being ahead of their time.  Perhaps they went bust a few years too early?

I guess that some of these aren't strictly "historical" as they were "contemporary" when they were written, but it's my list and I don't care.  The only other thing I'm doing is not including anything fantasy, so no to Victorian werewolves etc etc. But I'm sure I've missed loads so please share, there must be loads on ebook, for example? 
Eta: 10 titles added 16/4/07
10 titles added 19/4/07

120 Days of Sodom by Maquis de Sade - mid 17th Century
The Prussian Prince by Anthony, Adam  - WWII
The God in Flight by Argiri, Laura  - Victorian era – America
Master Georgie by Bainbridge, Beryl - 19th century England
Giovanni's Room by Baldwin, James - 1950's France
The Ghost Road by Barker, Pat - WWII
Mr Clive & Mr Page by Bartlett, Neil  - 20's-50's America
Raven's Brood by Benson, E F - 1930's England
In the absence of Men by Besson, Philippe, Wynne, Frank - 1916 France
The Journeyer by Bowie, J P - Scotland 1746
Catch Trap by Bradley Zimmer, Marion - 1940-1950
Father of Frankenstein by Bram, Christopher - 1950’s
The Notorious Dr. August: His Life and Crimes by Bram, Christopher - 1850 onwards
The Partisans by Brant, Martin  -  WWII
Edward Edward by Burford, Lolah - 1795-1816
A Dead Man in Deptford by Burgess, Anthony - Elizabethan
Boy at Sea by Camford, Tom - WWII
Mordred Bastard Son by Clegg, Douglas - Arthurian
The Players by Stephanie Cowell - Elizabethan
Nicholas Cooke by Stephanie Cowell - Elizabethan
The Greek Way by Ellis, Edward - Sparta – 5th C. BC
Standish by Erastes - Regency
Maurice by Forster, E M - Edwardian
Lord John & the Private Matter by Gabaldon, Diana - Jacobean
Taos Truth Game by Ganz, Earl - Far East 1930s
The Miracle of the Rose by Genet, Jean - WWII
The Counterfeiters by Gide, Andre - Early 20th Cent.
The Immoralist by Andre Gide - Early 20th Cent.
The Carniverous Lamb by Gomez-Arcos, Augustin  - Spanish Civil War
Earthly Joys by Gregory, Phillipa - 17th century
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn - Feudal Japan
The Bitterweed Path by Hal Phillips, Thomas - 1880 America
Judas Kiss by Hare, David - 1895 England (Wilde)
Theodore by Harris, Christopher - 7th century Britain
Brethren: Raised by Wolves by Hoffman, W A - 1667 Jamaica
Matelots: Raised by Wolves by Hoffman, W A - 17th Cent.
A Different Sin by Hollander Schwab, Rochelle - American Civil War
Crystal Boys by Hsien-Yung, Pai - 1970s Taiwan
Gaveston by Hunt, Chris - Edward II
The Honey & the Sting by Hunt, Chris - Elizabethan/Jacobean
The Bisley Boy by Hunt, Chris - Elizabethan
Conquistador by Hunter, Jeff - Incan Civilisation
A Man Who Loved Love by Ihara, Saikaku - 1680s Japan
Slow Water by Jagose, Annemarie - New Zealand 19th Century
Frontiers by Jensen, Michael - American Frontier
Firelands by Jensen, Michael - American Frontier
Wicked Angels by Jourdan, Eric - 1950’s France
Gross Indecency - The 3 Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moises, Kaufman - 1895 England (Wilde)
An East Wind Blowing by Keegan, Mel - Post Roman Britain
Fortunes of War by Keegan, Mel - Elizabethan England
White Rose of Night by Keegan, Mel - crusades
The Decievers by Keegan, Mel - mid 19th
East Wind Blowing by Keegan, Mel - Arthurian
Dangerous Moonlight by Keegan, Mel - 18th Cent
The Back Passage by Lear, James - English 1920’s murder mystery
The Low Road by Lear, James - Jacobite Scotland
Hot Valley by Lear, James - American Civil War
The Palace of Varieties by Lear, James - 1930’s London
While England Sleeps by Leavitt, David - Pre WWII, Spanish Civil War
The Handsomest Man in the World by Leddick, David - 1950's America
Legion of Lust by Lukas, Scott - Roman Britai
Farewell My Concubine by Lee, Lilian - WWII China
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann - Early 20th Cent.
Melmoth the Wanderer by C R Maturin - 1820
'The Folded Leaf' by Maxwell, William - 1920s Chicago
As Meat Loves Salt by McCann, Maria - English Civl War
Confessions of a Mask by Mishima, Yukio - 1940s Japan
Forbidden Colors by Mishima, Yukio - 1950s Japan
Virginia Bedfellows by Morris, Gavin - 18th Cent. America
Athens Rising by Mott, William  Athens – 5th C BC
At Swim Two Boys by O’Neill, Jamie - Ireland Easter Uprising
An Agreement between Gentlemen by Owen, Chris - Regency
The Price of Temptation by Pearson, M J - Regency
A Discreet Young Gentleman by Pearson, M J - Regency
The Tenderness of Wolves by Penney, Stef - 19th century Canada
Master of Seacliff by Pierce, Max - American Gothic
A Wind Across the Century by Powers, R G - Edwardian England
Delirium by Reed, Jeremy - 19th century France
The Charioteer by Renault, Mary - World War II
The Persian Boy by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
The Last of the Wine by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
The Nature of Alexander by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
The Praisesinger by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
The King Must Die by Renault, Mary - Ancie Greece
The Bull From The Sea by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
Funeral Games by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
Fire From Heaven by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
The Mask of Apollo by Renault, Mary - Ancient Greece
Ransom by Rowan, Lee - Age of Sail
Winds of Change by Rowan, Lee - Age of Sail       
Time & Place by Sheridan, Alan - Early 20th Century
The Phoenix by Sims, Ruth - Victorian England and America
The Man who fell in love with the Moon by Spanbauer, Tom - 1880 America-Old West
The Waters of Babylon by David Stephens - Lawrence of Arabia post WW1
Historical Obsessions by Talbot, Julia - Various short stories
The Master by Toibin, Colm - Late Victorian England
Czar! A Novel of Ivan the Terrible by Townsend, Larry  - 16th Cent. Russia    
Prince Serebrianni by Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoy    - 16th Cent. Russia
Slaves of the Empire by Travis, Aaron - Imperial Rome
The Highwayman by Veinglory, Emily - 17th Century England
The City & The Pillar by Gore Vidal - 1950's America
Secretly Inside by Warren, Hans/Leinbach,S J. - WWII
The Loom of Youth by Waugh, Alec - pre WW1
Brideshead Revisited  by Waugh, Evelyn - 1920’s-1940’s
A Boy's Own Story by White, Edmund - 1950s America
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde, Oscar - Victorian
Teleny attributed to Wilde, Oscar - late 19th Cent.
Two Spirits by Williams/Johnson - 19th Cent America
Symmetry by Woodward, I E - Early 1800’s America
The Memoirs of Hadrian by Yourcenar, Marguerite - Ancient Rome

contributions from junediamanti,sabethea,wildestranger, tharain, darklocket, fiona_glass, zehavit_lamasu, katjakfiona_glass missparaphilia

Comments

[zoepaleologa.livejournal.com]

"Prince Serebrianni" by Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoy is a novel of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, and actually rather good, albeit old fashioned and is surprisingly upfront about Ivan's relationship with his favourite, Fedor Basmanov, considering it's c. 1870. You'd be particularly entertained (I certainly was) by a bit where Basmanov reclines on scented silken pillows after he has whupped the arse out of some Tartar raiders in battle, and whinges about how this riding around in the sun will have played hell with his complexion and makes dark hints as to how he was led to wickedness (it arrived through the post today, and I've read it).

PS, I am writing a fairly overlong reply to your email. Expect it tomorrow...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you thank you! I knew you'd come up with something!! Amusing that they were more upfront about Fedor in 1870!!

*smoochies*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm just adding links to the webpage, and can't find this on amazon - am I spelling it right?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

ignore - have found! stupid amazon!

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

The Loom of Youth - Alec Waugh. Not sure if it counts as fiction precisely (this from Wiki: semi-autobiographical novel, The Loom of Youth (1917), which harked back to his schooldays. This book was seen as so controversial at the time (it openly portrayed the homosexual passions between the boys) that he remains the only former pupil to be expelled from the old boys society (The Old Shirburnian Society).)?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No - that's perfect - THANK YOU!

This list is going to make me bankrupt...

*G*

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

The Master by Colm Toibin?

As for non-high literature - clearly you just need to write it. :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And yes - well, I already have. *G*

[zoepaleologa.livejournal.com]

Have more:

The First Man in Rome
The Grass Crown
Fortune's Favourites

All by Colleen McCullough, of her "Masters of Rome" series. The Roman dictator, Sulla (Lucius Cornelius Sulla), has an ongoing and lifelong affair with the Roman actor, Metrobius. Set in Rome of the late Republic.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

::icon numminess::

And your ee cummings icons kick butt. =-D

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you thank you! Addity add add.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it fits this list, but Ravens Brood by E. F. Benson might be one. There is a strong M/M subplot in it. Regardless, it's one of my favorite books.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Strong subplot will certainly work - what era is it? *is lazy*

[darklocket.livejournal.com]

'Slow Water' by Annemarie Jagose, 2004. A richly detailed novel based on the true story of a love affair at sea between a missionary and a sailor, en route to New Zealand, in the 19th Century. I think you'd enjoy it. :) It may not be available on Amazon, though. Here's a link anyway:

http://www.vuw.ac.nz/vup/2003titleinformation/slowwater.html

'Earthly Joys' by Phillipa Gregory. Lots of gardening tips and one v. hot chapter of slash. The story of a royal gardener, 'in thrall to the irrisitable Duke of Buckingham'.17th century

The Line of Beauty, Allan Hollinghurst. Dunno if this is 'historical' as such. 1980's.

'Johnny Come Home', Jake Arnott (has been pulled from the shelves for some mysterious reason but it's probably available 2nd hand). Set in the glam era of the early 70's.

The Tenderness of Wolves, Stef Penney. 19th century Canada
If I think of any more I'll let you know.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful - thank you! I'm taking "historical" to mean at least 50 years ago, so while there is alot of 70 and 80's fiction I'm not adding them.

But I'll add the others, for sure! thank you so much

xxx

[katjak.livejournal.com]

The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox - 19th century France

Wonderful book, you absolutely should read it if you haven't.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun - I've heard of that, but isn't it fantasy, with magic and angels?

[katjak.livejournal.com]

This list is a wonderful idea -- it would be worth it's own page somewhere, with links and perhaps more information about the titles.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I was going to do links, but not everyone lives either in the Uk or the USA, and most of the titles are easily findable.

Some information on the titles can be found here - I got some of the titles from this page

http://forums.fictionalley.org/park/showthread.php?s=024bf916262933ec1ffc4358cd6d2b7e&threadid=29620&perpage=20&highlight=&pagenumber=1

And I'd love to expand it, but omg, it's just finding the time... It will go up on my webpage at some point though.

[zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com]

Mel Keegan has quite a few istoricals although he/she insists on selling them only via his/her site which is costly and off putting. I have them all and love them beyond words. They are very much in the line of historical action adventures but the research is not bad on them (I am not the best of judges for that but MK does talk of the research forr every book on the MK site).

White rose of night - crusades
The decievers - mid 19th
Fortunes of War - Elizabethan
East Wind Blowing - Arthurian
Dangerous Moonlight - 18th

There is also the victorian Nocturne and Twilight but they are vampire novels so they don't quite count >_<.

Dangerous moonlight and the Decievers are two of my all time favourites.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *snoogles*

[fiona-glass.livejournal.com]

Here's another couple for you: 'The Folded Leaf' by William Maxwell (1920s Chicago) and 'Theodore' by Christopher Harris (7th century Britain).

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! We grow we grow!!

[missparaphilia.livejournal.com]

Wow. I stumbled across this while looking for gay fiction on ljseek.com -- needless to say, this has made my year. I expect to blackmail, cuckold and extort most of these books out of my friends as Christmas presents. I had thought that I'd read all the historical m/m fiction in the world, but apparently there are many titles left for me to discover. How happy I am!

Here are some gay novels that haven't made it onto your list:

+ The Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar - Ancient Rome
+ Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee - WWII China
+ The Prussian Prince by Adam Anthony - WWII Prussia
+ In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson - WWI France
+ Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge - 19th century England [bisexual protagonist]
+ Delirium by Jeremy Reed - 19th century France
+ Crystal Boys by Pai Hsien-Yung - 1970s Taiwan
+ Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima - 1940s Japan
+ Forbidden Colors by Yukio Mishima - 1950s Japan
+ A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White - 1950s America
+ Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas - 1970s Cuba
+ Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig - 1960s Argentina
+ Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker - 1970s (I think!) France
+ Embrace by Mark Behr - 1970s South Africa [WARNING: GRAPHIC PEDOPHILIA]
+ A Man Who Loved Love by Saikaku Ihara - 1680s Japan [bisexual protagonist]
+ Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn - Feudal Japan [bisexual protagonist, gay secondary character]
+ Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai - 1970s Sri Lanka
+ The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi - 1970s London

Maybe the ones set as late as the 1970s don't count as "historical," but I thought you'd be interested in them anyway -- even if you don't use them in your list. :)

By the way, are you interested in doing a similar list for historical f/f fiction? I've got loads of books to recommend if you are.

[missparaphilia.livejournal.com]

Oops! I nearly forgot to mention this novel: The German Officer's Boy by Harlan Greene, a wonderful WWII romance.

Couple of extras ...

[djebrin.livejournal.com]

At last - the list I have been looking for! (even if my credit card is issuing faint bleats of protest) Just to add to the treasure trove:

Sebastian's Tangibles by Ingham, Anthea
One of the most exasperating books I ever read, to the point where I was shrieking at the characters, but deeply compelling. Partly Edwardian, partly modern-day (though with Oxford, one can't quite tell). Who wouldn't like to take a boy in pink suede shorts to the Randolph ...

The German Officer's Boy by Greene, Harlan - WWII
Still wading through this. Mildly interesting, but a shade too artful for its own good - and so flamin' allusive I feel like I am doing half the work making up backstory.

Can we have Christopher Isherwood? Particularly
The Memorial - 1920s Britain
Down there on a visit - 1920s-30s-50s Europe/USA

And because I can't resist
Love in a Cold Climate by Mitford, Nancy - 1930s Britain - Cedric Hampton is such a love and fails to meet a sticky end

Oh, and because I wish someone would do the story justice and not lurk behind the pretence they were writing Serious History:
The Panther's Feast, by Asprey, Robert - pre-WWI Austro-Hungarian Empire - a highly fictionalized "biography" of Alfred Redl

Which reminds me of
The Devil's Lieutanant by Fagyas, Maria - pre-WWI Austro-Hungarian Empire
The Court of Honour by Fagyas, Maria - pre-WWI Germany
Cracking yarns and historically spot-on!

Shutting up now.
Djebrin, intrusive newbie

Re: Couple of extras ...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

How could I forget Isherwood?????

Thank you so much for these, I'm pleased that people are helping me out! This list won't be updated further here, though, it's moved to my website and the link is

www.erastes.com/fiction.htm

[claireyfairy1.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome, I came across this post when reading your review of Maria McCann's As Meat Loves Salt, which I was alerted to through google alerts (I have her on alert in case of second novel announcements). Isn't that a longwinded process!

Anyway, gay historical fiction - my favourite genre! I thought I'd just comment and add to your list a couple I read recently that I don't see up there. I've probably read more, but my memory is rubbish. These are the most recent:

The Boy I Love - Marion Husband - aftermath of WWI (not too great, but not completely shoddy)
The Vintner's Luck - Elizabeth Knox - starts in 1808 and spans a lifetime. (Utterly brilliant and compelling)
Now and Then - William Corlett - 1950s and present day (quite an intense and powerful novel)

Great list. *adds to memories*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's taken so long to reply! I am glad you like the list - I'm updating it slowly and putting it up on the website, in alpha order and will be (eventually) adding links to buy and reviews...

Thank you for the adds - I've just read Vinter's luck and loved it!

[sandman06.livejournal.com]

Hi, I stumbled upon your LoveJournal through Google. Uhm, do you have an e-Book of Crystal Boys? I've been wanting to read it. Thanks.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Hi, sorry for taking so long to reply to you.

No, sorry - I've never heard of Crystal Boys!