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ETA: This list is no longer being updated at this place.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*

[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*

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

Any offerings I'm likely to come up with are school story based since that's my thesis area. I'll have a think and a read through my notes (it'll be useful for me but will feel more interesting if I'm looking for slashy bits) and see if I can think of any more...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'd be particularly interested in those - I know that Chris Hunt did some, not sure of the era though, meant to check that out.

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

By the by, I'm sure you know this site
http://www.justgaystories.com
but I just thought I'd mention it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh dear...

I just went into the historical fiction section

"As to your Greek boy, he can continue his ministrations by munching on my noble organ.”

"John put the head of his penis against my anis"

John? In Rome?

Argh!

[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]

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.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

::icon numminess::

And your ee cummings icons kick butt. =-D

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

What I mean is clearly you should write more!

Also, I looked for Standish in Gay's The Word last week, but they didn't have it, which puzzled me as I would imagine there could be lots of demand for books like that. Do they send copies to any bookshops, or is it just amazon and the publishers?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

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

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it.

The trouble is I don't have a UK distributor. As far as I know it's available in bookshops in the USA, but I don't know which ones. I've contacted teh main distributor in the UK but they haven't even bothered to contact me back.

Similarly, I emailed Gay's the Word a month or so ago, but once more, no response.

T'is very sad. It's not (yet) a recognised genre you see, which - looking at how few books there are it's not surprising. I'll contact GTW again, I've told them I'm happy to supply them sale or return, as well.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you thank you! Addity add add.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

It was written in 1934, and is set in Cornwall, but doesn't seem to have a specific era. I don't recall him mentioning automobiles, and, in my mind, I always placed it in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Very rural, not London or city or anything, so it could be almost any time from 1880 to the Great War. It's a horror story, and quite, quite creepy. A number of Benson's ghost stories had homosexual undertones.

[zoepaleologa.livejournal.com]

Take - most of the cute dude are screen caps from Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible, the others, originally from fandom_wank yonks ago.

[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.

[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.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

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