As a young girl, Alice Liddell befriends shy mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. Their unconventional friendship inspires his classic book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but also damages her reputation after the sudden rift in their relationship in 1863. Her attempts to distance herself from her fictional counterpart range from a youthful romance with Queen Victoria's youngest son, the dashing Prince Leopold, to her staid marriage to wealthy Reginald Hargreaves--yet Alice can never quite escape her past. A thematically similar blend of Alice-based fact and fiction (but darker in tone) is Katie Roiphe's Still She Haunts Me.

In 1956, Major Hal Treherne receives a transfer to the British colony of Cyprus, which is in the throes of revolution. Hal's job is to thwart the efforts of EOKA, a group of militant Cypriot nationalists seeking enosis--independence from British rule and union with Greece. But this "small war" takes a heavy toll on Hal and his family. Many of the rebels are teenagers who use improvised weapons ranging from rocks to pipe bombs, while the British army's counter-terrorism measures include brutal methods of torture and interrogation. If you're interested in learning more about the history of Cyprus, try Bitter Lemons, author Lawrence Durrell's memoir of living in Cyprus during this period.

In August 1901, while investigating radical anarchist groups in upstate New York, Pinkerton detective Jake Norris joins forces with the Buffalo police to investigate the murder of a prostitute whose body was dumped in the Erie Canal. Norris sees a connection between the victim and the anarchist Leon Czolgosz, a follower of political activist Emma Goldman and the mastermind behind a plot to assassinate president William McKinley. Don't miss this "excellent portrait of the seamier side of the Gilded Age" (Booklist). For another novel about the McKinley assassination, try Jonathan Lowy's The Temple of Music. History buffs may also be interested in Eric Rauchway's nonfiction book Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America.

One of the most stirring scenes in Shakespeare's Henry V is King Henry's St. Crispin's Day speech, delivered before the Battle of Agincourt. Addressing his greatly outnumbered forces as "we happy few, we band of brothers," Henry inspires his men to victory over the French. This standalone book by Bernard Cornwell focuses not on Henry but on one of his men, archer Nicholas Hook, an outlaw whose skill with a longbow leads to a career as a mercenary. If you enjoy action-packed historical fiction with plenty of combat, you'll want to read Agincourt. Cornwell is also the author of the Viking-themed Saxon Stories as well as the Richard Sharpe books, which take place during the Napoleonic Wars.

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety," is how Cleopatra is described in Shakespeare's tragedy. But in this 7th installment of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, Cleopatra isn't just the sexiest woman alive--she's also a shrewd politician whose goal is to make Caesarion, her son by former lover Julius Caesar, ruler of both Rome and Egypt. As for Antony, well, can you blame him for being besotted? If you want to start at the very beginning, read The First Man in Rome. For more novels focusing on Cleopatra, try Margaret George's Memoirs of Cleopatra or Colin Falconer's When We Were Gods. And, if you like historical fantasy, you may enjoy Jo Graham's Hand of Isis, which also features Cleopatra.

Inspired by the life of Kate Haute, a tale set in medieval England follows her rise from a peasant-class family to the beloved mistress of the future King Richard III, with whom she bears three illegitimate children, endures a dangerous political war, and struggles against accusations about his murdered nephews. A first novel. Original.

This "impressive debut novel" (The New York Times) by Nomi Eve, based on her own family history, follows the changing fortunes of a Jewish family over six generations. The story begins in 1838 with Esther Herschell, a lusty rabbi's wife who has an affair with a Jerusalem baker, and continues with her many descendants, including Avra, a kleptomaniac and WWI-era spy who marries into a family of orchard workers, and Avra's twin sons, Moshe and Zohar, who fight in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Employing multiple narrators and an unusual style of typography reminiscent of the Talmud, The Family Orchard combines rich historical detail with larger-than-life characters.

This novel by the author of Sea of Poppies begins in 1885 with the British invasion of Burma, an event that forces the Burmese royal family into exile. In the midst of the chaos, 11-year-old Indian orphan Rajkumar meets 10-year-old royal servant Dolly and is instantly smitten. In the years that follow, Rajkumar, Dolly, and their descendants will witness profound changes wrought by colonialism, World Wars I and II, and the fall of the British Raj in the wake of India's independence movement. If you'd like to read more about Burma (now Myanmar) during this time period, check out The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. Armchair travelers may also enjoy Andrew Marshall's The Trouser People, which looks at the history and present-day politics of this area.

Over the course of a thousand years, from the founding of Rome to the reign of Augustus Caesar, two families witness the transformation of a trading post by the Tiber River into the center of one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. Descendants of two cousins who founded a priesthood honoring Hercules pass down a fascinum (an amulet in the shape of a winged phallus) from one generation to the next, while Roman history unfolds in episodic chapters. If you love reading about ancient history and are a fan of Edward Rutherfurd's generation-spanning epics, such as Sarum or the two-volume Dublin Saga, check out Roma.

Based on author Lalita Tademy's family history, Red River follows the fortunes of two families of freed slaves--the Smiths and the Tademys--who settle near Colfax, Louisiana after the Civil War. But the early promise of a better life is marred by the Colfax Riots of 1873, during which 150 African-American voters are murdered by white supremacists. From Reconstruction to the Great Depression, the families struggle to exercise their rights as citizens, scratch a living out of the unforgiving soil, and educate the generations that follow. Tademy is also the author of Cane River, another multigenerational saga based on a branch of her family tree, which focuses more on slavery.