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I would classify Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose as "historical mystery" i.e. a murder mystery set in a period context, but it is so damn good I agree with those who have already recommended it.
Some books I have read which I thought were ok or pretty good are:
Lady of the English - Elizabeth Chadwick's take on Queen Matilda of England. 12th century.
A Matter of Interpretation - Elizabeth MacDonald's telling of the life of the 13th century monk and mathematician Robert Scot.
The Siege - Ismail Kadare's story regarding a late-medieval Ottoman siege in Albania.
The Sword at Sunset - Rosemary Sutcliffe's version of the tale of King Arthur.
Pompeii - Robert Harris's gripping (in my opinion) telling of the great Mount Vesuvius
eruption.
A couple of tales of Norsemen derring-do which I gave 3/5 are:
Vinland - George Mackay Brown
The Long Ships - Frans Bengtsson
A couple of books which I struggled with but are very well regarded are:
The Company Of Liars - Karen Maitland. The Black Death arrives in 14th century England.
I, Claudius - Robert Graves.
(In the same time period there is the Robert Harris "Cicero" trilogy).
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