Top Ten Favorite BRITISH EMPIRE Novels
Below is a list of my current favorite novels set during the British Empire:
TOP TEN FAVORITE BRITISH EMPIRE NOVELS
1. "Flashman in the Great Game" (1975) by George MacDonald Fraser - Set between 1856 and 1858, this fifth novel in the Flashman Papers Series is about cowardly British Army officer Harry Flashman's experiences during the Sepoy Rebellion.
2. "Shadow of the Moon" (1957/1979) by M.M. Kaye - This is a love story between an Anglo-Spanish heiress and a British Army officer before and during the Sepoy Rebellion.
3. "The Bastard" (1974) by John Jakes - Set during the final five years before the American Revolution, this tale is about Phillipe Charbaneau aka Philip Kent, the Anglo-French bastard of a nobleman forced to seek a new life in the American Colonies.
4. "Flashman and the Dragon" (1985) by George MacDonald Fraser - The eighth novel of the Flashman Papers reveals Harry Flashman's experiences in China during the Taiping Rebellion and the British march to Peking during the Second Opium War.
5. "Noble House" (1981) by James Clavell - Set during two weeks in August 1963, this novel is about a British businessman in Hong Kong, who struggles to save his family's company from financial ruin through a deal with an American corporate raider.
6. "Zemindar" (1982) by Valerie Fitzgerald - This novel is about a young Englishwoman named Laura Hewitt, who accompanies her cousin and cousin-in-law to India to meet the latter's wealthy half-brother. All three get caught up in the outbreak of the Sepoy Rebellion.
7. "Tai-Pan" (1966) by James Clavell - Set during the immediate aftermath of the First Opium War, this novel is about a British trader and his dealings with his family and enemies during the formation of Britain's Hong Kong colony.
8. "Liberty Tavern" (1976) by Thomas Fleming - This novel is about a former British Army officer, who operates a New Jersey tavern and serves as guardian to his stepchildren during the American Revolution.
9. "The Far Pavilion" (1978) by M.M. Kaye - This bestseller is about a 19th century British Army officer, who had spent his childhood believing he was Indian. He experiences love with an Indian princess and war during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
10. "Forget the Glory" (1985) by Emma Drummond - This novel chronicled the experiences of an unhappily married British Army officer, who falls in love with his wife's maid during a long journey from India to the Ukraine during the Crimean War.