[metalbender]

beat me to it lol I was just reading through thris thread to see if anyone had posted O'brian lol ...
SM Stirlings dies the fire series is fairly good as is his peshewar lancers.

[Raule]

Has Samuel Shellabarger been mentioned in this thread? He wrote great historical adventure novels (should appeal to anyone who loves Sabatini, for example). In my opinion, Prince of Foxes is his best. The protagonist works for and against Cesare Borgia in this, and his sidekick is one of the most memorable ones.

[suciul]

Has Samuel Shellabarger been mentioned in this thread? He wrote great historical adventure novels (should appeal to anyone who loves Sabatini, for example). In my opinion, Prince of Foxes is his best. The protagonist works for and against Cesare Borgia in this, and his sidekick is one of the most memorable ones.

I liked Prince of Foxes and the one with Cortes and the Mexica (something with Seville) but both have a dated feel for some reason

Mika Waltari (in my opinion) is much more readable still, though he wrote at the same time at Shellarbarger - maybe because his books are way darker and more cynical :)

A very popular adventure writer from the 1920's, Pierre Benoit has some books that are still quite enjoyable though I am not sure how much is translated from French

[Raule]

the one with Cortes and the Mexica (something with Seville) but both have a dated feel for some reason


That would be Captain from Castile, which I don't think aged as well as Prince of Foxes, but is still worthwhile if you love historical adventure. I think PoF could stand alongside any book written today without showing its age too much. I also like Waltari (but have only read The Egyptian). The one criticism I've heard of Waltari is similar to yours for Shellabarger: faux historical reflecting the concerns and values of the 1950s. Perhaps that is true, but it doesn't diminish the story. Those complaints are as flies buzzing in my ear! (an inside joke if you've read the book).

[suciul]

That would be Captain from Castile, which I don't think aged as well as Prince of Foxes, but is still worthwhile if you love historical adventure..

Yes, that's the one - found my copy later :)

I know Shellabarger has been a consistent bestseller in the 50's as was Waltari, but today the Finn is still very well known while Shellabarger is mostly forgotten - on hist.fict forums Waltari is always there with Graves, M. Renault and I've read and reread him for 20 years now, while I heard of S. Shellabarger absolutely by chance and quite recently, maybe 3, 4 years ago

Waltari is very cynical but also spiritual and several of his books with their quiet but deep faith are really uplifting despite the endings; his books are also quite picaresque, so his main characters are anti-heroes, drifting in the wind, doing quite a lot of bad deeds, mostly because they are naive and get duped, though ultimately they find their moral bearing, but never in a happy, "get the girl and the money" way, more in "die for Christ in the Arena or beheaded", or by bleeding to death with their sinews cut in a mockery of the Imperial coronation ritual, or at best exiled and under mild house arrest for the rest of their lives by their former powerful friends and protectors.

If there is one thing that may irk contemporary sensibilities about Waltari is his portrayal of women, who are powerful (no sexism here), but cunning, manipulating, even evil, and usually the "good" ones get the nasty fates like burning on the stake, sentenced to years in a sailors brothel, death by the Minotaur, or at best "quieter" deaths in childbirth, riots, battle, while the "evil, manipulating" ones mostly prosper at least for a while becoming rich and famous so you could rightly call him misogynistic though not sexist since his women are usually much stronger characters than his men

Edit: In a way you could call Waltari the "anti-sexist" in presenting history as a succession of powerful women manipulating, betraying and using the duped men, naive or more sophisticated to get their way and actually lead the world :)