Simon Van Der Velde stands out for historical fiction and crime-inflected storytelling that reimagines the hidden lives of famous people before they became household names. His Backstories concept is especially appealing to readers who enjoy accessible prose, a strong narrative hook, and the thrill of seeing public figures transformed into believable fictional characters with secrets, setbacks, and ambitions.
If you enjoy the blend of history, character-driven drama, and imaginative reconstruction in Simon Van Der Velde’s books, the authors below offer similar pleasures—whether through richly researched historical settings, intimate portraits of well-known figures, or fast-moving fiction that makes the past feel vivid and immediate.
Bernard Cornwell is an excellent choice for readers who love historical fiction with momentum, clarity, and a strong sense of place. His novels are known for their immersive battle scenes, grounded period detail, and protagonists who must navigate divided loyalties in violent, changing worlds.
Like Simon Van Der Velde, Cornwell knows how to make history feel energetic rather than distant. His characters are rarely passive observers; they are pulled directly into the forces shaping their era. A great place to start is The Last Kingdom, which follows Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon raised by Danes, as he struggles with identity, power, and survival in early medieval England.
Conn Iggulden writes muscular, cinematic historical fiction centered on legendary figures and pivotal turning points. His style is direct, readable, and highly dramatic, making him especially appealing to readers who want history delivered with narrative drive rather than academic distance.
If Simon Van Der Velde’s appeal lies in turning the past into compelling story, Iggulden offers a similarly vivid experience on a larger epic scale. The Gates of Rome, the opening novel in his Emperor series, imagines the rise of Julius Caesar with ambition, danger, and emotional immediacy, giving readers a gripping entry into the Roman world.
C.W. Gortner is especially strong at fictionalizing the emotional lives of real historical figures. His novels often focus on public people under private pressure, balancing court politics, personal longing, and historical atmosphere in a way that feels both intimate and dramatic.
Readers who appreciate Simon Van Der Velde’s interest in the person behind the public image should find a lot to enjoy here. In The Last Queen, Gortner presents Juana of Castile not as a distant historical label, but as a complex woman caught between love, power, and reputation. It is a thoughtful and engaging portrait of a misunderstood royal figure.
Philippa Gregory is one of the most widely read names in historical fiction for good reason. She excels at turning dynastic politics, court rivalries, and shifting alliances into emotionally charged stories led by sharply drawn characters, especially women whose perspectives are often minimized in traditional histories.
Fans of Simon Van Der Velde may appreciate Gregory’s talent for dramatizing the hidden tensions behind famous historical narratives. The Other Boleyn Girl is a strong example, transforming Tudor intrigue into a suspenseful, personal story of ambition, family competition, and life in the orbit of Henry VIII.
Alison Weir brings the authority of a historian to her fiction without sacrificing readability. Her novels are especially rewarding for readers who want accurate historical grounding alongside emotional storytelling, and she often writes about famous British figures in ways that illuminate both the pageantry and the peril of their world.
Much like Simon Van Der Velde, Weir is interested in bringing recognizable names to life as people rather than symbols. Innocent Traitor offers a moving and accessible portrait of Lady Jane Grey, capturing the fear, youth, and political manipulation behind one of England’s most tragic royal episodes.
Ken Follett writes sweeping historical novels that combine large-scale social change with intimate human conflict. He is especially good at creating broad casts of characters whose personal ambitions and relationships intersect with major historical events, giving his fiction both scale and emotional pull.
If you like Simon Van Der Velde’s ability to make historical settings feel alive and dramatically consequential, Follett is a natural next step. In The Pillars of the Earth, he turns the building of a cathedral into a gripping saga of faith, politics, revenge, and survival in medieval England.
Edward Rutherfurd specializes in expansive novels that trace the history of a place through generations of families. His books are less about a single protagonist and more about the long sweep of time, showing how geography, power, class, and culture shape ordinary and extraordinary lives.
Readers who enjoy Simon Van Der Velde’s feel for historical context may appreciate Rutherfurd’s broader, more panoramic approach. Sarum is his signature work, following families connected to the Salisbury region across thousands of years and turning local history into a richly layered narrative.
It is an especially good pick if what you want is total historical immersion and a strong sense of how individual stories fit inside larger historical patterns.
Sharon Kay Penman is admired for deeply researched medieval fiction that never loses sight of character psychology. Her novels are politically intelligent, emotionally nuanced, and patient in the best sense, allowing historical figures to emerge as complicated human beings shaped by family, loyalty, and ambition.
That makes her a strong recommendation for Simon Van Der Velde readers who want more depth behind famous names and familiar events. In The Sunne in Splendour, Penman reexamines Richard III through a sympathetic and richly detailed lens, turning a controversial king into a fully realized character rather than a historical caricature.
Her work is ideal for readers who value historical nuance as much as plot.
Elizabeth Chadwick is known for elegant, well-researched historical fiction with a particular gift for medieval settings. She often focuses on figures who are important but not always widely known, and she brings them to life with warmth, dramatic tension, and a clear understanding of the social realities of their time.
That focus on rediscovering people from the past gives her work a natural overlap with Simon Van Der Velde’s appeal. The Greatest Knight is one of her most acclaimed novels, chronicling the life of William Marshal, a man whose rise from obscurity to political prominence makes for a vivid and compelling story.
If you enjoy historical fiction that feels both researched and emotionally accessible, Chadwick is an excellent pick.
Anya Seton remains a classic name in historical fiction because of her ability to combine romance, atmosphere, and serious historical reconstruction. Her novels are immersive and character-centered, with a strong sense of emotional stakes and period texture.
Readers drawn to Simon Van Der Velde’s imaginative treatment of lives shaped by public visibility may enjoy Seton’s gift for making historical people feel immediate and vulnerable. Her best-known novel, Katherine, tells the story of Katherine Swynford and her relationship with John of Gaunt, blending court life, love, and political consequence into a timeless historical narrative.
It is a wonderful recommendation for anyone who likes history with a strong emotional core.
Ben Kane writes action-heavy historical fiction that emphasizes warfare, loyalty, endurance, and survival. His books are brisk, vivid, and highly readable, often placing ordinary or overlooked characters inside moments of huge historical upheaval.
That combination of accessibility and historical atmosphere should appeal to Simon Van Der Velde fans looking for something more martial and adventure-driven. The Forgotten Legion is a strong starting point, following an interwoven cast across the dangerous world of ancient Rome and beyond, with plenty of battlefield tension and political intrigue.
Harry Sidebottom brings scholarly knowledge and a novelist’s pacing to the Roman world. His fiction is gritty, intelligent, and atmospheric, often dealing with military crisis, imperial instability, and the brutal realities of life at the edge of empire.
For readers who enjoy Simon Van Der Velde’s knack for grounding story in a believable historical setting, Sidebottom offers a more hard-edged but equally immersive experience. Fire in the East, the first Warrior of Rome novel, plunges readers into a desperate imperial frontier where strategy, violence, and political tension all matter.
Robert Harris is a superb recommendation for readers who like historical fiction with a thriller engine. His books are tightly structured, sharply written, and built around suspense, often taking a well-known historical situation and asking how it would feel to live through it moment by moment.
That method aligns well with the appeal of Simon Van Der Velde’s fiction: familiar names or events become immediate, human, and dramatically urgent. In Pompeii, Harris turns the days before Vesuvius erupts into an engrossing race against time, blending technical detail, historical atmosphere, and escalating tension.
Kate Quinn is especially good at creating page-turning historical fiction anchored by memorable female protagonists. Her novels combine espionage, trauma, resilience, and richly researched settings, often revealing hidden roles played by women during major historical events.
If you like Simon Van Der Velde for his ability to uncover the story behind the public story, Quinn offers a similarly compelling approach in a wartime register. The Alice Network blends World War I espionage with post-World War II mystery, resulting in a novel that is emotionally powerful, suspenseful, and highly readable.
Giles Kristian writes intensely atmospheric historical fiction full of danger, movement, and physical immediacy. His prose is often more lyrical than that of many action-oriented historical novelists, which gives his battle scenes and survival narratives extra force.
Readers who enjoy Simon Van Der Velde’s immersive storytelling may appreciate Kristian’s ability to drop them into the mud, steel, and uncertainty of the past. Blood Eye, set in the Viking world, is a gripping introduction to his work, filled with exile, loyalty, violence, and the search for belonging.
It is an especially good recommendation for anyone who wants historical fiction that feels raw, cinematic, and emotionally charged.
