Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantelby Hilary Mantel
Shares rank 8 of 13 historical novels by recommenders
Recommended for making history stick through historical fiction, with a BBC miniseries too, though some find the dense prose a real struggle.
Recommended for making history stick through historical fiction, with a BBC miniseries too, though some find the dense prose a real struggle.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Makes history sink in
“It's amazing how much more history is 'sinking in' when told as historical fiction.”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “The Last Testaments of Richard II and Henry IV” Teaches backstory missed at school
“there's a lot of backstory and historical context that I never learned in school”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “The Tudor Kings” BBC adaptation is top notch
“BBC’s mini series adaptation is also top notch.”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “The Tudor Kings”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dense prose is hard going
“Despite a sprinkling of linguistic and philosophical gems, I really struggled”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Other historical novels people recommend
The four most recommended other historical novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aubrey-Maturin seriesby Patrick O'Brian | 18 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Three Musketeersby Alexandre Dumas | 12 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The MANIACby Benjamin Labatut | 12 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| I, Claudiusby Robert Graves | 11 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Wolf Hallby Hilary MantelThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“BBC’s mini series adaptation is also top notch.”
“there's a lot of backstory and historical context that I never learned in school”
“It's amazing how much more history is 'sinking in' when told as historical fiction.”
“Despite a sprinkling of linguistic and philosophical gems, I really struggled”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.