As an amateur historian and lecturer thereon, I am often asked by my juniors, “What was it like to live in America in the 1960s?” and I reply, “There are no books, fiction or nonfiction, that answer that question as well as two historical novels, James Carroll’s Prince of Peace and George R. R. Martin’s The Armageddon Rag .”

I was surprised—and rather disappointed—that neither was mentioned among the favorite historical novels, while many works of inferior historical value and literary quality received fulsome praise.