AS I am from England you will have to excuse my ignorance about the amount of detail 'European History' goes into, how long the course lasts and so on, or what age your son is . . .and what does AP mean?
This is a huge topic to cover. Just studying the history from that great length of time let along novels about the characters/events could take forever.

The trouble with much historical fiction is that it is rather more fiction than history or full of the romantic stuff he will not enjoy.

If he is interested in the time of the Napoleonic Wars and because it is for a boy, I would recommend the books by Patrick O'Brian.
The first in the series is Master and Commander . . . he may have seen the movie. They are greatly enjoyed by all the 'guys' I know and are historically very accurate.

Below is a wide range of books covering all periods of history for young people, some of which might be suitable for your son.

Here is a link that might be useful: History Books for Young People

How much of a reader is he? Neal Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy is outstanding but weighs in at 2700 pages total - each volume is 900. It is a romance in the classic definition of grant adventure and focuses on the history of England and France, but takes place worldwide. The first is Quicksilver and we see much of Isaac Newton, the Restoration, and Monmouth's Rebellion. We see the Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman's from the viewpoint of a vagabond and a slave girl being saved for the victory celebration. (I'd never realized how far the Ottoman Empire got before this.) Volume 2, The Confusion spends time in the court of the Sun King and in the tumultuous beginnings of modern banking (and power of Amsterdam.) The System of the World the final volume, captures the time in which the future began to be directed by science and free markets rather than alchemy and superstition. The first two volumes have the advantage of being somewhat racy. If your son is even a little bit nerdy he should love Stephenson.

Sharon Kay Penman wrote several very well-written British history fictions. Sunne in Splendor is the story of Richard III. When Christ and His Saints Slept tells the story of the civil war fought starting in 1135. She is a well-respected researcher, and when she strays, she tells you in her author's notes.
David Liss wrote what I thought was a very interesting book about Amsterdam in 1659, at the time that coffee was first introduced to Europe-The Coffee Trader. He also wrote two books about 18th century London-A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption.
Josephine Tey has a famous book about Richard III as well-Daughter of Time. He may enjoy this one, as it is told from a different, modern angle.

AP courses are Advanced Placement courses, taken in high school but of university caliber. Students may take an exam at the end of the course, and if they achieve a certain score, their intended university will give them credit for the course.
Most AP courses are offered in the 11th and 12th grades-the last two years of high school, although some can be taken in 10th grade, depeneding on numbers and the high school's policies.
Students in AP classes are usually some of the best students in the school. My guess is he could read anything we throw at him-but will enjoy some more than others.

cece Thanks for explaining AP. Over here school kids take endless exams at 15-16 years and again at a higher level (A levels) 17-18 years. Our whole university/college entrance systems is geared to the results.

Edward Rutherfurd's London springs to mind although that is not fully set in that time period.

You know, I read a book years ago that so impressed me that I went out and found a hardcover copy to keep on my shelf. It is historical fiction on the life of Thomas Becket and simply entitled Thomas. The author is Shelley Mydans. I do not know if it is still in print.

A great and fascinating book is The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. It is a very well researched yet fictional account of the life of Michaelangelo. Vastly readable and extremely interesting. It's one of my favorites.

I think any of these books would be fine for AP level reading.

PAM

ccrdmrbks, THANKS for the AP explanation! I'm reading 'A Conspiracy of Paper' right now, how funny, a little at a time, its my 'car book'. Yes you are right, he is capable of reading anything thrown at him, but he is getting a bit lazy and I'm looking for 'accessible'. He prefers current events and I want him to return to literature. The Baroque Trilogy sounds great but might be too weighty (although my 14 year old boy, a voracious reader, might take it on).

All other suggestions here are going into Amazon and my library search engines.

Off to my library! I'll be back with reports! Can't find Mydans :-(

I second Thomas and The Agony and the Ecstasy.
Becket, a film based on Thomas , is available on netflix, so must be also out there in other places as well...and is an excellent film. A 60's film, the potentially "randy" scenes are not so much...Richard Burton is in it.

For a more current author, I suggest Skeletons at the Feast and Those Who Save us. These latter two present daily lives of the non-combatants in a Germany that is falling apart. German and WWII history and fiction have always been favorites of mine - these presented lives and scenarios I had never read before. The every day life of German citizens. I followed it up with some non-fiction that pretty much verified the historic parts of the novels.

Pillars of the Earth
The Scarlett Pimpernal
Thomas Costain's novels, which I read 45 years ago at that teenage age, especially Below the Salt

This is my reading pile from the library.

As mentioned before, Candide and Tale of Two Cities
Master & Commander (checked out, on hold for me, yes he saw the movie)
Quicksilver (might as well try)
The Coffee Trader
Agony and Ecstacy
Daughter of Time

I pulled A Confederacy of Dunces for grins.

Anything else you want to shout out at me? Much thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry Veronica I missed your post...serves me right for not refreshing before I hit 'submit'.

We JUST returned a Netflix on the way to my library, so Becket is up on the queue. 'Randy' is OK. James Bond womanizing is not. We all watch Matrix and action movies. Oh! The Lion in Winter....A Man for All Seasons....grrrr....too much good stuff not enough time. I'm going to hold off on Skeletons because it is modern and he is still doing Robespierre, I think. Below the Salt is at my library so I'm adding that, might be good for the 14 YO who is doing US Constitutional history right now.

Note to self - Pillars of the Earth on hold for other library patrons.

Scarlett Pimpernel....ack....1279 pages....will keep in mind.

I probably sound rather picky here but jessy is looking for titles from c.1400 onwards which makes Becket over 200 hundred years too early, same would go for 'Pillars of the Earth' and anything 'medieval' by Costain.
I wonder why the school chose 1400 as the starting point? Perhaps because it was a nice round figure.
In England we begin to study 'Modern History' from 1485, the date Henry V11, the first Tudor king, came to the throne.
'European History' (we in the UK are not good at thinking ourselves as 'Europeans'), began in 1500 . . . but I can't remember why. ;-)

Veer, and anyone else, here is the adobe link to the course material, including a sample test. All 45 pages, happy reading, grin. Page 4 states the material starts in the year 1450, which I will venture to guess he started in September. Hope this helps, and thanks again.

my two cents

Decisive Moments in History: Twelve Historical Miniatures
by Stefan Zweig

grelobe

Here is a link that might be useful: Cover's book

The Daughter of Time is one of my favorite books. Haven't reread it in a long time, though.

I'm puzzled about the reference to "The Scarlet Pimpernel" being such a long book. Is this an anthology of the books by Baroness Orczy? These books are about an adventurer in the time of the French Revolution and are quite exciting but not really study reading. How about "Desiree" by Anne Marie Selenko? This gives a broad picture of the Napoleonic era and is based on a true person.

grelobe, looks like a good book. My library doesn't have it :-( I'll check outside my area.

annpann, you're right, it was an anthology. There are other versions that are the single book, less daunting!

The Sharpe series is made for your son. The series' hero is a common British soldier, during the Napoleonic wars. Fun to read, good stories, and the military history is very accurate, or so they tell me.

Also, the Flashman series are very fun, but a little racy, as old Flashie is one for the ladies.

I really admire Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, an attempt to realistically recreate life in London during the reemergence of the Black Plague in London in 1664-65. I find Defoe's writing style to be accessible.