Mika Waltari

Mika Waltari was a Finnish novelist, playwright and poet best known for historical fiction set across the ancient world. Born in Helsinki in 1908, he studied theology and philosophy before becoming one of Finland’s most prolific twentieth-century writers. His work ranged from crime fiction and social novels to plays, essays and historical epics, but he achieved international recognition through books that combined political upheaval, religious conflict and personal ambition.

His most famous novel, The Egyptian, follows the life of a physician during the reign of Akhenaten and presents the ancient Mediterranean as a world of war, trade, faith and imperial power. Waltari also wrote historical novels set in the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman worlds, including The Roman, The Dark Angel and The Wanderer. His fiction is noted for its broad historical scope, philosophical themes and sceptical examination of power, belief and human nature.

Periods and events

Ancient Rome Imperial Rome Roman Judaea and Second Temple Society Ministry and Crucifixion of Jesus Ancient Egypt New Kingdom Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ottoman Empire Classical Greece Greco-Persian Wars Ancient World Renaissance & Early Modern Europe Italian Wars Late Medieval

Series

Series by Mika Waltari (1 series)

Mikael in Order

by Mika Waltari 2 books 4.3

The Mikael duology follows the Finnish scholar and adventurer Mikael Karvajalka through the upheavals of sixteenth-century Europe and the Ottoman world. The first novel places him amid the Reformation, peasant revolt, dynastic conflict and the Sack of Rome; the second follows his conversion to Islam and rise as…