Skip to content
Cover of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Book · Thrillers and mysteries

The Historian

by Elizabeth Kostova

Page count, estimated reading time and reading quiz: everything to know before you start The Historian, and the Vread challenge to get to the end.

Pages
885
Reading time
≈ 16 h
Checkpoints
25
Genre
Thriller
Take the challengeAlready have the app? Open the book

Free on iPhone and Android.

How long does it take to read The Historian?

At 885 pages, The Historian is a doorstopper. Expect about 16 hours of reading to finish it, based on 250 words per page and an average reading speed of 230 words per minute. A fast reader will go quicker; a careful read (or reading in a second language) will take longer.

At 30 minutes a day, that is about 33 days of reading. At the median pace of Vread readers, 72 pages per reading day, it takes 13 reading days. For a book of this length (600 pages or more), Vread readers who finish it take a median of 6.4 days between the first and the last checkpoint (Vread Reading Barometer 2026).

Reading days to finish it
30 minutes a day33 days
Vread median pace (72 pp./day)13 days

Estimates; see the method at the bottom of the page.

Prove you read it

The Vread challenge: 25 checkpoints

  1. Checkpoint 1, page 35
  2. Checkpoint 2, page 71
  3. Checkpoint 3, page 106
  4. Checkpoint 4, page 142
  5. Checkpoint 5, page 177
  6. Checkpoint 6, page 212
  7. Checkpoint 7, page 248
  8. Checkpoint 8, page 283
  9. Checkpoint 9, page 319
  10. Checkpoint 10, page 354
  11. Checkpoint 11, page 389
  12. Checkpoint 12, page 425
  13. Checkpoint 13, page 460
  14. Checkpoint 14, page 496
  15. Checkpoint 15, page 531
  16. Checkpoint 16, page 566
  17. Checkpoint 17, page 602
  18. Checkpoint 18, page 637
  19. Checkpoint 19, page 673
  20. Checkpoint 20, page 708
  21. Checkpoint 21, page 743
  22. Checkpoint 22, page 779
  23. Checkpoint 23, page 814
  24. Checkpoint 24, page 850
  25. Checkpoint 25, page 885

In Vread, The Historian is split into 25 checkpoints, one every 35 pages or so. At each checkpoint, a question covers the passage you have just read: a correct answer validates the step, and your progress moves forward like a training plan.

The challenge: validate all 25 checkpoints through to the last page. No giant quiz at the end, no summary to copy out: short questions along the way that prove the book was actually read. It also works as a reading quiz to check your understanding before a test.

Also available in French on Vread.

Illustrative example

Checkpoint 1/25pp. 1–35

What a checkpoint looks like

A short, precise question about the pages you have just read: a character, a place, a choice.

The answer is in the text: reply in the app.

This is not a question from The Historian: to avoid spoilers, the real questions stay in the app.

Answer in the app, one checkpoint at a time.

Summary, quiz, reviews: frequently asked questions

How many pages is The Historian?
The edition listed on Vread has 885 pages. The exact count varies by edition (paperback, hardback, ebook).
How long does it take to read The Historian?
About 16 hours of reading, or 33 days at 30 minutes a day.
Is there a quiz on The Historian?
Yes: the Vread app has 25 reading questions on The Historian, one per checkpoint, unlocked as you read.
Where can I find a summary of The Historian?
Vread does not publish summaries: the app supports reading the book itself, part by part. Checkpoint questions cover what you have just read, which makes them a good way to check you did not miss anything.

Read The Historian with Vread

Add the book to your library, read at your own pace in whatever format you use, and validate each checkpoint. Vread is free on iPhone and Android.

Take the challenge

Written by Vread from its catalogue data (page count of the listed edition, checkpoints, ratings aggregated from 10 ratings). No summary or publisher text is reproduced. Reading times are estimates; see the method in the Vread Reading Barometer (in French).