What is your opinion of "imagined" or "reconstructed/novelized" biographies of historical people?

Like:

• when a (good) scholar/author kind of invents the childhood and early adulthood of someone for whom we only have records from a small portion of their life, based on information about the context?
• when dialogue/scenes/thoughts are added to a historical narrative, not really a "historical fiction" scenario but certainly somewhat fictionalized (and again: by a responsible, good scholar or author)
• Parallel options that are not coming to me right now

Wolf Hall is obviously one of the more extreme examples here, but something like John Thornton's The Kongolese Saint Anthony would be a slightly less novelized one and perhaps more what I am thinking of. I wouldn't go as far as the last chapters of Devil in the White City (as much fun as they are to read, my understanding is that they are pretty heavily speculative? correct me if I'm wrong).

Has anyone read Jonathon Sumption's hundred years war volumes? Are they good? Are there any books on the hubdred years war that are better than his?

I’m interested in reading about energy in past societies, or some sort of civilizational metabolism I guess. I’m interested in climate change and renewable energy transitions today, and I recently read Andreas Malm’s Fossil Capital. I enjoyed it, and I’d like to dig more into some of the historical background touched on. Things like examination of the energetic basis of societies and the natural limits faced.

I’m happy to read about any period/location.

Are there any modern-ish historical fictions about the French Revolution similar in quality to A Place of Greater Safety? I absolutely adore that book but it would be interesting to read about the same events from the perspective of the Girondins or the Enrage. Suggestions?

Is there a good book on the Dutch east India company (VOC)? Nothing specific, I just want to learn a little more about them. Something a little more in depth than their Wikipedia article.

Can anyone recommend in-depth military histories of the Chinese wars from 1927-1949? Obviously a detailed history of the civil war, united front period, and resumption of the civil war would be a lot for one book, so books with a tighter focus would be welcome.

I'm sure the PRC has books on the subject but I haven't found any that are translated into English. I'm very interested in the encirclement campaigns and post-WWII civil war.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some solid secondary sources (articles or books) on the Wendigo?

Alternatively, are there any other works about the Jersey Devil aside from that one that came out last year?