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Historical Fiction

The best way to learn history is not always in a textbook. (That's probably the worst way, really, but more on that elsewhere.) While learning history through novels can be taken too far (it is fiction after all), there's much to be said for getting a feel for the Civil War through books like The Red Badge of Courage or Across Five Aprils, or learning about the deep rifts between Saxons and Normans in Medieval England through Scott's Ivanhoe.

A well-researched historical novel imparts something no list of names and dates can—a picture of life among a particular people at a particular time, the way they thought, the way they ate, who they admired, how they traveled. Sometimes readers are introduced to real historical figures and events from an intimate perspective, not the stale cardboard presentations common in schools.

There's plenty of nonsense available, of course, and just because the cover says a book takes place in Renaissance Italy or ancient Egypt doesn't mean it's a good book, or even that it's historical fiction in the true sense. A writer who simply transposes stories on different time periods isn't really saying anything about that time period, they're just trying to inflate sales with an appeal to the exotic and unfamiliar.

Such bogus historical fiction is really just fantasy. The good stuff is real and bright and dusty and loud, just like an old Roman city or a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers. It reflects the religious sentiments of the characters as they would have been, such as in Lilli Thal's brilliant Medieval epic Mimus. It shows how one small action can lead to many much larger events, as happens frequently in C.S. Forester's Hornblower series.

Whether you're into the technical descriptions of battles found in Henty's boy-versus-the-world stories, or prefer the romance of The Scarlet Pimpernel, or like to break your heart over and over with books like Amos Fortune, Free Man, historical fiction is above all fiction of the present—not to be kept in the annals of the past, it shows us that the people of long ago (or not so long ago) are not so different than the people of today.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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43 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Ancient Rome, 6th grade (Ages 11-12)
Beric the Briton
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Beric the Briton
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Beric the Briton
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Beric the Briton - MP3 CD
by Jim Hodges
from Jim Hodges Productions
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Henty Audio Books (Location: CD-Henty)
$14.00
Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1962 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Burning of Rome
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Caesar's Gallic War
by Olivia Coolidge
from American Home-School Publishing
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Caesar's Gallic War
by Olivia Coolidge
from Linnet Books
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Caesar's Gallic War
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Detectives in Togas
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Humorous Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
For the Temple - MP3 CD
by Jim Hodges
from Jim Hodges Productions
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Henty Audio Books (Location: CD-Henty)
$14.00
Frontier Wolf
by Rosemary Sutcliff
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
He Went with Hannibal
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
Hostage Lands
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Lantern Bearers
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1959 Carnegie Medal
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Lantern Bearers
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1959 Carnegie Medal
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Lantern Bearers
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1959 Carnegie Medal
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Masada
by Gloria D. Miklowitz
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Mystery of the Roman Ransom
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Outcast
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Richard Kennedy
from Sunburst Book
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Outcast
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Richard Kennedy
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Quintus
by R. Weerstand
2nd edition from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Roman Britain Trilogy
by Rosemary Sutcliff
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Roman Britain Trilogy
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Silver Branch
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.99
Silver Branch
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Titus: Comrade of the Cross
Adventures in History Series
by Florence M. Kingsley
from A Beka Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
Triumph for Flavius
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Triumph for Flavius
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from Hillside Education
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Twice Freed
by Patricia St. John
from Christian Focus Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Twice Freed
by Patricia St. John
1977 edition from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
We Were There With Caesar's Legions
We Were There #27
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Fabian Zaccone
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Young Carthaginian
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Young Carthaginian
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Young Carthaginian
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$20.00
Young Carthaginian
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
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