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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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Active Filters: Ancient History, 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
Alexander of Macedon
International Collectors Library
by Harold Lamb
from International Collectors Library
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Amethyst Ring
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Boy of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
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
Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Casting the Gods Adrift
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Cat of Bubastes
by G. A. Henty
from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Cry From Egypt
by Hope Auer
from Great Waters Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
1st edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-8th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Detectives in Togas
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Humorous Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Frontier Wolf
by Rosemary Sutcliff
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
God King
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Joanne Williamson
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $9.50 (4 in stock)
Golden Bull
by Marjorie Cowley
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.95
Golden Goblet
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1962 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Herodotus and the Road to History
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Hittite Warrior
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Joanne Williamson
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
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)
Lion in the Gateway
by Mary Renault
from Hillside Education
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Lion in the Gateway
by Mary Renault
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Lost Queen of Egypt
by Lucile Morrison, illustrated by Franz Geritz
from Purple House Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$28.00
Maid of Artemis
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Bea Holmes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Marathon Looks on the Sea
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Erwin Schachner
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Marathon Looks on the Sea
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Erwin Schachner
from Hillside Education
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Masada
by Gloria D. Miklowitz
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Men of Athens
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Milton Johnson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
1963 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Men of Athens
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Milton Johnson
from Hillside Education
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
1963 Newbery Honor Book
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
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 (1 in stock)
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)
Roman Diary
by Richard Platt
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
Roman Diary
by Richard Platt
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$7.99
Shadow Hawk
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Andre Norton
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.95
Theras and His Town
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
Action/Adventure for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Theras and His Town
by Caroline Dale Snedeker, illustrated by Dimitris Davis
100th Anniversary Edition from Purple House Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
Three Greek Children
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.95
Tirzah
by Lucille Travis
from Herald Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99 $7.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Victory on the Walls
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Frieda Clark Hyman
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95
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)
We Were There with Cortes and Montezuma
We Were There #25
by Benjamen Appel, illustrated by Reynold Pollack
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Well of Sacrifice
by Chris Eboch
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Winged Girl of Knossos
by Erick Berry
First Paul Dry Books from Paul Dry Books
for 4th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Young Inca Prince
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by William Moyers
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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