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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: 18th Century World History
At Aboukir and Acre
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th Grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
At Aboukir and Acre
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th Grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$20.00
Bonnie Prince Charlie
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Botany Bay
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bounty Trilogy
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$53.52
Cornet of Horse
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Cornet of Horse
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Cornet of Horse
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Dark Venture
by Audrey White Beyer, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Daughter of the Seine
by Jeanette Eaton
from Harper & Brothers
for 9th-Adult
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Doctor Dogbody's Leg
by James Norman Hall, illustrated by Warren Chappell
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
From Glencoe to Stirling
Tales of a Scottish Grandfather Volume 3
by Sir Walter Scott
from Cumberland House
Historical Non-Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
from Puffin Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Horatio Hornblower Saga - Complete Collection
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$163.89
In Search of Honor
by Donna Hess
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
In the Reign of Terror
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Reign of Terror
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
In the Reign of Terror
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Kidnapped Prince
by Olaudah Equiano
from Yearling
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Lacemaker and the Princess
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Les Miserables
Signet Classics
by Victor Hugo, translated by Lee Fahnestock & Norman MacAfee
from Signet Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.99
Les Miserables
Modern Library
by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose
from Modern Library
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$20.00
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles Wilbour
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$42.00
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Isabel F Hapgood
from Fall River Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Les Miserables
Penguin Classics
by Victor Hugo, translated by Norman Denny
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Lascelles Wraxall and illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Heritage Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Christine Donagher
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$27.00
Les Miserables (abridged)
by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E. Wilbour
from Book League of America
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost King
by Rafael Sabatini
from P. F. Collier & Son Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Marie's Home
by Caroline Austin
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Hornblower Series #1
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
No Surrender!
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
No Surrender!
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
No Surrender!
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Scaramouche
Signet Classics
by Rafael Sabatini
from Signet Classics
Historical Romance for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Scarlet Pimpernel
Puffin Classics
by Baroness Orczy
from Puffin Books
Action/Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.99
Scarlet Pimpernel
Signet Classics
by Baroness Orczy
from Signet Classics
Action/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy
from Bantam Books
Action/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy
from SeaWolf Press
Action/Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.95
Scottish Seas
by Doug Jones
from Canon Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
from Ignatius Press
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Tale of Two Cities (abridged)
Puffin Classics
by Charles Dickens
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 8th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Tiger of Mysore
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Tiger of Mysore
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Tiger of Mysore
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
With Clive in India
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
With Clive in India
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
With Clive in India
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
With Frederick the Great
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th Grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
With Frederick the Great
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th Grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$20.00
With Frederick the Great
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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