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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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39 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 19th Century World History, In-Stock Books & Materials
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.71
Beat to Quarters
Hornblower Series #6
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
1st edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59
By Far Euphrates
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$12.71
Cecily's Portrait
Historical House: 1895
by Adele Geras
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Commodore Hornblower
Hornblower Series #9
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$15.26
Dorothy's Double
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Flying Colours
Hornblower Series #8
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.44 $8.00 (2 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
Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower Series #5
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.44
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower Series #3
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Hornblower During the Crisis
Hornblower Series #4
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.29
Les Miserables
Signet Classics
by Victor Hugo
from Signet Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$10.19
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)
$17.00
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Christine Donagher
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.95
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower Series #2
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
Lord Hornblower
Hornblower Series #10
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $7.20 (2 in stock)
Lord Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Out on the Pampas
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Queen Victoria
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Ride With Me
by Thomas B. Costain
1944 Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rifleman Dodd
by C. S. Forester
from Marine Corps University
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Russian Snows
by Scott Armstrong
from RedBarn Publications
for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Search for a Secret
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Search for a Secret
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Ship of the Line
Hornblower Series #7
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
Sovereign Reader
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
To Herat and Cabul
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Under a Changing Moon
Young Adult Historical Bookshelf
by Margot Benary-Isbert
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.71
Under Wellington's Command
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
With Moore at Corunna
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Woman of the Commune
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$19.51
Words on Fire
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
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