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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44 Items found Print
Active Filters: 19th Century America, 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
290
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-9th grade
Hans Christian Andersen Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Beckoning Hills
Land of the Free Series
by Joseph H. Gage, illustrated by Floyd Torbert
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Climb a Lofty Ladder
by Marion & Walter Havighurst, illustrated by Jill Elgin
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hill of the Hawk
by Scott O'Dell
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Heart of the Rockies
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oak's Long Shadow
by Olive W. Burt, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Red Badge of Courage
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Stephen Crane
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Red Badge of Courage
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Stephen Crane, illustrated by Jose Miralles
from Portland House
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
from Golden Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Red Badge of Courage
Macmillan Classics
by Stephen Crane, illustrated by Herschel Levit
from Macmillan
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
from Golden Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Red Badge of Courage
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Stephen Crane
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Redskin and Cowboy
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$20.00
Seek the Dark Gold
Land of the Free series
by Jo Evalin Lundy, illustrated by Edward Shenton
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox, illustrated by Eros Keith
from Bradbury Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Streams to the River, River to the Sea
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Swords of Steel
by Elsie Singmaster, illustrated by David Hendrickson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
The Trees
Awakening Land #1
by Conrad Richter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Watergate
Land of the Free Series
by Herbert Best, illustrated by Erick Berry
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg
We Were There #2
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Battle of the Alamo
We Were There #18
by Margaret Cousins, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike
We Were There #31
by David Shepherd, illustrated by William K. Plummer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run
We Were There #12
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Chris A. Kenyon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Opening of the Erie Canal
We Were There #19
by Enid Lamonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Gerald McCann
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There in the Klondike Gold Rush
We Were There #6
by Benamin Appel, illustrated by Irv Docktor
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There on the Chisholm Trail
We Were There #14
by Ross McLaury Taylor, illustrated by Charles Banks Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There on the Oregon Trail
We Were There #1
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There on the Santa Fe Trail
We Were There #29
by Ross McLaury Taylor, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There When Grant Met Lee at Appamattox
We Were There #23
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with Jean Lafitte at New Orleans
We Were There #11
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Robert Glaubke
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There With Lewis and Clark
We Were There #22
by James Munves, illustrated by Robert Glaubke
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There With Lincoln in the White House
We Were There #36
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Charles Geer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with the California Forty-Niners
We Were There #9
by Stephen Holt, illustrated by Raymond Lufkin
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with the California Rancheros
We Were There #26
by Stephen Holt, illustrated by William Reusswig
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with the Pony Express
We Were There #8
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Frank Vaughn
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)