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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: 11th grade (Ages 16-17), Trade Paperback, Used 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)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blue at the Mizzen
Aubrey/Maturin #20
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Commodore
Aubrey/Maturin #17
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (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)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Defender of the Faith
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 2
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$13.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Far Side of the World
Aubrey/Maturin #10
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Far Side of the World
Aubrey/Maturin #10
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Flying Colours
Hornblower Series #8
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (2 in stock)
For God and the King
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 3
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$15.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Glimpses of Truth
Book of Books #1
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Ocean
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Hitch
by Jeanette Ingold
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
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)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$17.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Hundred Days
Aubrey/Maturin #19
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
I Serve
by Rosanne E. Lortz
from Anno Domini
Historical Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
I Will Maintain
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 1
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$15.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Ionian Mission
Aubrey/Maturin #8
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Kitchen Boy
by Robert Alexander
Reprint from Penguin Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Letter of Marque
Aubrey/Maturin #12
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower Series #2
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower
by C. S. Forester (based on the works of), C. Northcote Parkinson
from Sutton Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lord Hornblower
Hornblower Series #10
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Lysbeth
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
from McBooks Press
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Morbid Taste for Bones
Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters
from Mysterious Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Parcel of Patterns
by Jill Paton Walsh
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Pearl Maiden
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Pontius Pilate
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Pontius Pilate
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Reverse of the Medal
Aubrey/Maturin #11
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Rifleman Dodd
by C. S. Forester
from Marine Corps University
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Shepherd of the Hills
by Harold Bell Wright
from Bethany House
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Sherwood Ring
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
from Sandpiper Books
for 10th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
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)
$16.99 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Story of Liberty
by Charles Coffin
from Maranatha Publications
Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$19.97 $10.00 (3 in stock)
Treason's Harbour
Aubrey/Maturin #9
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Way of the Gladiator
by Dan Mannix
from ibooks
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wine-Dark Sea
Aubrey/Maturin #16
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
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