What Are Historical Novels?

Historical novels are those whose stores are set during historical events. More accurately, during a time that predates the life of the author. There has been much debate as how far back in time the action has to take place in order to be
considered a historical novel, with some arguing that the event must be set at lest a hundred years. However, others strongly feel that the time period only has to predate the author's lifetime.

Historical novels became popular during the early 19th century by such authors as Sir Walter Scott, who many regard as the creator of the historical novel with his novels of Scottish history Waverley and Rob Roy, and then later Ivanhoe that stirred
renewed interest in the Middle Ages.

Generally, historical fiction centers on a historical event and may or may not involve an actual historical character. The author usually does considerable research in order to present an honest representation of the historical past as understood by
the author's contemporaries, even though the settings may not stand up to the knowledge of later generations.

The historical event will set the backdrop of some historical novels, while the actual story line centers around the characters. An example of this would be Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped which is set against the Jacobite troubles between England and Scotland whereas Charles Dickens used the French Revolution as the backdrop for his A Tale of Two Cities.

The historical novel has continued to remain popular with both authors and readers to this day this is evident with such novels as: Jeff Shaara, Michael Sahara's Gods and Generals: A Novel of the Civil War; Larry McMurtry's Telegraph Days; Johanna
Lindsey's Captive of My Desires: Malory Family Series; Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl; Matthew Pearl's The Poe Shadow; Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha.
.

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