Historical fiction is fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time(s) presented in the story, with due attention paid to period detail and fidelity.^[1] Historical fiction is found in books An early example of historical fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history. In England, Daniel Defoe was one of the first successful writers in this genre. Defoe works such as Robinson Crusoe (1719) used historical settings, magazines,^[2] art Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions, and/or intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a, television Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin, movies A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a story conveyed with moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry, theater Theatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion. By this broad definition, theatre had existed since the dawn of man, as a, and other media.

Definition

Historical fiction presents readers with a story that takes place during a notable period in history, and usually during a significant event in that period. Historical fiction often presents actual events from the point of view of people living in that time period.

In some historical fiction, famous events appear from points of view not recorded in history, showing historical figures dealing with actual events while depicting them in a way that has not been previously recorded. Other times, a historical event is used to complement a story's narrative, occurring in the background while characters deal with situations (personal or otherwise) wholly unrelated to that historical event. Sometimes, the names of people and places have been in some way altered.

As this is fiction, artistic license Artistic license is a colloquial term, sometime euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of art. An example of artistic license is if a visual artist decided it was more artistically desirable to portray St. Paul's is permitted in regard to presentation and subject matter, so long as it does not deviate in significant ways from established history. If events should deviate significantly, the story may then fall under the genre of alternate history Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate history works may use tropes from any or all of, which is known for speculating on what could have happened if a significant historical event had occurred differently. On a similar note, events occurring in historical fiction must adhere to the laws of physics. Stories that extend into the magical or fantastic are considered historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy, related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It generally takes place prior to the 20th century.

Literature

Historical literature includes the works of authors that epitomize a specific period in history. Historical literature has been written since at least the 11th century BC.

• Egyptian Story of Wenamun The Story of Wenamun is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. It is only known from one incomplete copy discovered in 1890 at al-Hibah, Egypt, and subsequently purchased in 1891 in Cairo by the Russian Egyptologist Vladimir Goleniščev (Caminos 1977:1). The papyrus is now in the collection of the Pushkin Museum of (11th century BC)
• Augustan History The Augustan History is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284. It presents itself as an assemblage of works by six different authors (collectively known as the Scriptores Historiae Augustae), written in the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I, but (4th century AD)
• The Waverley Novels, by Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet, popular throughout Europe during his time. Scott has been said to be particularly associated with Toryism[citation needed], though several passages in Tales of a Grandfather display a liberal, progressive and Unionist outlook on Scotland's history (over 40 distinct books)
• Pharaoh Pharaoh is the fourth and last major novel by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus (1847–1912). Composed over a year's time in 1894–95, it was the sole historical novel by an author who had earlier disapproved of historical novels on the ground that they inevitably distort history, by Bolesław Prus Bolesław Prus , whose actual name was Aleksander Głowacki, was the foremost figure in Polish literature of the late 19th century, and a distinctive voice in world literature. He adopted the pen name "Prus" from his family coat-of-arms
• Mr. Tucket, by Gary Paulsen Gary Paulsen is an American writer, who writes many young adult coming of age stories about the wilderness. He is the author of more than 200 books (many of which are out of print), 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for young adults and teens
• I, Claudius I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. The 'autobiography' of Claudius continues (from Claudius's, by Robert Graves Robert Ranke Graves was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works. Graves' poems, together with his translations and innovative interpretations of the Greek Myths, his memoir of his early life, including his role in the First World War, Good-bye to All That, and his historical study of poetic
• The Good Earth The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons and A House Divided (1935), by Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu (Chinese: 賽
• Ars Magica, by Nerea Riesco
• The best Earth, by Elizabeth Tucker
• Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC, O.Ont, FRSC is a Canadian author, poet, critic, essayist, feminist and social campaigner. While she may be best known for her work as a novelist, she is also an award winning poet, having published 15 books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of: Penelopiad
• Jean M. Auel Jean Marie Auel , born Jean Marie Untinen (born February 18, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois), is an American writer. She is best known for her Earth's Children books, a series of historical fiction novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her books have sold 34 million copies worldwide in many: The Earth's Children Earth's Children is a series of speculative alternative historical fiction novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 25,000 before present. There are five novels in the series so far and a sixth is in progress[when?]. Auel has mentioned in recent interviews that she now believes she will write a seventh novel, which will be the last in the series - Series set in pre-historic Europe
• Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes is a contemporary English writer. He has been shortlisted three times for the Man Booker Prize (Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur & George (2005)). He has written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh: Arthur & George
• Caleb Carr: The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness
• Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I. Cather grew up in Nebraska and graduated from: Death Comes for the Archbishop Death Comes for the Archbishop is a 1927 novel by Willa Cather. It concerns the attempts of a Catholic bishop and a priest to establish a diocese in New Mexico Territory, Shadows on the Rock Shadows on the Rock is a novel by the American writer Willa Cather. The novel is set in 17th century Quebec describing the quiet, isolated life of Cecile Auclair and her father, the town apothecary, My Antonia
• James Clavell James Clavell, born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell was a British (later naturalized American) novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love: The Asian Saga
• Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell OBE is an English author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films: Sharpe series Richard Sharpe is the central character in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series of historical fiction stories. These formed the basis for an ITV television series wherein the eponymous character was played by Sean Bean set in 19th century Europe and India, and other works set elsewhere.
• E. L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow is an American author: Ragtime
• Maurice Druon: The Accursed Kings series
• Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas, père, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were: The Three Musketeers The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. Set in the seventeenth century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to become a guard of the musketeers. D'Artagnan is not one of the musketeers of the title; those are his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis; inseparable friends who live by the
• Dorothy Dunnett: The Lymond Chronicles, The House of Niccolo series, King Hereafter
• Umberto Eco Umberto Eco is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher, literary critic and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa, 1980), an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. He has also written academic texts, children's books and many: The Name of the Rose The Name of the Rose is a novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical whodunnit set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. First published in Italian in 1980 under the title Il nome della rosa, it appeared in 1983 in an (Il nome della rosa, 1980)
• Shusaku Endo Shūsaku Endō was a renowned 20th century Japanese author who wrote from the unusual perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic. (The population of Christians in Japan is less than 1%.) Together with Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Shotaro Yasuoka, Junzo Shono, Hiroyuki Agawa, Ayako Sono, and Shumon Miura, Endo is categorized as one of the "Third: Silence Silence is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo drawn from the oral histories of Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan communities in Japan. It is the story of a fictional Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians")
• J. G. Farrell: Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur (1973 Booker Prize The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great Winner) and The Singapore Grip
• Ken Follett Ken Follett is a British author of thrillers and historical novels. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his works. Four of his books have reached the number 1 ranking on the New York Times best-seller list: The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple and World Without End: most of his books are historical fiction, including his bestseller The Pillars of the Earth.
• C. S. Forester Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the: Horatio Hornblower series Admiral of the Fleet Horatio Hornblower, 1st Baron Hornblower, GCB, is a fictional protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester, and later the subject of films and television programs. Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying, "I recommend Forester to everyone literate I know." and Winston Churchill signalled "I find Hornblower and others
• George Macdonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was a Scottish author of both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays: The Flashman Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE is a fictional character created by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008), but based on the character "Flashman" in Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857), a semi-autobiographical work by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) Series
• Patricia Reilly Giff: Nory Ryan's Song
• Noah Gordon: The Physician The Physician is a novel by Noah Gordon. It is about the life of a Christian English boy in the 11th century who journeys across Europe in order to study medicine from the Muslims, The Shaman
• Philippa Gregory Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but eventually decided to go to university and was educated at the University of Sussex. She worked in BBC radio for two years before attending the University of Edinburgh, where she earned her doctorate in 18th-: The Other Boleyn Girl, The Constant Princess set in the Tudor era; Earthly Joys set in 17th century England, and other works.
• W.E.B. Griffin: The Corps Series - Historical fiction series taking place shortly before WWII, through to Korea.
• Cynthia Harrod-Eagles: The Morland Dynasty - Historical fiction series from the War of the Roses currently to World War I
• Angela Elwell Hunt: Legacies of the Ancient River series, The Keepers of the Ring series, The Heirs of Cahira O'Connor series, Magdalene
• Conn Iggulden: Emperor series; Conqueror series; The Dangerous Books for Boys series and Blackwater.
• Gary Jennings Gary Jennings was an American author who wrote children's and adult novels. In 1980, after the successful novel Aztec, he specialized in writing adult historical fiction novels: Aztec, The Journeyer
• Morgan Llywelyn: author of books set mostly in Ireland
• Colleen McCullough McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough.. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Maori descent. During her childhood, her family moved around a great deal, and she was also "a voracious reader". Her family eventually settled in Sydney, and she attended Holy Cross: Masters of Rome series -- novels about the last years of the Roman Republic
• Carolyn Meyer Carolyn Meyer is an author of novels for children and young adults: Young Royals series and others
• James Michener James Albert Michener (February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which are novels of sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in a particular geographic locale and incorporating historical facts into the story as well. Michener was known for the meticulous research behind: 40+ epic novels, including Tales of the South Pacific Tales of the South Pacific is a Pulitzer Prize winning collection of sequentially related short stories about World War II, written by James A. Michener in 1946 and published in 1947. The stories were based on observations and anecdotes he collected while stationed as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy on the island of Espiritu Santo in the New.
• Anchee Min Anchee Min is a painter, photographer, musician, and author who lives in San Francisco and Shanghai. Min's memoir, Red Azalea, and her subsequent novels are either semiautobiographical or reflect a particular time in Chinese history with an emphasis on strong female characters, most notably Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao, and Empress Dowager: Chinese-themed sagas Empress Orchid, The Last Emperor
• William Napier: Attila trilogy
• Mary Novik: Conceit, a novel about the family of John Donne, set in 17th century London
• Patrick O'Brian: Series of novels featuring Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin
• Arturo Pérez-Reverte: Spanish author of a number of historical novels, including the Captain Alatriste series. His books are written in Spanish, but a number have been translated into English.
• Jean Plaidy: several books, mostly about European queens and princesses
• H. F. M. Prescott: The Man on a Donkey - set during the dissolution of the monasteries
• Linda Proud: The Botticelli Trilogy - set in Renaissance Florence.
• Boleslaw Prus: Pharaoh
• Mary Renault: The Bull from the Sea and other novels set in ancient Greece
• Ann Rinaldi: 40+ young adult historical fiction novels, primarily set in the United States.
• David Rollins, authored The Zero Option, based on the shootdown of Korean Air Lines Flight 007and one of its passengers, Cong. Larry McDonald
• Edward Rutherfurd: several epic novels including Sarum, Russka, and London
• Simon Scarrow: Eagle series of Roman military fiction
• Henryk Sienkiewicz: Quo Vadis
• Anne Easter Smith: Wars of the Roses series
• Wilbur Smith: The Courtney and Ballentyne series and independent adventure novels set in Africa in between the 17th and 20th centuries and the Ancient Egypt series
• Indu Sundaresan: The Twentieth Wife and sequel The Feast of Roses, fictionalized story of the Mughal empress Noor Jehan, set in 16th and 17th century Mughal Empire, India.
• Beverly Swerling: City of Dreams, City of Glory, Shadowbrook, and City of God - novels set in early days of the Mid-Atlantic States.
• Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace
• Mark Turnbull: Decision Most Deadly, a novel set in London during 1641, as England plunged into civil war.
• Harry Turtledove: Alternate history fiction
• Mark Twain: various works of historical fiction about the American South.
• Mika Waltari: numerous works of historical fiction, best known for his magnum opus The Egyptian (Finnish: Sinuhe egyptiläinen)
• Jack Whyte: Camulod Chronicles, A Dream of Eagles, set in early fifth century Britain; also Templar Trilogy.
• Lauren Willig: Pink Carnation series about spies during the Napoleonic wars
• Sandra Worth: Rose of York trilogy, Lady of the Roses, and The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen (Elizabeth of York), all novels about England's War of the Roses.
• Marguerite Yourcenar: Memoirs of Hadrian
• Julian Stockwin, Thomas Kydd series set in the Age of Fighting Sail

Media and culture

Works of historical fiction are not reserved exclusively to literature. Many films have been created which attempt to use a historic event or setting as a backdrop and actors portray fictional or historic figures set in these events. Below are a few notable examples in the chronological order that the events took place.

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See Also:

• Historical Fiction: Encyclopedia
• Spy Fiction: Encyclopedia
• Metahistory: Encyclopedia
• Docufiction: Encyclopedia
• Metafiction: Encyclopedia

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