Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a
setting
Setting may refer to:
* A location (geography) where something is set
* Set construction in theatrical scenery
* Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction
* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
related to the
past events
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, it can also be applied to other types of narrative, including
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
,
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
, and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, as well as
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
and
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
s.
An essential element of historical fiction is that it is set in the past and pays attention to the manners, social conditions and other details of the depicted period.
Authors also frequently choose to explore notable historical figures in these settings, allowing readers to better understand how these individuals might have responded to their environments. The
historical romance
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Varieties Viking
These books feature Vikings during the Da ...
usually seeks to romanticize eras of the past. Some subgenres such as
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
and
historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
insert intentionally
ahistorical
Ahistoricism refers to a lack of concern for history, historical development, or tradition.
Charges of ahistoricism are frequently critical, implying that the subject is historically inaccurate or ignorant (for example, an ''ahistorical'' attitud ...
or
speculative
Speculative may refer to:
In arts and entertainment
*Speculative art (disambiguation)
*Speculative fiction, which includes elements created out of human imagination, such as the science fiction and fantasy genres
**Speculative Fiction Group, a Per ...
elements into a novel.
Works of historical fiction are sometimes criticized for lack of authenticity because of
readerly criticism or
genre expectations for accurate period details. This tension between
historical authenticity
Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...
and
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
frequently becomes a point of comment for readers and popular critics, while
scholarly criticism frequently goes beyond this commentary, investigating the genre for its other thematic and critical interests.
Historical fiction as a contemporary
Western literary genre has its foundations in the early-19th-century works of Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
and his contemporaries in other
national literatures such as the Frenchman
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
, the American
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
, and later the Russian
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
. However, the melding of "historical" and "fiction" in individual works of literature has a long tradition in most cultures; both western traditions (as early as
Ancient Greek and Latin literature) as well as Eastern, in the form of oral and folk traditions (see
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
and
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
), which produced
epics
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...
, novels, plays and other fictional works describing history for contemporary audiences.
Introduction
Definitions differ as to what constitutes a historical novel. On the one hand the
Historical Novel Society The Historical Novel Society (HNS) is a nonprofit international literary society devoted to promotion of and advocacy for the genre of historical fiction.
Definition of historical fiction
There are varying definitions as to what types of literature ...
defines the genre as works "written at least fifty years after the events described", while critic Sarah Johnson delineates such novels as "set before the middle of the last
0thcentury ... in which the author is writing from research rather than personal experience." Then again Lynda Adamson, in her preface to the bibliographic reference work ''World Historical Fiction'', states that while a "generally accepted definition" for the historical novel is a novel "about a time period at least 25 years before it was written", she also suggests that some people read novels written in the past, like those of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
(1775–1817), as if they were historical novels.
Historical fiction sometimes encouraged movements of
romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
. Walter Scott's
Waverley Waverley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott
** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel
* Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
novels created interest in
Scottish history and still illuminate it. A series of novels by
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (28 July 1812 – 19 March 1887) was a Polish writer, publisher, historian, journalist, scholar, painter, and author who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews, which makes him the ...
on the history of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
popularized the country's history after it had lost its independence in the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
.
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...
wrote several immensely popular novels set in conflicts between the Poles and predatory
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
, rebelling
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
s and invading
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
. He won the 1905
Nobel Prize in literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
. He also wrote the popular novel ''
Quo Vadis
''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?"
The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pete ...
'', which was about
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
's
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and the
early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
and has been adapted several times for film, in
1913
Events January
* January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...
,
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...
,
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
to only name the most prominent.
Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian-Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, ...
's ''
Kristin Lavransdatter
''Kristin Lavransdatter'' is a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are ''Kransen'' (''The Wreath''), first published in 1920, ''Husfrue'' (''The Wife''), published in 1921, and ''Korset'' ...
'' fulfilled a similar function for
Norwegian history
The history of Norway has been influenced to an extraordinary degree by the terrain and the climate of the region. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat inland of the great ice sheets, the earliest inhabitants migrated north into the territor ...
; Undset later won a
Nobel Prize for Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
(1928).
Many early historical novels played an important role in the rise of European popular interest in the
history of the Middle Ages.
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's ''
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...
'' often receives credit for fueling the movement to preserve the
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, leading to the establishment of the ''
Monuments historiques
''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
'', the French governmental authority for
historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
.
Rita Monaldi
Monaldi & Sorti is the pen name of the Italian married couple writer duo Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti. Rita Monaldi (born 1966) is an Italian journalist and writer. She majored in classical philology and specialized in the history of religions ...
and
Francesco Sorti
Monaldi & Sorti is the pen name of the Italian married couple writer duo Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti. Rita Monaldi (born 1966) is an Italian journalist and writer. She majored in classical philology and specialized in the history of religions ...
's historical mystery saga ''Imprimateur Secretum Veritas Mysterium'' has increased interest in European history and features famous castrato opera singer
Atto Melani
Atto Melani (30 March 1626, in Pistoia – 4 January 1714, in Paris) was a famous Italian castrato opera singer, also employed as a diplomat and a spy.
Life
Melani was born in Pistoia, the third of seven sons of a local bell-ringer. He was cas ...
as a detective and spy. Although the story itself is fiction, many of the persona and events are not. The book is based on research by Monaldi and Sorti, who researched information from 17th-century manuscripts and published works concerning the
siege of Vienna,
the plague and
papacy
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
of
Pope Innocent XI
Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689.
Poli ...
.
The genre of the historical novel has also permitted some authors, such as the
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
novelist
Bolesław Prus
Aleksander Głowacki (20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912), better known by his pen name Bolesław Prus (), was a Polish novelist, a leading figure in the history of Polish literature and philosophy, as well as a distinctive voice in world li ...
in his sole historical novel, ''
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
'', to distance themselves from their own time and place to gain
perspective on
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
and on the
human condition
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed fr ...
, or to escape the depredations of the
censor.
In some historical novels, major historic events take place mostly off-stage, while the fictional characters inhabit the world where those events occur.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''
Kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'' recounts mostly private adventures set against the backdrop of the
Jacobite troubles in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''
Barnaby Rudge
''Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'' (commonly known as ''Barnaby Rudge'') is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. ''Barnaby Rudge'' was one of two novels (the other was ''The Old Curiosity Shop'') that Dickens publ ...
'' is set amid the
Gordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...
, and ''
A Tale of Two Cities
''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the ...
'' in the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.
In some works, the accuracy of the historical elements has been questioned, as in
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
' 1845 novel ''
Queen Margot''.
Postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
novelists such as
John Barth
John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a ...
and
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
operate with even more freedom, mixing historical characters and settings with invented history and fantasy, as in the novels ''
The Sot-Weed Factor'' (1960) and ''
Mason & Dixon
''Mason & Dixon'' is a postmodernist novel by American author Thomas Pynchon, published in 1997. It presents a fictionalized account of the collaboration between Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in their astronomical and surveying exploits in th ...
'' (1997) respectively. A few writers create historical fiction without fictional characters. One example is the series ''
Masters of Rome
''Masters of Rome'' is a series of historical novels by Australian author Colleen McCullough, set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sul ...
'' by
Colleen McCullough
Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and ''The Ladies of Missalonghi''.
Life
...
.
History
History up to 18th century
Historical prose fiction has a long tradition in world literature. Three of the
Four Classics
Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish t ...
of
Chinese literature were set in the distant past:
Shi Nai'an
Shi Nai'an (, ca. 1296–1372) was a Chinese writer from the Yuan and early Ming periods. ''Shuihu zhuan'' (''Water Margin''), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, is traditionally attributed to him. There are few re ...
's 14th-century ''
Water Margin
''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''.
The story, which is s ...
'' concerns 12th-century outlaws;
Luo Guanzhong
Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attri ...
's 14th-century ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...
'' concerns 3rd-century wars which ended the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
;
Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22. or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (), was a Chines ...
's 16th-century ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
'' concerns the 7th-century Buddhist pilgrim
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
.
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
novelists were also "very fond of writing novels about people and places of the past". ''
The Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Ody ...
'' has been described as historic fiction, since it treats historic events, although its genre is generally considered
epic poetry
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
.
Pierre Vidal-Naquet
Pierre Emmanuel Vidal-Naquet (; 23 July 1930 – 29 July 2006) was a French historian who began teaching at the ''École des hautes études en sciences sociales'' (EHESS) in 1969.
Vidal-Naquet was a specialist in the study of Ancient Greece, but ...
has suggested that
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
laid the foundations for the historical novel through the myth of
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...
contained in his dialogues ''
Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to:
* ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato
*Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue
*Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Greek ...
'' and ''
Critias
Critias (; grc-gre, Κριτίας, ''Kritias''; c. 460 – 403 BC) was an ancient Athenian political figure and author. Born in Athens, Critias was the son of Callaeschrus and a first cousin of Plato's mother Perictione. He became a leading ...
''. ''
The Tale of Genji'' (written before 1021) is a fictionalized account of Japanese court life about a century prior and its author asserted that her work could present a "fuller and therefore 'truer version of history.
One of the earliest examples of the historical novel in Europe is ''
La Princesse de Clèves
''La Princesse de Clèves'' is a French novel which was published anonymously in March 1678. It was regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel and a classic work. Its author is generally held to be Madam ...
'', a French novel which was published anonymously in March 1678. It is regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the
psychological novel
In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters. The mode of narration examin ...
, and as a great classic work. Its author is generally held to be
Madame de La Fayette
Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette ( baptized 18 March 1634 – 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer; she authored ''La Princesse de Clèves'', France's first historical novel and on ...
. The action takes place between October 1558 and November 1559 at the royal court of Henry II of France. The novel recreates that era with remarkable precision. Nearly every character – except the heroine – is a historical figure. Events and intrigues unfold with great faithfulness to documentary records. In the United Kingdom, the historical novel "appears to have developed" from ''La Princesse de Clèves'', "and then via the
Gothic novel
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
". Another early example is ''
The Unfortunate Traveller
''The Unfortunate Traveller: or, the Life of Jack Wilton'' (originally published as ''The Unfortunate Traueller: or, The Life of Jacke Wilton'') is a picaresque novel by Thomas Nashe first published in 1594 but set during the reign of Henry VIII of ...
'' by
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe (baptised November 1567 – c. 1601; also Nash) was an Elizabethan playwright, poet, satirist and a significant pamphleteer. He is known for his novel ''The Unfortunate Traveller'', his pamphlets including ''Pierce Penniless,'' a ...
, published in 1594 and set during the reign of
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
.
19th century
![War and Peace book](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/War_and_Peace_book.JPG)
Historical fiction rose to prominence in Europe during the early 19th century as part of the
Romantic reaction to the
Enlightenment, especially through the influence of the Scottish writer
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
, whose works were immensely popular throughout Europe. Among his early European followers we can find
Willibald Alexis
Willibald Alexis, the pseudonym of Georg Wilhelm Heinrich Häring (29 June 179816 December 1871), was a German historical novelist, considered part of the Young Germany movement.
Life
Alexis was born in Breslau, Silesia. His father, who cam ...
,
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...
,
Bernhard Severin Ingemann
Bernhard Severin Ingemann (28 May 1789 – 24 February 1862) was a Danish novelist and poet.
Biography
Ingemann was born in Torkilstrup, on the island of Falster, Denmark. The son of a vicar, he was left fatherless in his youth. While a s ...
,
Miklós Jósika,
Mór Jókai
Móric Jókay de Ásva (, known as ''Mór Jókai''; 18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904), outside Hungary also known as Maurus Jokai or Mauritius Jókai, was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. He was an active participant ...
,
Jakob van Lennep,
Demetrius Bikelos,
Enrique Gil y Carrasco,
Carl Jonas Love Almqvist
Carl Jonas Love Ludvig Almqvist (28 November 1793 – 26 September 1866) was a Swedish author, romantic poet, romantic critic of political economy, realist, composer and social critic.
Biography
Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was born in Stockholm ...
,
Victor Rydberg,
Andreas Munch Andreas Munch (19 October 1811 – 27 June 1884) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright and newspaper editor. He was the first person to be granted a poet's pension by the Parliament of Norway.
Personal life
Munch was born in Christiania, as s ...
,
Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel '' The Betrothed'' (orig. it, I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the maste ...
,
Alfred de Vigny
Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare.
Biography
Vigny was born in Loches (a town to which he never r ...
,
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
or
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...
.
Jane Porter
Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...
's 1803 novel ''
Thaddeus of Warsaw
''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' is an 1803 novel written by Jane Porter. It comprises four volumes. The story was derived from eyewitness accounts of British soldiers and Polish refugees fleeing the failed revolts against the foreign occupation of Polan ...
'' is one of the earliest examples of the historical novel in English and went through at least 84 editions.
[Looser, Devoney. ''Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain, 1750–1850'']
pp. 157 ff.
JHU Press, 2010. . Accessed 30 September 2013. including translation into French and German,
[Laskowski, Maciej.]
Jane Porter's ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' as evidence of Polish–British relationships
". Instytucie Filologii Angielskiej (Poznan), 2012. Accessed 26 September 2013. The first true historical novel in English was in fact
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...
's ''
Castle Rackrent
''Castle Rackrent'' is a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800. Unlike many of her other novels, which were heavily "edited" by her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, before their publication, the published version is close to her origin ...
'' (1800).
In the 20th century
György Lukács
György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and ae ...
argued that Scott was the first fiction writer who saw history not just as a convenient frame in which to stage a contemporary narrative, but rather as a distinct social and cultural setting.
[Lukacs 15-29] Scott's
Scottish novels such as ''
Waverley Waverley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott
** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel
* Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
'' (1814) and ''
Rob Roy'' (1817) focused upon a middling character who sits at the intersection of various social groups in order to explore the development of society through conflict.
[Lukacs 31-38] ''
Ivanhoe
''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...
'' (1820) gained credit for renewing interest in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.
Many well-known writers from the United Kingdom published historical novels in the mid 19th century, the most notable include
Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
's ''
Vanity Fair'',
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''
A Tale of Two Cities
''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the ...
'',
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
's ''
Romola
''Romola'' (1862–63) is a historical novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot set in the fifteenth century. It is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social poi ...
'', and
Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...
's ''
Westward Ho!
Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Saunto ...
'' and ''
Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...
''. ''
The Trumpet-Major
''The Trumpet-Major'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy published in 1880, and his only historical novel, and Hardy included it with his "romances and fantasies". It concerns the heroine, Anne Garland, being pursued by three suitors: John Loveday, the ...
'' (1880) is
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
's only historical novel, and is set in
Weymouth during the
Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
,
[Taylor xx] when the town was then anxious about the possibility of invasion by Napoleon.
In the United States,
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
was a prominent author of historical novels who was influenced by Scott.
[Lukacs 69-72] His most famous novel is ''
The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' (1826), the second book of the ''
Leatherstocking Tales
The ''Leatherstocking Tales'' is a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-century era of development in the primarily former Iroquois areas in central New York. Each novel features Natty Bumppo, ...
'' pentalogy. ''The Last of the Mohicans'' is set in 1757, during the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
), when France and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
battled for control of North America. Cooper's chief rival,
John Neal, wrote ''
Rachel Dyer
''Rachel Dyer: A North American Story'' is a Gothic historical novel by American writer John Neal. Published in 1828 in Maine, it is the first bound novel about the Salem witch trials. Though it garnered little critical notice in its day, i ...
'' (1828), the first bound novel about the 17th-century
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
. ''Rachel Dyer'' also influenced future American fiction set in this period, like ''
The Scarlet Letter
''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym ...
'' (1850) by
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
which is one of the most famous 19th-century American historical novels. Set in 17th-century
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of
Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel ''The Scarlet Letter''. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in ...
, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of
repentance
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better.
In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
and dignity.
In French literature, the most prominent inheritor of Scott's style of the historical novel was
Balzac. In 1829 Balzac published ''
Les Chouans
''Les Chouans'' (, ''The Chouans'') is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in the ''Scènes de la vie militaire'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. Set in the French ...
'', a historical work in the manner of Sir Walter Scott. This was subsequently incorporated into ''
La Comédie Humaine
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
''. The bulk of La Comédie Humaine, however, takes place during the
Bourbon Restoration and the
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...
, though there are several novels which take place during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and others which take place of in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, including ''About Catherine de Medici'' and ''The Elixir of Long Life''.
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's ''
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...
'' (1831) furnishes another 19th-century example of the romantic-historical novel. Victor Hugo began writing ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' in 1829, largely to make his contemporaries more aware of the value of the
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...
, which was neglected and often destroyed to be replaced by new buildings, or defaced by replacement of parts of buildings in a newer style. The action takes place in 1482 and the title refers to the
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
in Paris, on which the story is centered.
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
also wrote several popular historical fiction novels, including ''
The Count of Monte Cristo
''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...
'' and ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
''.
George Saintsbury
George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, FBA (23 October 1845 – 28 January 1933), was an English critic, literary historian, editor, teacher, and wine connoisseur. He is regarded as a highly influential critic of the late 19th and early 20th centu ...
stated: "''Monte Cristo'' is said to have been at its first appearance, and for some time subsequently, the most popular book in Europe." This popularity has extended into modern times as well. The book was "translated into virtually all modern languages and has never been out of print in most of them. There have been at least twenty-nine motion pictures based on it ... as well as several television series, and many movies
ave
''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
worked the name 'Monte Cristo' into their titles."
Tolstoy's ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' offers an example of 19th-century historical fiction used to critique contemporary history. Tolstoy read the standard histories available in Russian and French about the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, and used the novel to challenge those historical approaches. At the start of the novel's third volume, he describes his work as blurring the line between fiction and history, in order to get closer to the truth.
[Pevear, Richard. "Introduction". War and Peace. Trans. Pevear; Volokhonsky, Larissa. New York City, New York: Vintage Books, 2008.] The novel is set 60 years before it was composed, and alongside researching the war through primary and secondary sources, he spoke with people who had lived through war during the
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
in 1812; thus, the book is also, in part,
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
fictionalized.
[
'']The Charterhouse of Parma
''The Charterhouse of Parma'' (french: La Chartreuse de Parme, links=no) is a novel by Stendhal published in 1839. Telling the story of an Italian nobleman in the Napoleonic era and later, it was admired by Honoré de Balzac, Balzac, Leo Tolstoy, ...
'' by Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal) is an epic retelling of the story of an Italian nobleman who lives through the Napoleonic period in Italian history. It includes a description of the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
by the principal character. Stendhal fought with Napoleon and participated in the French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
.
'' The Betrothed'' (1827) by Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel '' The Betrothed'' (orig. it, I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the maste ...
has been called the most famous and widely read novel of the Italian language.[Archibald Colquhoun. ''Manzoni and his Times.'' J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1954.] ''The Betrothed'' was inspired by Walter Scott's ''Ivanhoe'' but, compared to its model, shows some innovations (two members of the lower class as principal characters, the past described without romantic idealization, an explicitly Christian message), somehow forerunning the realistic novel of the following decades. Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the oppressive years under Spanish rule, it is sometimes seen as a veiled attack on Austria, which controlled the region at the time the novel was written.
The critical and popular success of ''The Betrothed'' gave rise to a crowd of imitations and, in the age of unification, almost every Italian writer tried his hand at the genre; novels now almost forgotten, like '' Marco Visconti'' by Tommaso Grossi
Tommaso Grossi (20 January 179110 December 1853) was an Italian poet and novelist.
Biography
Grossi was born in Bellano, on Lake Como, and graduated in law at University of Pavia in 1810. He then went to Milan to exercise his profession but the ...
(Manzoni's best friend) or ''Ettore Fieramosca
Ettore Fieramosca (born Ferramosca) (Capua, 1476 – Valladolid, 20 January 1515) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman during the Italian Wars. His father was Rainaldo, baron of Rocca d'Evandro, and it is thought that his mother was a noble wo ...
'' by Massimo D'Azeglio (Manzoni's son-in-law), were the best-sellers of their time. Many of these authors (like Niccolò Tommaseo
Niccolò Tommaseo (; 9 October 1802 – 1 May 1874) was a Dalmatian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a ''Dizionario della Lingua Italiana'' in eight volumes (1861–74), of a dictionary of synonyms (1830) and other works. He is ...
, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi
Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (12 August 1804 – 25 September 1873) was an Italian writer and politician involved in the Italian Risorgimento.
Biography
Guerrazzi was born in the seaport of Livorno, then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He ...
and D'Azeglio himself) were patriots and politicians too, and in their novels, the veiled politic message of Manzoni became explicit (the hero of ''Ettore Fieramosca'' fights to defend the honor of the Italian soldiers, mocked by some arrogant Frenchmen). Unfortunately, in them, the narrative talent not equaled the patriotic passion, and their novels, full of rhetoric and melodramatic excesses, are today barely readable as historical documents. A significant exception is '' The Confessions of an Italian'' by Ippolito Nievo
Ippolito Nievo (; 30 November 1831 – 4 March 1861) was an Italian writer, journalist and patriot. His ''Confessions of an Italian'' is widely considered the most important novel about the Italian Risorgimento.
Life
Nievo was born and raised in ...
, an epic about the Venetian republic
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
's fall and the Napoleonic age, told with satiric irony and youthful brio (Nievo wrote it when he was 26 years old).
In Arabic literature, the Lebanese writer Jurji Zaydan
Jurji Zaydan ( ar, جرجي زيدان, ; December 14, 1861 – July 21, 1914) was a prolific Lebanese novelist, journalist, editor and teacher, most noted for his creation of the magazine ''Al-Hilal (magazine), Al-Hilal'', which he used to seri ...
(1861–1914) was the most prolific novelist of this genre. He wrote 23 historical novels between 1889–1914. His novels played an important in shaping the collective consciousness of modern Arabs during the Nahda period and educated them about their history. ''The Fleeing Mamluk'' (1891), ''The Captive of the Mahdi Pretender'' (1892), and ''Virgin of Quraish'' (1899) are some of his nineteenth-century historical novels.
20th century
Germany
A major 20th-century example of this genre is the German author Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
's ''Buddenbrooks
''Buddenbrooks'' () is a 1901 novel by Thomas Mann, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseaten (class), Hanseatic ...
'' (1901). This chronicles the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
in the years from 1835 to 1877. Mann drew deeply from the history of his own family, the Mann family
The Mann family ( , ; ) is the most famous German novelists' dynasty.
History
Originally the Manns were merchants, allegedly already in the 16th century in Nuremberg, documented since 1611 in Parchim, since 1713 in Rostock and since 1775 in ...
of Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
, and their milieu. This was Mann's first novel, and with the publication of the 2nd edition in 1903, ''Buddenbrooks'' became a major literary success. The work led to a Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
for Mann in 1929; although the Nobel award generally recognizes an author's body of work, the Swedish Academy's citation for Mann identified "his great novel ''Buddenbrooks''" as the principal reason for his prize. Mann also wrote, between 1926 and 1943, a four-part novel ''Joseph and His Brothers
''Joseph and His Brothers'' (''Joseph und seine Brüder'') is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50), setting it in the hi ...
''. In it Mann retells the familiar biblical stories of Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
, from Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
to Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
(chapters 27–50), setting it in the historical context of the reign of Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...
(1353–1336 BC) in ancient Egypt.
In the same era, Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Feuchtwanger's Ju ...
was one of the most popular and accomplished writers of historical novels, with publications between the 1920s and 1950s. His reputation began with the bestselling work, ''Jud Süß
(, "Süss the Jew") is a 1940 Nazi German historical drama and propaganda film produced by Terra Film at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. It is considered one of the most antisemitic films of all time. The film was directed by Veit Harlan, who ...
'' (1925), set in the eighteenth century, as well as historical novels written primarily in exile in France and California, including most prominently the ''Josephus trilogy
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
'' set in Ancient Rome (1932 / 1935 / 1942), ''Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
'' (1951), and his novel '' Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo'' - set in Medieval Spain.
Britain
Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
of Britain wrote several popular historical novels, including ''I, Claudius
''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roma ...
'', ''King Jesus
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
'', ''The Golden Fleece'' and ''Count Belisarius
''Count Belisarius'' is a historical novel by Robert Graves, first published in 1938, recounting the life of the Byzantine general Belisarius (AD 500–565).
Just as Graves's Claudius novels (''I, Claudius'' and ''Claudius the God and His Wi ...
''. John Cowper Powys
John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
wrote two historical novels set in Wales, '' Owen Glendower'' (1941) and '' Porius'' (1951). The first deals with the rebellion of the Welsh Prince Owain Glyndŵr
Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...
(AD 1400–16), while ''Porius'' takes place during the Dark Ages, in AD 499, just before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. Powys suggests parallels with these historical periods and Britain in the late 1930s and during World War II.
Other significant British novelists include Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...
, Naomi Mitchison
Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote over 90 books of historical and science fiction, travel writin ...
and Mary Renault
Eileen Mary Challans (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983), known by her pen name Mary Renault ("She always pronounced it 'Ren-olt', though almost everyone would come to speak of her as if she were a French car." ), was an English writer best ...
. Heyer essentially established the historical romance
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Varieties Viking
These books feature Vikings during the Da ...
genre and its subgenre Regency romance
Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811–1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency rom ...
, which was inspired by Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
. To ensure accuracy, Heyer collected reference works and kept detailed notes on all aspects of Regency life. While some critics thought the novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset; Heyer even recreated William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
's crossing into England for her novel '' The Conqueror''. Naomi Mitchison's finest novel, ''The Corn King and the Spring Queen'' (1931), is regarded by some as the best historical novel of the 20th century. Mary Renault is best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. In addition to fictional portrayals of Theseus
Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes describe ...
, Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
, Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, Simonides of Ceos
Simonides of Ceos (; grc-gre, Σιμωνίδης ὁ Κεῖος; c. 556–468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed ...
and Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander. ''The Siege of Krishnapur
''The Siege of Krishnapur'' is a novel by J. G. Farrell, first published in 1973.
Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnapore (Kanpur) and Lucknow, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town, Krishnapur, during the Indian Rebe ...
'' (1973) by J. G. Farrell has been described as an "outstanding novel". Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore
Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...
and Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town, Krishnapur, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
from the perspective of the town's British residents
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a Official, government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has Diplomacy, diplomatic functions which are often see ...
. The main characters find themselves subject to the increasing strictures and deprivation of the siege, and the absurdity of maintaining the British class system in a town no one can leave becomes a source of comic invention, though the text is serious in intent and tone.
In Welsh literature, the major contributor to the genre in Welsh is William Owen Roberts
Wiliam Owen Roberts (born 1960) is a Welsh language novelist and writer of plays for radio, television and theatre.
He was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, and studied Welsh Literature and Theatre Studies at the University of Wales from 1978 to 1981.
Hi ...
(b. 1960). His historical novels include ''Y Pla'' (1987), set at the time of the Black Death; ''Paradwys'' (2001), 18th century, concerning the slave trade; and ''Petrograd'' (2008) and ''Paris'' (2013), concerning the Russian revolution and its aftermath. ''Y Pla'' has been much translated, appearing in English as ''Pestilence'', and ''Petrograd'' and ''Paris'' have also appeared in English. A contemporary of Roberts' working in English is Christopher Meredith
Christopher Meredith Learned Society of Wales, FLSW (born 1954) is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator from Tredegar, Wales.
Biography
Meredith was born in Tredegar, Wales. His father, Emrys, from Tredegar, was a steelworker ...
(b. 1954), whose ''Griffri'' (1991) is set in the 12th century and has the poet of a minor Welsh prince as narrator.
Nobel Prize laureate William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
wrote a number of historical novels. '' The Inheritors'' (1955) is set in prehistoric
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
times, and shows "new people" (generally identified with ''Homo sapiens sapiens
Human taxonomy is the classification of the human species (systematic name ''Homo sapiens'', Latin: "wise man") within zoological taxonomy. The systematic genus, ''Homo'', is designed to include both anatomically modern humans and extinct varie ...
'') triumphing over a gentler race (generally identified with Neanderthals
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
) by deceit and violence. ''The Spire
''The Spire'' is a 1964 novel by English author William Golding. "A dark and powerful portrait of one man's will", it deals with the construction of a 404-foot-high spire loosely based on Salisbury Cathedral,Paul, Leslie. "The Spire That Stay ...
'' (1964) follows the building (and near collapse) of a huge spire onto a medieval cathedral (generally assumed to be Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
); the spire symbolizing both spiritual aspiration and worldly vanity. '' The Scorpion God'' (1971) consists of three novellas, the first set in a prehistoric African hunter-gatherer band (''Clonk, Clonk''), the second in an ancient Egyptian court (''The Scorpion God'') and the third in the court of a Roman emperor (''Envoy Extraordinary''). The trilogy ''To the Ends of the Earth
''To the Ends of the Earth'' is the title given to a trilogy of nautical, relational novels—''Rites of Passage'' (1980), ''Close Quarters'' (1987), and ''Fire Down Below'' (1989)—by British author William Golding. Set on a former British ...
'', which includes the ''Rites of Passage'' (1980), ''Close Quarters'' (1987), and ''Fire Down Below'' (1989), describes sea voyages in the early 19th century. Anthony Burgess
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...
also wrote several historical novels; his last novel, '' A Dead Man in Deptford'', is about the murder of Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
in the 16th century.
Though the genre has evolved since its inception, the historical novel remains popular with authors and readers to this day and bestsellers include Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
's ''Aubrey–Maturin series
The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by English author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Roy ...
'', Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
's ''Pillars of the Earth
''The Pillars of the Earth'' is a historical novel by British author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the ...
'' and Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy, Lady Dunnett (née Halliday, 25 August 1923 – 9 November 2001) was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictiti ...
's ''Lymond Chronicles
The ''Lymond Chronicles'' is a series of six historical novels written by Dorothy Dunnett and first published between 1961 and 1975. Set in mid-16th-century Europe and the Mediterranean area, the series tells the story of a young Scottish noblem ...
''. A development in British and Irish writing in the past 25 years has been a renewed interest in the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Works include William Boyd's ''An Ice-Cream War
''An Ice-Cream War'' ( 1982) is a darkly comic war novel by Scottish author William Boyd, which was nominated for a Booker Prize in the year of its publication. The title is derived from a quotation in a letter (included in British editions o ...
''; Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...
' ''Birdsong
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by func ...
'' and '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'' (concerned with the War's consequences); Pat Barker
Patricia Mary W. Barker, (née Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and pl ...
's ''Regeneration Trilogy
The Regeneration Trilogy is a series of three novels by Pat Barker on the subject of the First World War. In 2012, ''The Observer'' named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
* '' Regeneration'' (1991)
* ''The Eye in the Door'' (1993) ...
'' and Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry (born 5 July 1955) is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He was named Laureate for Irish Fiction, 2019–2021. He is noted for his lyrical literary writing style and is considered one of Ireland's finest writers.
Barry's l ...
's ''A Long Long Way
''A Long Long Way'' is a novel by Irish author Sebastian Barry, set during the First World War.
Plot synopsis
The young protagonist Willie Dunne leaves Dublin to fight voluntarily for the Allies as a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, leavin ...
''.
United States
American Nobel laureate William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
's novel ''Absalom, Absalom!
''Absalom, Absalom!'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. Taking place before, during, and after the American Civil War, it is a story about three families of the American South, with a focus on the life o ...
'' (1936) is set before, during and after the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Kenneth Roberts wrote several books set around the events of the American Revolution, of which ''Northwest Passage'' (1937), ''Oliver Wiswell'' (1940) and ''Lydia Bailey'' (1947) all became best-sellers in the 1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central United States become dry a ...
and 1940s. The following American authors have also written historical novels in the 20th century: Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...
, John Barth
John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a ...
, Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...
, E. L. Doctorow
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction.
He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...
and William Kennedy. Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
's historical novel ''Mason & Dixon
''Mason & Dixon'' is a postmodernist novel by American author Thomas Pynchon, published in 1997. It presents a fictionalized account of the collaboration between Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in their astronomical and surveying exploits in th ...
'' (1997) tells the story of the two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were charged with marking the boundary between Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in the 18th century. More recently there have been works such as Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque.
Stephenson's work exp ...
's ''Baroque Cycle
''The Baroque Cycle'' is a series of novels by American writer Neal Stephenson. It was published in three volumes containing eight books in 2003 and 2004. The story follows the adventures of a sizable cast of characters living amidst some of t ...
''.
Italy
In Italy, the tradition of historical fiction has flourished in the modern age, the nineteenth century in particular having caught writers’ interests. Southern Italian novelists like Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (; 23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957) was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, ''Il Gattopardo'' (first publishe ...
(The Leopard
''The Leopard'' ( it, Il Gattopardo ) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...
), Francesco Iovine
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...
(''Lady Ava''), Carlo Alianello Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
* Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
* Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...
(''The Heritage of the Prioress'') and more recently Andrea Camilleri
Andrea Calogero Camilleri (; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian writer.
Biography
Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, b ...
(''The Preston Brewer'') retold the events of the Italian Unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
, at times overturning its traditionally heroic and progressive image. The conservative Riccardo Bacchelli
Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times.
Caree ...
in ''The Devil at the Long Point'' and the communist Vasco Pratolini
Vasco Pratolini (19 October 1913 – 12 January 1991) was an Italian writer of the 20th century.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.
Biography
Born in Florence, Pratolini worked at various jobs before entering the li ...
in ''Metello
''Metello'' is a 1970 Italian drama film directed by Mauro Bolognini. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. It starred Massimo Ranieri as the title character.
Plot
During the end of the 19th century, young Metello decides to start ...
'' described, from ideologically opposite points of view, the birth of Italian Socialism. Bacchelli also wrote ''The Mill on the Po
''Il mulino del Po'' (internationally released as ''The Mill on the Po'') is a 1949 Italian drama film directed by Alberto Lattuada. It is based on the novel with the same name by Riccardo Bacchelli.
Cast
*Carla Del Poggio: Berta
*Jacques Sern ...
'', a patchwork saga of a family of millers from the time of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, one of the most epic novels of the last century.
In 1980, Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
achieved international success with ''The Name of the Rose
''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...
'', a novel set in an Italian abbey in 1327 readable as a historical mystery, as an allegory of Italy during the Years of Lead, and as an erudite joke. Eco’s work, like Manzoni's preceding it, relaunched Italian interest in historical fiction. Many novelists who till then had preferred the contemporary novel tried their hand at stories set in previous centuries. Among them were Fulvio Tomizza
Fulvio Tomizza (26 January 1935 – 21 May 1999) was an Italian writer. He was born in Giurizzani di Materada in Istria, to a middle-class family. His mother was Margherita Frank Trento, born into a poor family of Slavic extraction. His father, ...
(''The Evil Coming from North'', about the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
), Dacia Maraini
Dacia Maraini (; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for ''L'età del malessere'' ...
(''The Silent Duchess'', about the female condition in the eighteenth century), Sebastiano Vassalli
Sebastiano Vassalli (24 October 1941 – 26 July 2015) was an Italian author. He wrote the 2007 novel ''The Italian (L'italiano)''.
Vassalli was born in Genoa, Italy in 1941. His mother are from Tuscany and father were from Lombardy. At a ver ...
(''The Chimera'', about a witch hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...
), Ernesto Ferrero Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to:
* ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975
** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...
('' N'') and Valerio Manfredi
Valerio Massimo Manfredi (born 8 March 1943) is an Italian historian, writer, essayist, archaeologist and journalist.
Biography
He was born in Piumazzo di Castelfranco Emilia province of Modena and, after getting a degree in Classical Arts at ...
(''The Last Legion'').
Bulgaria
Fani Popova–Mutafova (1902-1977) was a Bulgarian author who is considered by many to have been the best-selling Bulgarian historical fiction author ever. Her books sold in record numbers in the 1930s and the early 1940s. However, she was eventually sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by the Bulgarian communist regime because of some of her writings celebrating Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
, and though released after only eleven months for health reasons, was forbidden to publish anything between 1943 and 1972. Stoyan Zagorchinov (1889–1969) also a Bulgarian writer, author of "Last Day, God's Day" trilogy and "Ivaylo
Ivaylo (died 1281), also spelled Ivailo ( bg, Ивайло), was a rebel leader who ruled briefly as tsar of Bulgaria. In 1277, he spearheaded a peasant uprising and forced the Bulgarian nobility to accept him as emperor. He reigned as emperor fr ...
", continuing the tradition in the Bulgarian historical novel, led by Ivan Vazov
Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley of ...
. Yana Yazova
Yana Yazova (Bulgarian: Яна Язова) was the pen name of Lyuba Todorova Gancheva (Bulgarian: Люба Тодорова Ганчева) (1912 – August 1974), a Bulgarian intellectual and writer. Her name is also transcribed as Liuba Ga ...
(1912–1974) also has several novels that can be considered historical as "''Alexander of Macedon''", her only novel on non-Bulgarian thematic, as well as her trilogy "''Balkani''". Vera Mutafchieva Vera Mutafchieva ( bg, Вера Мутафчиева; March 28, 1929 – June 9, 2009) was a Bulgarian writer and historian.
Biography
Vera Mutafchieva was born in Sofia, March 28, 1929. Her parents were the historian prof. Petar Mutafchiev an ...
(1929–2009) is the author of historical novels which were translated into 11 languages. Anton Donchev
Anton Nikolov Donchev ( bg, Антон Николов Дончев, 14 September 1930 – 20 October 2022) was a Bulgarian writer of historical novels and screenwriter of Bulgarian historical drama films. In 2003 he was elected an academic at th ...
(1930–) is an old living author, whose first independent novel, ''Samuel's Testimony'', was published in 1961. His second book, ''Time of Parting
''Time of Parting'' (, ''Vreme razdelno'') is a novel written by Anton Donchev and published in 1964.
Reviews
''Time of Parting'' was judged the 2nd greatest work ever in the Bulgarian Big Read in 2008–09.
References
1964 novels
Bulgaria ...
'', which dealt with the Islamization of the population in the Rhodopes during the XVII century was written in 1964. The novel was adapted in the serial movie "Time of Violence
''Time of Violence'' ( bg, Време на насилие, italic=yes) is a 1988 Bulgarian film based on the novel ''Time of Parting'' by Anton Donchev. It consists of two episodes with a combined length of 288 minutes. It premiered at the 1988 Ca ...
", divided into two parts with the subtitles ("The Threat" and "The Violence") by 1987 by the director Lyudmil Staykov. In June 2015, "Time of Violence
''Time of Violence'' ( bg, Време на насилие, italic=yes) is a 1988 Bulgarian film based on the novel ''Time of Parting'' by Anton Donchev. It consists of two episodes with a combined length of 288 minutes. It premiered at the 1988 Ca ...
" was chosen as the most beloved film of Bulgarian viewers in "Laced Shoes of Bulgarian Cinema", a large-scale consultation with the audience of Bulgarian National Television
The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...
.
Scandinavia
One of the best known Scandinavian historical novels is Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian-Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, ...
's ''Kristin Lavransdatter
''Kristin Lavransdatter'' is a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are ''Kransen'' (''The Wreath''), first published in 1920, ''Husfrue'' (''The Wife''), published in 1921, and ''Korset'' ...
'' (1920–1922) set in medieval Norway. For this trilogy Undset was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
in 1928. Johannes V. Jensen
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fert ...
's trilogy ''Kongens fald'' (1900–1901, "The Fall of the King"), set in 16th century Denmark, has been called "the finest historical novel in Danish literature". The epic historical novel series ''Den lange rejse'' (1908–1921, "The Long Journey") is generally regarded as Jensen's masterpiece and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 partly on the strength of it. The Finnish writer Mika Waltari
Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' ( fi, Sinuhe egyptiläinen). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stori ...
is known for the historical novel ''The Egyptian
''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finnish ...
'' (1945). Faroes–Danish writer William Heinesen
Andreas William Heinesen (15 January 1900 – 12 March 1991) was a poet, novel writer, short story writer, children's book writer, composer and painter from the Faroe Islands.
His writing
The Faroese capital Tórshavn is always the centre of H ...
wrote several historical novels, most notably ''Det gode håb'' (1964, "Fair Hope") set in the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
in 17th century.
Historical fiction has long been a popular genre in Sweden, especially since the 1960s a huge number of historical novels has been written. Nobel laureates Eyvind Johnson
Eyvind Johnson (29 July 1900 – 25 August 1976) was a Swedish novelist and short story writer. Regarded as the most groundbreaking novelist in modern Swedish literature he became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1957 and shared the 1974 Nob ...
and Pär Lagerkvist
Pär Fabian Lagerkvist (23 May 1891 – 11 July 1974) was a Swedish author who received the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Lagerkvist wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from hi ...
wrote acclaimed historical novels such as '' Return to Ithaca'' (1946) and ''Barabbas
Barabbas (; ) was, according to the New Testament, a prisoner who was chosen over Jesus by the crowd in Jerusalem to be pardoned and released by Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast.
Biblical account
According to all four canoni ...
'' (1950). Vilhelm Moberg
Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg (20 August 1898 – 8 August 1973) was a Swedish journalist, author, playwright, historian, and debater. His literary career, spanning more than 45 years, is associated with his series ''The Emigrants''. The four ...
's ''Ride This Night
''Ride This Night'' (Swedish:''Rid i natt'') is a Swedish historical novel by Vilhelm Moberg which was first published in 1941. The novel is set in the Seventeenth century, portraying Sweden as being occupied by the Germans. The novel helped to e ...
'' (1941) is set in 16th century Småland
Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden.
Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...
and his widely read novel series '' The Emigrants'' tells the story of Småland emigrants to the United States in the 19th century. Per Anders Fogelström
Per Anders Fogelström (22 August 1917, Stockholm – 20 June 1998 Stockholm) was a Swedish writer, and one of the leading figures in modern Swedish literature. He spent his whole life in Stockholm, and the most famous of the more than 40 books he ...
wrote a hugely popular series of five historical novels set in his native Stockholm beginning with ''City of My Dreams
''City of My Dreams'' ( sv, Mina drömmars stad) is a 1960 novel by the Swedish writer Per Anders Fogelström. The narrative follows a group of working-class people on Södermalm in Stockholm between 1860 and 1880. It was the first novel in a ser ...
'' (1960). Other writers of historical fiction in Swedish literature include Sara Lidman
Sara Adéla Lidman (30December 192317June 2004) was a Swedish writer.
Early life
Born in Missenträsk, a village in present Skellefteå Municipality, Lidman was raised in the Västerbotten region of northern Sweden. She studied at the Universi ...
, Birgitta Trotzig
Birgitta Trotzig (11 September 1929 – 14 May 2011) was a Swedish writer who was elected to the Swedish Academy in 1993. She was one of Sweden's most celebrated authors, and wrote prose fiction and non-fiction, as well as prose poetry.
Biography ...
, Per Olov Enquist
Per Olov Enquist, also known as P. O. Enquist, (23 September 1934 – 25 April 2020) was a Swedish author. He had worked as a journalist, playwright and novelist.
Biography
Enquist was born and raised in , a village in present-day Skellef ...
and Artur Lundkvist.
Latin America
The historical novel was quite popular in 20th century Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...
, including works such as '' The Kingdom of This World'' (1949) by Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French an ...
, '' I, the Supreme'' (1974) by Augusto Roa Bastos, '' Terra Nostra'' (1975) by Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christophe ...
, ''News from the Empire'' (1987) by Fernando del Paso
Fernando del Paso Morante (April 1, 1935 – November 14, 2018) was a Mexican novelist, essayist and poet.
Biography
Del Paso was born in Mexico City and took two years in economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He ...
, ''The Lightning of August
' (officially translated as ''The Lightning of August'') was the first novel written by Mexican author Jorge Ibargüengoitia.
Published for the first time in 1964, the text parodies the memories written by veterans of the 1910 Mexican Revolution ...
'' (1964) by Jorge Ibargüengoitia
Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón (January 22, 1928 – November 27, 1983) was a Mexican novelist and playwright who achieved great popular and critical success with his satires, three of which have appeared in English: ''The Dead Girls'', ''Tw ...
, ''The War of the End of the World
''The War of the End of the World'' ( es, La guerra del fin del mundo) is a 1981 novel written by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. It is a fictionalized account of the War of Canudos conflict in late 19th-century Brazil.
Plot summary
In the ...
'' (1981) by Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
and ''The Autumn of the Patriarch
''The Autumn of the Patriarch'' (original Spanish title: ''El otoño del patriarca'') is a novel written by Gabriel García Márquez in 1975.
A "poem on the solitude of power" according to the author, the novel is a flowing tract on the life of a ...
'' (1975) by Gabriel García Marquez
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
. Other writers of historical fiction include Abel Posse, Antonio Benitez Rojo, João Ubaldo Ribeiro
João Ubaldo Ribeiro (January 23, 1941 – July 18, 2014) was a Brazilian writer, journalist, screenwriter and professor. Several of his books and short stories have been turned into movies and TV series in Brazil. Ribeiro was a member of the Br ...
, Jorge Amado
Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...
, Homero Aridjis
Homero Aridjis (born April 6, 1940) is a Mexican poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalist and diplomat known for his rich imagination, poetry of lyrical beauty, and ethical independence.
Family and early life
Aridjis was born in Contepe ...
.
Japan
The historical novel in 20th century Japanese novel was called, ''The Wind Has Risen
''The Wind Has Risen'' (風立ちぬ, ''Kaze tachinu'') is a Japanese novel by Tatsuo Hori, published between 1936 and 1938, and is regarded as his most acknowledged work. The story is set in a sanitarium in Nagano, Japan, where the nameless prot ...
'' by Tatsuo Hori
was a Japanese translator and writer of poetry, short stories and novels.
Early life
Born in Tokyo, Hori studied Japanese literature at Tokyo Imperial University under Saisei Murō and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. In addition to Japanese writers of ...
.
21st century
In the first decades of the 21st century, an increased interest for historical fiction has been noted. One of the most successful writers of historical novels is Hilary Mantel
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...
. Other writers of historical fiction include Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...
, Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...
, Sarah Waters
Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as ''Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''.
Life and education
Early life
Sara ...
, Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
, George Saunders
George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...
, Shirley Hazzard
Shirley Hazzard (30 January 1931 – 12 December 2016) was an Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born in Australia and also held U.S. citizenship.
Hazzard's 1970 novel '' The Bay of Noon'' was shortlisted ...
and Julie Orringer
Julie Orringer (born June 12, 1973) is an American writer and lecturer. She attended Cornell University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. She was born in Miami, Florida and now lives in Brooklyn with ...
. The historical novel ''The Books of Jacob
''The Books of Jacob'' ( pl, Księgi Jakubowe ) is an epic historical novel by Olga Tokarczuk, published by Wydawnictwo Literackie in October 2014. It is Tokarczuk's ninth novel and is the product of extensive historical research, taking her s ...
'' set in 18th century Poland has been praised as the magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
by the 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...
.
Subgenres
Documentary fiction
A 20th-century variant of the historical novel is documentary fiction, which incorporates "not only historical characters and events, but also reports of everyday events" found in contemporary newspapers. Examples of this variant form of historical novel include ''U.S.A.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'' (1938), and ''Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
'' (1975) by E.L. Doctorow
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction.
He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...
.
Fictional biographies
''Memoirs of Hadrian
''Memoirs of Hadrian'' (french: link=no, Mémoires d'Hadrien) is a novel by the Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar about the life and death of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. First published in France in French in 1951 as ''Mémoires d ...
'' by the Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...
is about the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
. First published in France in French in 1951 as ''Mémoires d'Hadrien'', the book was an immediate success, meeting with enormous critical acclaim. Margaret George
Margaret George (born 1943) is an American historical novelist specializing in epic fictional biographies. She is known for her meticulous research and the large scale of her books. She is the author of the bestselling novels ''The Autobiogra ...
has written fictional biographies about historical persons in ''The Memoirs of Cleopatra
''The Memoirs of Cleopatra'' is a 1997 historical fiction novel written by American author Margaret George, detailing the purported life of Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt. Published on April 15, 1997, it landed on The New York Times Best Seller list ...
'' (1997) and ''Mary, called Magdalene
''Mary, called Magdalene'' is a 2002 historical novel by Margaret George about the Mary Magdalene.
Plot summary
As a woman in the Bible, Mary Magdalene's story is not recounted as fully as that of some of the males associated with Jesus. The no ...
'' (2002). An earlier example is ''Peter I'' (1929–34) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels.
Despite having ...
, and ''I, Claudius
''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roma ...
'' (1934) and ''King Jesus
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
'' (1946) by Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
. Other recent biographical novel
The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...
series, include '' Conqueror'' and ''Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
'' by Conn Iggulden and '' Cicero Trilogy'' by Robert Harris.
Gothic fiction
The gothic novel was popular in the late eighteenth century. Set in the historical past it has an interest in the mysterious, terrifying and haunting. Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
's 1764 novel ''The Castle of Otranto
''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...
'' is considered to be an influential work.
Historical mysteries
Historical mysteries or "historical whodunit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...
s" are set by their authors in the distant past, with a plot that which involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 1900s, many credit Ellis Peters
Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her ''nom de plume'' Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translat ...
's ''The Cadfael Chronicles, Cadfael Chronicles'' (1977–1994) with popularizing them. These are set between 1137 and 1145 A.D. The increasing popularity of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has created a distinct subgenre recognized by both publishers and libraries.
Historical romance and family sagas
Historical romance, Romantic themes have also been portrayed, such as ''Doctor Zhivago (novel), Doctor Zhivago'' by Boris Pasternak and ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell. One of the first popular historical romances appeared in 1921, when Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...
published ''The Black Moth'', which is set in 1751. It was not until 1935 that she wrote the first of her signature Regency romance, Regency novels, set around the English Regency period (1811–1820), when the George IV of the United Kingdom, Prince Regent ruled England in place of his ill father, George III. Heyer's Regency novels were inspired by Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's novels of the late 18th and early 19th century. Because Heyer's writing was set in the midst of events that had occurred over 100 years previously, she included Authentication, authentic period detail in order for her readers to understand. Where Heyer referred to historical events, it was as background detail to set the period, and did not usually play a key role in the narrative. Heyer's characters often contained more modern-day sensibilities, and more conventional characters in the novels would point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to marry for love.
Nautical and pirate fiction
Some historical novels explore life at sea, including C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower, Hornblower series, Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
's Aubrey–Maturin series
The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by English author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Roy ...
, Douglas Reeman, Alexander Kent's The Bolitho novels, Dudley Pope's Lord Ramage's series, all of which all deal with the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. There are also adventure novels with pirate characters like Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''Treasure Island'' (1883), Emilio Salgari's Sandokan (1895–1913) and ''Captain Blood (novel), Captain Blood'' (1922) by Rafael Sabatini. Recent examples of historical novels about pirates are ''The Adventures of Hector Lynch'' by Tim Severin, ''The White Devil (Белият Дявол)'' by Hristo Kalchev and ''The Pirate Devlin'' novels by Mark Keating.
Alternate history and historical fantasy
''The Plot Against America'' is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history (fiction), alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is defeated in 1940 United States presidential election, the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh and a fascist, anti-semitic government is established. There are other examples, such as Robert Silverberg's ''Roma Eterna'', in which the Roman Empire survives to the present day and Time travel in fiction, time travel to the past, such as the "Company" stories of Kage Baker. There are authors who write in both subgenres, like Harry Turtledove in his Southern Victory Series, Timeline 191 series and "The Guns of the South" novel, respectively. Isaac Asimov's short story ''What If--'' is about a couple who can explore alternate realities by means of a television-like device. This idea can also be found in Asimov's 1955 novel ''The End of Eternity''. In that novel, the "Eternals" can change the realities of the world, without people being aware of it.
There is also a historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
subgenre. Poul Anderson has a number of historical fantasy novels set in Viking times including The Broken Sword and ''Hrolf Kraki's Saga''. Otherwise space opera author C. J. Cherryh has a whole historical fantasy series ''The Russian Stories (C. J. Cherryh), The Russian Stories'' set in Medieval Kievan Rus times. Guy Gavriel Kay has a number of historical fantasy novels, such as "The Lions of Al-Rassan", set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Spain, and "The Sarantine Mosaic", set in a fantasy version of the Byzantine Empire. David Gemmel has only two historical fantasy series. The first is the ''David Gemmell#Greek series, Greek series'', which are about Parmenion, a general of Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. The story is loosely based on historic events, but adds fantasy elements such as supernatural creatures and sorcery. His posthumous ''Troy Series'' features a fictional version of the Trojan War. ''The Sevenwaters Trilogy'' (later expanded) by Juliet Marillier is set in 9th-century Ireland.
Historiographic metafiction
Historiographic metafiction combines historical fiction with metafiction. The term is closely associated with postmodern literature including writers such as Salman Rushdie and Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
.
Several novels by Nobel Prize laureate José Saramago are set in historical times including ''Baltasar and Blimunda'', ''The Gospel According to Jesus Christ'' and ''The History of the Siege of Lisbon''. In a parallel plot set in the 12th and 20th century where history and fiction are constantly overlapping, the latter novel questions the reliability of historical sources and deals with the difference of writing history and fiction.
Children's historical fiction
A prominent subgenre within historical fiction is the children's historical novel. Often following a pedagogical bent, children's historical fiction may follow the conventions of many of the other subgenres of historical fiction. A number of such works include elements of historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...
or time travel to facilitate the transition between the contemporary world and the past in the tradition of children's portal fiction. Sometimes publishers will commission series of historical novels that explore different periods and times. Among the most popular contemporary series include the American Girl novels and the Magic Tree House series. A prominent award within children's historical fiction is the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
Comics and graphic novels
Historical narratives have also found their way in comics and graphic novels. There are Prehistory, Prehistorical elements in jungle, jungle comics like Akim (comics), Akim and Rahan (comics), Rahan. Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
inspired graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
s are ''300 (comic), 300'' created by Frank Miller, centered around Battle of Thermopylae, and ''Age of Bronze (comics), Age of Bronze series'' by Eric Shanower, that retells Trojan War. Historical subjects can also be found in manhua comics like ''Three Kingdoms (manhua), Three Kingdoms'' and ''Sun Zi's Tactics'' by Lee Chi Ching, ''Weapons of the Gods (comics), Weapons of the Gods'' by Wong Yuk Long as well as ''The Ravages of Time'' by Chan Mou. There are also straight :Samurai in anime and manga, Samurai manga series like ''Path of the Assassin'', ''Vagabond (manga), Vagabond'', ''Rurouni Kenshin'' and ''Azumi''. Several comics and graphic novels have been produced into anime series or a movie adaptations like ''Azumi (film), Azumi'' and ''300 (film), 300''.
The performing arts
Period drama films and television series
Historical drama film stories are based upon historical events and famous people. Some historical dramas are docudramas, which attempt an accurate portrayal of a historical event or biography, to the degree that the available historical research will allow. Other historical dramas are fictionalized tales that are based on an actual person and their deeds, such as ''Braveheart'', which is loosely based on the 13th-century knight William Wallace's fight for Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
's independence. For films pertaining to the history of East Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, there are historical drama films set in Asia, also known as Jidaigeki in Japan. :Wuxia films, Wuxia films like ''The Hidden Power of the Dragon Sabre'' (1984) and ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000), based on novels by Jin Yong and Wang Dulu, have also been produced. Zhang Yimou has directed several acclaimed wuxia films like ''Hero (2002 film), Hero'' (2002), ''House of Flying Daggers'' (2004) and ''Curse of the Golden Flower'' (2006). Although largely fictional some wuxia films are considered historical drama. Samurai films like Zatoichi and Lone Wolf and Cub series also fall under historical drama umbrella. Peplum films also known as sword-and-sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made historical or biblical epics (costume dramas) that dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965. Most pepla featured a superhumanly strong man as the protagonist, such as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, Ursus (film character), Ursus or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste. These supermen often rescued captive princesses from tyrannical despots and fought mythological creatures. Not all the films were fantasy-based, however. Many featured actual historical personalities such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Hannibal, although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators, pirates, knights, Vikings, and slaves rebelling against tyrannical kings were also popular subjects. There are also Middle Ages in film, films based on Medieval narratives like Ridley Scott's historical epics ''Robin Hood (2010 film), Robin Hood'' (2010) and ''Kingdom of Heaven (film), Kingdom of Heaven'' (2005) and the subgenred list of films based on Arthurian legend, films based on the Arthurian legend such as ''Pendragon: Sword of His Father'' (2008) and ''King Arthur (2004 film), King Arthur'' (2004).
Many historical narratives have been expanded into television series. Notable ancient history inspired TV series include: ''Rome (TV series), Rome'', ''Spartacus (TV series), Spartacus'', ''Egypt (TV series), Egypt'', ''The Last Kingdom (TV series), The Last Kingdom'' and ''I, Claudius (TV series), I Claudius''. Tudor England is also a very prominent subject in television series like ''The Tudors'', ''The Virgin Queen (TV serial), The Virgin Queen'' and ''Elizabeth I (TV miniseries), Elizabeth I''. Programs about the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
have also been produced, like ''Sharpe (TV series), Sharpe'' and ''Hornblower (TV series), Hornblower''. Historical soap operas have also been popular, including the Turkish TV series ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl, The Magnificent Century'' and ''Bir Zamanlar Osmanlı: Kıyam, Once Upon A Time In The Ottoman Empire: Rebellion''. Chinese studios have also produced television series like ''The Legend and the Hero'', its ''The Legend and the Hero 2, sequel series'', ''King's War'' and ''The Qin Empire (TV series), The Qin Empire''. There have also been produced pure :Wuxia television series, Wuxia television series, many based on works by Jin Yong like ''Condor Trilogy'' and ''Swordsman (TV series), Swordsman'', also ''Lu Xiaofeng#Television, Lu Xiaofeng'' and ''Chu Liuxiang#Films, Chu Liuxiang'' by Gu Long. They have been very popular in China, but largely unnoticed in Western media.
The theatre
History plays
History is one of the three main genres in Western theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
alongside tragedy and comedy, although it originated, in its modern form, thousands of years later than the other primary genres. For this reason, it is often treated as a subset of tragedy. A play in this genre is known as a history (theatrical genre), history play and is based on a Narrative history, historical narrative, often set in the medieval or early modern past. History emerged as a distinct genre from tragedy in English Renaissance theatre, Renaissance England. The best known examples of the genre are the Shakespearean history, history plays written by William Shakespeare, whose plays still serve to define the genre.[de Groot, 11-13] Shakespeare wrote numerous history plays, some included in the First Folio as histories, and other listed as Shakespearean tragedy, tragedies, or Roman plays. Among the most famous histories are ''Richard III (play), Richard III'', and ''Henry IV, Part 1'', ''Henry IV, Part 2'', and ''Henry V (play), Henry V''. Other plays that feature historical characters, are the tragedy ''Macbeth'', set in the mid-11th century during the reigns of Duncan I of Scotland and Edward the Confessor, and the Roman plays ''Coriolanus'', ''Julius Caesar (play), Julius Caesar'', and ''Antony and Cleopatra''. Another tragedy ''King Lear'', is based on British legend, as is the Shakespeare's late romances, romanc ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', which is set in Ancient Britain.
Other playwrights contemporary to Shakespeare, such as Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
, also dramatized historical topics.[ Marlowe wrote ''Edward II (play), Edward the Second'' which deals with the deposition of King Edward II of England, Edward II by his barons and the Queen, who resent the undue influence the king's favourites have in court and state affairs, and ''The Massacre at Paris'', which dramatizes the events of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France in 1572. Marlowe's ''Tamburlaine the Great'' (1587 or 1588) is a play in two parts, loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor, Timur "the lame".
History plays also appear elsewhere in other western literature. The German authors Goethe and Schiller wrote a number of historical plays, including Goethe's ''Egmont (play), Egmont'' (1788), which is set in the 16th century, and is heavily influenced by Shakespearean tragedy, and Schiller's ''Mary Stuart (play), Mary Stuart'', which depicts the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots (1800). This play formed the basis for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti's opera ''Maria Stuarda'' (1834). Beethoven Egmont (Beethoven), wrote incidental music for ''Egmont''.
Later Irish author George Bernard Shaw wrote several histories, including ''Caesar and Cleopatra (play), Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1898) and ''Saint Joan (play), Saint Joan'', which based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published in 1924, not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. One of the most famous 20th-century history plays is ''The Life of Galileo'' by Bertolt Brecht which dramatises the latter period of the life of Galileo Galilei, the great Italians, Italian natural philosopher, who was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for the promulgation of his scientific discoveries; for details, see Galileo affair. The play embraces such themes as the conflict between dogmatism and Science, scientific evidence, as well as interrogating the values of constancy in the face of oppression.
More recently British dramatist Howard Brenton has written several histories. He gained notoriety for his play ''The Romans in Britain'', first staged at the Royal National Theatre, National Theatre in October 1980, which drew parallels between the Roman invasion of Britain in 54BC and the contemporary British military presence in Northern Ireland. Its concerns with politics were, however, overshadowed by controversy surrounding a rape scene. Brenton also wrote ''Anne Boleyn'' a play on the life of Anne Boleyn, which premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2010. Anne Boleyn is portrayed as a significant force in the political and religious in-fighting at court and a furtherer of the cause of Protestantism in her enthusiasm for the Tyndale Bible.
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Opera
One of the first operas to use historical events and people is Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, which was first performed in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. The opera was revived in Naples in 1651, but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s, the opera has been performed and recorded many times. George Frederick Handel also wrote several operas based on historical characters, including ''Giulio Cesare'' (1724), ''Tamerlano'' (1724) and ''Rodelinda (opera), Rodelinda'' (1725).
Historical subjects for operas also developed during the 19th century. Usually with 4 or 5 acts, they are large-scale casts and orchestras, and spectacular staging. Several operas by Gaspare Spontini, Luigi Cherubini, and Gioachino Rossini can be regarded as precursors to French grand opera. These include Spontini's ''La vestale'' (1807) and ''Fernand Cortez'' (1809, revised 1817), Cherubini's ''Les Abencérages'' (1813), and Rossini's ''Le siège de Corinthe'' (1827) and ''Mosè in Egitto, Moïse et Pharaon'' (1828). All of these have some of the characteristics of size and spectacle that are normally associated with French grand opera. Another important forerunner was ''Il crociato in Egitto'' by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Meyerbeer, who eventually became the acknowledged king of the grand opera genre. Amongst the most important opera composers on historical topics are Giuseppe Verdi, and Richard Wagner.
Russian composers also wrote operas based on historical figures, including ''Boris Godunov (opera), Boris Godunov'' by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881), which was composed between 1868 and 1873, and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar (1598 to 1605). Equally famous is Alexander Borodin's ''Prince Igor'', the libretto for which the composer developed from the Ancient Russian epic (genre), epic ''The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of Rus' (people), Rus prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Cuman ("Polovtsian") tribes in 1185.[Abraham, G. and Lloyd-Jones, D. (1986) "Alexander Borodin" in Brown, D. (ed.) The New Grove: Russian Masters 1, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., pp. 45–76.]
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational or entertainment activity in which people follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge presented during the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire period, such as Regency reenactment or The 1920s Berlin Project.
Theory and criticism
The Marxism, Marxist literary critic, essayist, and social theorist György Lukács
György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and ae ...
wrote extensively on the aesthetic and political significance of the historical novel. In 1937's ''Der historische Roman'', published originally in Russian, Lukács developed critical readings of several historical novels by various authors, including Gottfried Keller, Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, and Gustave Flaubert. He interprets the advent of the "genuinely" historical novel at the beginning of the 19th century in terms of two developments, or processes. The first is the development of a specific genre in a specific medium—the historical novel's unique stylistic and narrative elements. The second is the development of a representative, organic artwork that can capture the fractures, contradictions, and problems of the particular productive mode of its time (i.e., developing, early, entrenched capitalism).
See also
* :Historical fiction awards, Historical fiction awards
* List of historical novelists
* List of historical fiction by time period
* Walter Scott Prize
* ''Tarikh-i Bayhaqi, Bayhaqi's History''
References
Works cited
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*
Further reading
* Cole, Richard. "Breaking the frame in historical fiction." ''Rethinking History'' (2020) 24#3/4, pp 368–387. Frame breaking, or metalepsis, is authors placing themselves in their work, or characters engaging with their author.
* Fisher, Janet. "Historical fiction." in ''International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature'' (2004) pp: 368-376.
* Freeman, Evelyn B., and Linda Levstik. "Recreating the past: Historical fiction in the social studies curriculum." ''The elementary school journal'' 88.4 (1988): 329-337.
* Grindon, Leger. ''Shadows on the past: Studies in the historical fiction film'' (Temple University Press, 2010).
* McEwan, Neil. ''Perspective in British historical fiction today'' (Springer, 1987).
* Rousselot, Elodie, ed. ''Exoticising the Past in Contemporary Neo-Historical Fiction'' (2014)
* Rycik, Mary Taylor, and Brenda Rosler. "The return of historical fiction." ''The Reading Teacher'' 63.2 (2009): 163-166; it now dominates the book awards in children's literature
* Shaw, Harry E. ''The Forms of Historical Fiction: Sir Walter Scott and His Successors''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1983.
* White, Hayden. "Introduction: Historical fiction, fictional history, and historical reality." ''Rethinking History'' 9.2-3 (2005): 147-157.
External links
Historical fiction by women, about women
Historical Fiction recommended reading
Audio Archives from "Historical Fiction and The Search for Truth"
2009 Key West Literary Seminar
Historical Fiction Festival
Annual event in Summerhall, Edinburgh, for writers and audiences to discuss historical fiction.
Defining the Genre: What are the rules for historical fiction?
from the Historical Novel Society
When Fictionalized Facts Matter
- ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' article on the fictionalization of history
{{Authority control
Historical fiction,
Literary genres
Film genres