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The Genre of Historical Novels
As their name implies, these are novels which are set during historical times or events which occurred before the life of the author. Some people would argue that the event must occur at least 100 years before the authors life for the work to be considered a historical novel but there is no consensus around this belief. Sir Walter Scott is often said to be the creator of the historical novel during the early 19th century. He produced such works as the novels Waverley and Rob Roy which showed Scottish history and Ivanhoe which harked back to the time of the Middle Ages. History novels are usually centered around a particular history event and may even include references to actual historical figures. The author must conduct significant research in order to accurately represent the historical time to the best of their ability. There are times, however, when knowledge reveled in future generations shows that the information contained in historical novels is incorrect. Most historical novels will have the plot center around fictional characters that are surrounded by an actual historical event. An example would be the use of the French Revolution by Charles Dickens for the frame in A Tale of Two Cities. Historical novels have not lost their popularity these days as can be witnessed by the vast number of historical novels being written by contemporary writers.
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