Writings of Brian Lee Beshore

Historical fiction books are books where the story line is set in a specific time in history. The cultural settings, behavior and manner of speech are often depicted as accurately as possible and any historical events are often made to follow actual historical accounts. Wikipedia gives an extensive definition with many examples of historical fiction books.  So what is the difference between an historical fiction book and a book on history? I think, short answer; any time you tell a story or write in a narrative style within a historical setting, you have an historical fiction book. The work may have famous historical figures in them or it might have completely fictitious characters in the story. An example of the latter would be The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame. This book is often given credit for fueling the movement to preserve gothic architecture in France. Examples of historical fiction involving actual figures from history would be the movie ‘Amadeus,’ or the movie ‘Immortal Belove...