Originally Posted by
David Manley
I like it if its well done. A lot of it isn't. Often badly researched and with only a passing nod to the realities of the period covered (the Harry Harrison series mentioned above being a classic example - i can only think he wrote it as a bet to see how truly awful a series of books he could get published, or that he was having a REALLY BAD day).
Any views on dramatised history novels? My youngster has been reading a number of novels set in various historical eras (mainly Romans - he loves Romans). Some are pure fiction, but others are dramatised accounts of the lives of famous people such as Caesar (and, in the case of a series of books my daughter read, Wellington and Napoleon). They may not be ideal but they have spurred both of my children into far wider historical reading around the subjects.
And getting slightly more back on track, historical fiction with literary characters whose lives and situations borrow heavily from historical events - such as Aubrey and Sharpe? Any thoughts on these?