Good Books – Parting Thoughts

The 20th Century: Beyond the World Wars

mslater — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 02:39:38 +0000

In a previous post, I listed some of the countless historical fiction books about World War I & World War II. Of course, a... Read more »

The post The 20th Century: Beyond the World Wars appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

Great Historical Fiction about the World Wars

mslater — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:55:05 +0000

What first drew me to historical fiction was an urge to try to make sense out of the two world wars. I now understand them much more, but I wouldn’t say I can make sense out of them… So much of our modern world has been shaped by these wars, from redrawing the map of the middle east to the decline of the British Empire and the rise of the United States.

It is challenging to understand not only the worldwide complexity of the wars, but also what it was like for the people involved. By wrapping the history in engaging stories, I’ve found that historical novels are one of the best ways to broaden my understanding of how the world got to its current state.

The following are my favorite historical novels about the first the world wars — in effect, the first half of the 20th century. I’ve written brief personal notes on each book.

The post Great Historical Fiction about the World Wars appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

Historical Fiction: Engaging History

mslater — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:54:09 +0000

Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres to read, listen to, or watch. I am drawn to history to understand how the world got to be the way it is.

Most non-fiction history books, however, are too dry to hold my interest. (There are some notable exceptions, which I’ll list in a future post — what I call “readable history”.)

One of the things you get from good historical fiction that is rarely found in non-fiction is a deep, emotional sense of what it was like to live in those times, and in those roles. Taking advantage of the artistic license that fiction allows, historical fiction can convey rich stories and deep personalities that are representative of the true events and characters.

In most cases, details such as private conversations are not available to non-fiction history, but this dialog brings stories to life. We are at the mercy of the authors, alas, to restrain their creative impulses from introducing too many inaccuracies.

Historical Fiction is a vast genre, covering many periods of time. I will follow this post with a series of posts on historical fiction I’ve enjoyed, initially focusing on great historical fiction about the World Wars and then moving on to other periods of time.

For an extensive listing of historical fiction from all eras, see historicalnovels.info and Goodreads.

The post Historical Fiction: Engaging History appeared first on Parting Thoughts.