Editing Historical fiction (section)

==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.<ref name = abrams>M. H. Abrams ''A Glossary of Literary Terms''. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1999, p.194.</ref> Examples of this variant form of historical novel include ''[[U.S.A. (trilogy)|U.S.A.]]'' (1938), and ''[[Ragtime (novel)|Ragtime]]'' (1975) by [[E.L. Doctorow]].<ref name = abrams/>

===Fictional biographies===
{{Further|Biography in literature}}
''[[Memoirs of Hadrian]]'' by the Belgian-born French writer [[Marguerite Yourcenar]] is about the life and death of [[Roman Emperor]] [[Hadrian]]. First published in France in French in 1951 as ''Mémoires d'Hadrien'', the book was an immediate success, meeting with enormous critical acclaim.<ref>"Becoming the Emperor: How Marguerite Yourcenar reinvented the past". Books, ''The New Yorker'', February 14, 2005 [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/02/14/becoming-the-emperor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402093250/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/02/14/050214crbo_books?currentPage=6|date=2014-04-02}}.</ref> [[Margaret George]] has written fictional biographies about historical persons in ''[[The Memoirs of Cleopatra]]'' (1997) and ''[[Mary, called Magdalene]]'' (2002). Earlier examples are ''Peter I'' (1929–34) by [[Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy]], and ''[[I, Claudius]]'' (1934) and ''[[King Jesus (novel)|King Jesus]]'' (1946) by [[Robert Graves]]. Other recent [[biographical novel]] series include ''[[Conqueror (book series)|Conqueror]]'' and ''[[Emperor (novel series)|Emperor]]'' by [[Conn Iggulden]] and ''[[Robert Harris (novelist)#Cicero trilogy|Cicero Trilogy]]'' by Robert Harris.

===Gothic fiction===
{{Main|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]]'s 1764 novel ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'' is considered to be an influential work.<ref>De Groot, Jerome ''The Historical Novel'' Chapter 2: Origins, early manifestations and some definitions, Routledge 2010</ref>

===Historical mysteries===
{{excerpt|Historical mystery}}

===Historical romance and family sagas===
{{main|Historical romance|Family saga|Regency romance}}
[[Historical romance|Romantic theme]]s 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]] 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]]'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.<ref>Regis (2003), pp. 125-126.</ref> 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.<ref>Regis (2003), p. 127.</ref>

===Nautical and pirate fiction===
{{main|Nautical fiction|Pirates in the arts and popular culture}}
Some historical novels explore life at sea, including [[C. S. Forester]]'s [[Horatio Hornblower|Hornblower series]], [[Patrick O'Brian]]'s [[Aubrey–Maturin series]], [[Douglas Reeman|Alexander Kent]]'s [[The Bolitho novels]], [[Dudley Pope]]'s [[Lord Ramage]]'s series, all of which all deal with the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. There are also adventure novels with pirate characters like [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'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.

===Alternative history===
{{excerpt|Alternate history}}
===Historical Fantasy===
{{excerpt|Historical fantasy}}

===Time travel fiction===
{{excerpt|Time travel fiction}}

===Historiographic metafiction===
{{main|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]].

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.<ref>{{cite book|title =The Collected Novels of José Saramago|publisher= Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|date= 2010|location = Boston|isbn =9780547581002}}</ref>

===Children's historical fiction===
{{see also|:Category:Children's historical novels}}
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]] 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===
{{main|:Category:Historical comics}}
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]] inspired [[graphic novel]]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 [[:Category: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]]''.