Berthoff, Warner.
Fictions and Events New York:
E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1971.
Burton, Hester. “The Writing of Historical Novels.”
Children and
Literature
. Edited by Virginia Haviland. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1973. Concise and to the point; a working writer’s opinion that is logical.
Catton, Bruce.
Prefaces to History
. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1970.
Collier, Christopher. “Johnny and Sam: Old and New Approaches to the American Revolution.”
Crosscurrents of Criticism
. Edited by Paul Heins. Boston: The Horn Book Incorporated, 1977. A clear explanation about historiography and why it is important in the historical novel.
Denham, Robert D., ed.
Northrop Frye on Culture and Literature
. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Ambiguous and complex theories that are difficult to grasp; these are essays dealing with literary criticism.
Kantor, MacKinlay. “The Historical Novelist’s Obligation to History,” pamphlet, Macon, Georgia: Wesleyan College, 1967. A writer of integrity states his credo about the writing of historical fiction. Succinct and to the point.
Lively, Penelope. “Children and Memory.”
Crosscurrents of Criticism
. Edited by Paul Heins. Boston: The Horn Book Incorporated, 1977. A very interesting theory about what students can learn from historical fiction.
Sutcliff, Rosemary. “History is People.”
Children and Literature
. Edited by Virginia Haviland. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1973. A wonderful essay with wonderful examples to support the human quality of history.
Walsh, Jill Paton. “History is Fiction.”
Crosscurrents of Criticism
. Edited by Paul Heins. Boston: The Horn Book Incorporated, 1977. A defense of the importance of historical fiction; a recognition of the sensational novelists who try to slip their novels in as historical fiction. Very well developed.
Articles and Periodicals
Cohen, Mark. “What Shall We Tell the Children?”
History Today
, Dec. 1979, p. 845-846.
Kakutani, Machiko. “Do Facts and Fiction Mix?” The New York Times Book Review, January 27, 1980, p. 3.
Leneman, Leah. “History as Fiction.”
History Today
, January 1980, p. 52.
Payne, Harry C. “The Novel as Social History.”
The History Teacher
, May 1978, p. 341-342.
