Douglas Jacobson, author of Night of Flames, posted a guest article for "As the Pages Turn" book blog. In it he discusses what it takes to write good historical fiction, and describes his own research into WWII.
Getting it Right . . . Doing Research for Historical Novels
As the old saying goes, “The devil is in the detail.” One of the reasons I have always loved historical fiction is that it is a truly marvelous way to learn a bit of history. Some authors of non-fiction (Stephen Ambrose comes to mind) have a flair and style of writing that make their work enjoyable and easy to read. But, in my humble opinion, there’s nothing quite like curling up with Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance or Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth for the ultimate reading experience . . . and, a great way to learn history.
And that brings us to the issue at hand. Writing good historical fiction places a special burden on the author, the burden of getting it right. (Read more at "As the Pages Turn.")
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