Historical fiction and historical novel are used synonymously, although there is a view that historical fiction is a wider concept than historical novel. Non-novel media such as short stories, TV series and movies can be described as being historical fiction. This distinction is OK, and postings related to the latter are fine. The only reason for not separating was because this group would be a subhierarchy of rec.arts.books, i.e. group for books. As 'novel' is a relatively recent form of literature, most books discussed here have been written in the last two centuries.
Historical fiction combines our curiosity toward history with the story-telling.
A good historical novel must be true to the past as well as be a well- written literature. Neither historical accuracy nor enjoyable story- telling should be the sole criterion when judging a book. A good historical novel invariably succeeds in satisfying both requirements. The Charter of this group follows the general agreement that a historical fiction must meet a third requirement, namely that a book should be a result of creative process by an author who never personally experienced the era it is describing. Admittedly, there are gray areas as in any definition.