Exoticizing the past in contemporary neo historical fiction This collection of essays is dedicated to examining the recent literary phenomenon of the neo historical novel a sub genre of contemporary historical fiction which deliberately and self consciously re imagines specific periods of history. The contributions reveal how although set in the past neo historical fiction is very much aimed at answering the needs and preoccupations of the present and discuss the extent to which as a result its representation of one historical period for consumption by another can at times rely on exoticizing strategies. Yet as the essays in this collection demonstrate the neo historical novel can also offer a powerful means of contesting the very exoticist drives it seems to perpetuate through a process of historical re appropriation and re articulation which simultaneously brings to light and challenges persisting cultural misconceptions about the past