It is a text that uses one or more real events, places or characters to tell an invented story. It should be emphasised that historical novels are always fiction, as they include fantastic elements that are not necessarily based on in-depth historical studies.
Although these types of texts should not be used as a reference or study of formal history, they are a great complement to understand some aspects of history, especially in the social spectrum. Historical novels can bear witness to history through the voice of the forgotten, such as The Diary of Anne Frank.
A great example of this phenomenon can be found in Mexico, where the literary genre known as the revolutionary novel was born. This style is characterised by taking passages from the Mexican Revolution and introducing fictional characters that portray the way of life at the time, such as Los de abajo and El águila y la serpiente.