“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” ~David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize winning author.
It’s vital that we study and understand history because it shapes who we are and who we will become. History shows the amazing works of God throughout human existence. It’s filled with heroes and villains, noble devotion, and devastating betrayal. Many people like to forget the past because it’s tainted by evil. But that’s no excuse.
David McCullough said, “History is not the story of heroes entirely. It is often the story of cruelty and injustice and shortsightedness. There are monsters, there is evil, there is betrayal. That’s why people should read Shakespeare and Dickens as well as history—they will find the best, the worst, the height of noble attainment and the depths of depravity.”
We can learn from the mistakes and evil deeds of the those in the past, and we can be motivated by the achievements of others. History is far more than meaningless names and dates, it’s vivid stories of humanity. If we forget the past, we are susceptible to being deceived by those who would reinvent history.
George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
But what about historical fiction? What can we learn from a fictional story based in a historical setting? Isn’t it just entertainment? No. We learn from and our impacted positively or negatively by a story. Books capture the imagination better than any other medium. A film displays a colorful and impressive picture, but leaves no room for imagination. A good book, using nothing but words, stimulates a reader’s mind, and transports them to another time and place. We get to imagine what people and places looked like, what it smelled like, sounded like, felt and tasted like. All through a meaningful story.
Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book said it best.
In a way no history textbook can, a historical novel lets us mine the thoughts of real-life people and see their world through their eyes. We get to explore how they lived, what they might have thought and seen and experienced. Instead of reading about a particular person or place, we get to experience it using all of our senses.
Historian Bill Potter said, “Powerful historical novels can determine how people view their own day or the past. Using fictional characters to convey universal truths, the importance of virtue and character, and a vivid construction of the historical context can have more impact on popular culture than the best history book ever written. People love a great story, artfully told, even if it perpetuates a stunted, inaccurate or mythological past, or goes against the prevailing ideology of the official version, often politically motivated or part of a larger agenda.”
That’s why historical novelists must strive for accuracy and begin with a biblical worldview. I write historical fiction because I want to bring history alive for the next generation through compelling, Christ-centered stories.
Till the future is history,
~Shane
All images from Pixabay.com