Historical fiction can be dangerous

I am a big fan of historical novels. Purists like Henyk Sienkiewicz, and Ivanhoe author, Sir Walter Scott, are quite rare. Today we have Roger Moore and Oliver Stone. Stone's movies are historical novels on film. These are entertaining and most adults accept them for what they are, fiction. However, to this day I meet educated people who feel that Lyndon Johnson had something to do with the death of John F. Kennedy, based on Stone's movie about JFK. Even slightly fictionalizing history can be dangerous. Historical novels (in book form) have the same problem as the films. Historical novels written about very sensitive subjects can be a problem for young minds. What they retain and, more importantly, how they retain, is very important. You hand this book to a 10 or 12 year old and say what? This is a book about slavery but it is not all true. It closely follows the events of the time but it is also a fantasy. - huh? A grade school child can follow this? To me it seems this is more dumbing down the teaching of history. If a subject is that important, read a real history book.

D.O. Lipensky

Wheaton