The Fair Maid of Perth

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 15th... century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture. The historical novel was further popularized in the 19th century by writers classified as Romantics. Many regard Sir Walter Scott as the first to write historical novels. György Lukács, in his The Historical Novel, argues that Scott is the first fiction writer who saw history not just as a convenient frame in which to stage a contemporary narrative, but rather as a distinct social and cultural setting. His novels of Scottish history such as Waverley and Rob Roy focus upon a middling character who sits at the intersection of various social groups in order to explore the development of society through conflict. His Ivanhoe gains credit for renewing interest in the Middle Ages. Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame furnishes another 19th century example of the romantic-historical novel as does Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
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