Historical fiction has a lot to offer as its readers and devotees know. This book provides an overview of the field, a sense of the historical eras commonly explored and a discussion of commonly raised issues.

Exploring the narrative past; 1. Dogs and cats: the nineteenth-century historical novel for children, Dennis Butts; 2. The twentieth century – giving everybody a history, Fiona M. Collins, Judith Graham; 3. The silent ages: prehistory and Peter Dickinson, Peter Hollindale; 4. A havey-cavey business: language in historical fiction with Part Icular reference to the novels of Joan Aiken and Leon Garfield, Gillian Lathey; 5. ‘Time no longer’ – history, enchantment and the classic time-slip story, Linda Hall; 6. The historical picture book – is it a ‘good thing’?, Judith Graham; 7. Beyond expectations: historical fiction and working children, Liz Thiel; 8. Passage to America: migration and change, Fiona M. Collins; Writing about the narrative past; 9. Waking quests, Julian Atterton; ch0010 ‘Over the stile and into the past’: Children of Winter and other historical fiction, Berlie Doherty; 11. Flesh on the bones, Michael Foreman; 12. Daddy, or serendipity, Philip Pullman; 13. History and time, Rosemary Sutcliff; Teaching the narrative past; 14. Up and Down the City Road: history through dramatic action, Geoff Fox; 15. Stimulating the historical imagination: working with primary age children on books about the plague, Andrea Fellows; 16. Getting under the skin: the EACH Project, Alun Hicks, Dave Martin; 17. Slavery and the Underground Railroad: working with students, Liz Laycock;