The History in a Historical Thriller.

Another "essential question" I was debating on before choosing the Sherlock one was what do Historical Backgrounds add to books. And, as you can tell from my blogging title, I am reading all Historical Thrillers.

I was interested and just wanted to talk about it a little.

Well, for one, it adds a very detailed and set(as in realistic and almost unchanging) background, because these times periods have happened, and events like the civil war, the racism, the corruption in the government, and etc. are true reflections of the time period.

"Barnicoat did not possess knowledge enough to admit this. The coroner was a political appointee, and the position required no special medical or scientific expertise, only a tolerance for dead bodies". The historical settings and details throughout the novel, on top of the plot, not only help to provide more concrete details for the story, but also help to create a clearer image in our minds of the historical happenings/mindsets/ideas floating around during the time periods, which for this book (the Dante Club) is post-civil war/post-reconstruction.

From following the story of Nicolas Rey, the first African-American police officer. As a war hero and excellent solider, he was given the chance, by the mayor to be a police officer. However, as one, he is abused/disrespected by fellow officers and detectives. The officers themselves acutally signed a petition calling for his resignation. Also, many restrictions were placed on him-such as not being allowed to wear a uniform, carrya gun, or arrest a white person without another police officer being present. And to my surprize, other African - Americans feared/rioted the most against him.

I particularly like reading Historical Thrillers because, for one the mystery and plot itself is intriguing and absorbing. Besides that though, being able to relate, especially last year after APUSH, the history/time period I've learnt in school to what is presented in the story is particularly interesting - like recognized the racism or the corruption within the government.