Cowart presents a study of international historical fiction since World War II, with reflections on the affinities between historical and fictional narrative, analysis of the basic modes of historical fiction, and readings of a number of historical novels, including John Barth s "The Sot-Weed Factor, "Marguerite Yourcenar s "Memoirs of Hadrian, "Russell Hoban s "Riddley Walker, "Margaret Atwood s "The Handmaid s Tale, "Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa s "The Leopard, "D. M. Thomas s "The White Hotel, "William Faulkner s "Go Down, Moses, "and Umberto Eco s "The Name of the Rose."

He proposes...