Colm O'Regan: Historical fiction requires lots of exposition but it's not always accurate
Columnist Colm O'Regan reflects on his enjoyment of Ken Follett's historical fiction novels set in Kingsbridge. He discusses the genre's reliance on exposition and the appeal of reading about historical competence and survival.
Why it matters
It highlights the enduring popularity of historical fiction as a medium for both entertainment and informal education about the past.
Colm O'Regan: "Is there nothing more pleasurable in a book than when the weary, hungry traveller receives good hospitality?"
Colm O'Regan is a comedian, best-selling author, broadcaster and podcaster from Cork.
Dammit, Ken Follett. I wish I knew how to quit you. Actually, I don’t. I’ll take all of that you got.
And by that, I mean his historical novels set around the fictitious town of Kingsbridge in England. I’m about 5,000 pages in between trilogy and prequel. Ranging from Saxon times right up until the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
It’s all English history. But it’s a good way to find out about the history of England.
We can moan all we want about how they were never taught about Ireland in school, but we weren’t really taught about England either, apart from What They Done To Us.
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