Historical novel as a genre

HISTORICAL NOVEL- a novel whose action unfolds against the backdrop of historical events. The beginnings of the historical novel can be seen already in the Alexandrian era, not only in the historical names that he gives to his heroes, in the style of his novel Hayrey And Collirhoy imitating Thucydides, Chariton of Aphrodisias, but, in particular, in the novels about Alexander the Great and the Trojan Campaign, written in the first centuries of our era and received enormous distribution throughout Europe in the Middle Ages in numerous versions and alterations. However, the touch of supposed historicism that greets us here is perhaps just a convenient device in order to force readers to place the greatest confidence in the uncontrollable fantasy that filled all these works.

Historical novel- a symbol for novels that are heterogeneous in structure and composition, in which obhistorical events of a more or less distant time are narrated, and the characters (main or secondary) can be historical figures.

In European culture, the generally accepted founder and first classic of the genre was Walter Scott, although he had predecessors (for example, Maria Edgeworth). The genre flourished during the Romantic era and remained popular in subsequent periods. The most famous writers of this genre also include Victor Hugo, Fenimore Cooper, Alessandro Manzoni, Heinrich Kleist, Alexander Dumas the Father, in Russian literature - Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Zagoskin, Ivan Lazhechnikov, in Soviet literature - Yuri Tynyanov, Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Sergei Sergeev -Tsensky, Vasily Yan, Valentin Pikul, Dmitry Balashov, Bulat Okudzhava, Yuri Davydov and others.

What is a historical novel A historical novel sets itself the task of depicting people in the conditions of a specific historical time. The task of a historical novel is not to retell major historical events, but to recreate through artistic means the images of those people who participated in these events. The classic historical novel originated in early XIX century, almost simultaneously with the overthrow of Napoleon. And until the 19th century. There were attempts to turn to the past, but only with the advent of Walter Scott in literature was a truly historical novel created. The historical novel before Walter Scott lacks historical thinking, that is, the fact that the characteristics of people's character arise from the historical uniqueness of their time. Great historical art consists in reviving the past as the prehistory of the present, in the artistic revival of those social and human forces that, over a long period of development, have shaped our lives as they are. A true artist makes this whole process so tangible, so clearly visible that we ourselves seem to be participating in it and experiencing it. Why did the historical novel emerge at the beginning of the 19th century? As a result of the French Revolution of 1789, the revolutionary wars, and the rise and fall of Napoleon, interest in history was awakened among the masses. At this time, the masses received an unprecedented historical experience. Over the course of two or three decades (1789-1814), each of the peoples of Europe experienced more upheavals and upheavals than in previous centuries. The conviction is growing that history really exists, that it is a process of continuous change and, finally, that history invades directly the personal life of each person and determines this life. What previously only a few people, mostly people with adventurous inclinations, had the opportunity to experience - to travel and get to know all of Europe, or at least a significant part of it - now, during the Napoleonic wars, became accessible and even necessary for hundreds of thousands and millions people from various segments of the population in almost all European countries. This creates a concrete opportunity for the masses to understand that their entire existence is historically conditioned, to see in history something that invades everyday life - and, therefore, something that every person cares about. It was on this social basis that the historical novel created by Walter Scott arose.

Typology of the historical novel

The Soviet writer V. S. Pikul, for example, created historical chronicle novels: “Word and Deed” (1974), “The Battle of the Iron Chancellors” (1977), “The Favorite” (1982) and many others. He collected a huge number of documents, memoirs, statements of historical figures or ordinary contemporaries of events and arranged all the information in the order that he considered best for expressing his ideas.

In this type of novel, everything is historical truth and there is practically no author’s fiction, but there is a lack of psychological depth and artistic persuasiveness. Once upon a time, Yu. N. Tynyanov, the author of the wonderful historical novels “Kyukhlya” (1925), “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” (1928), said: “Where the document ends, I begin.” To paraphrase Tynyanov, Pikul could say about himself: “I finish writing where the document ends.” The second type of historical novel is a work where the heroes are dressed in costumes of a certain era, where next to fictional characters historical figures coexist, with the main characters being fictional, and the real characters belonging to the event background.

A striking example of this type of novel is “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas - a work with an exciting, masterfully “twisted” intrigue. Its construction is the main goal of the author, and the desire to understand and convey the content of the depicted era becomes a secondary task. In fairness, it should be noted that French literary scholars found a real prototype of d'Artagnan, but this man remained in the history of France only thanks to his modest memoirs. Jokingly but surely, we struck the essence of such novels by the Soviet writer Daniil Granin: “What do I care if he followed historical truth Alexandre Dumas and The Three Musketeers! And he did the right thing in not observing." The works of M.N. can be classified as a broken type of historical novel.

Zagoskina "Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612" (1829), "Roslavlev, or Russians in 1812" (1830). Historical novels The two named types become interesting to readers if they are written by talented authors, such as Pikul or Dumas. However, there is a third type of historical novel - not a historical chronicle, not “costumed” adventures, but a work that has a real historical background, an entertaining plot and a serious, one might say philosophical, understanding of the depicted era. The authors of novels of the third type are interested not only in compliance with the documentary source (as in novels of the first type), not only in historical exoticism, the external flavor of place and time (as in novels of the second type); they are attracted by the connection between past and present, knowledge of modern public and private life through understanding the past. Similar historical works include the novel by A.

S. Pushkin " Captain's daughter", L. N. Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace", A. N. Tolstoy's novel "Peter the Great". Novels of the third type are characterized by the desire to show history through artistic images, and not through historical facts and costumes that are easy to find respectively in historical documents and in ancient portraits.

Roman A.K. Tolstoy's "Prince Silver" as a genre of historical fiction

thesis

1.1 The emergence and development of the historical novel in Russia

The end of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century were an era of great historical events - social changes, bloody wars, and political upheavals. Great French bourgeois revolution, the brilliant rise and dramatic finale of Napoleon, national liberation revolutions - in the West, Patriotic War 1812 and the Decembrist uprising - in Russia...

All this gave rise to a heightened sense of history in the minds of the people of that time, in which the most sensitive contemporaries saw a new distinctive feature century, contributed to the formation of a special “historical direction” of thought, attention, and interests.

This was reflected with great force, and even above all, in fiction. Folds up new genre historical novel, the emergence and magnificent flowering of which is associated with the name of the great English writer Walter Scott (1771-1832). The novels of Walter Scott are still read with great interest, but for the people of that time they were a highly innovative phenomenon, the most important artistic discovery. These are the first steps in the formation and development of the genre of historical novel.

Under the pen of Walter Scott, the very type of historical novel took shape, organically combining artistic fiction with real historical reality. The formula for such a novel is precisely based on the experience of Walter Scott and his many followers in all major European literatures Pushkin gave: “In our time, by the word novel we mean historical era, developed on a fictional narrative" [Pushkin, 1949, vol. 11, 92].

In our work, we are interested in the emergence of the Russian historical novel. Let's move on to consider this issue.

The emergence of the historical novel dates back to the 30s, the successes of which reflected the development of the national-historical self-awareness of Russian society and the rise of its interest in the Russian past.

The success and rapid development of the historical novel gave rise to a lively debate around its problems in magazines and literary circles in the first half of the 1930s. “At this time they talked a lot about local color, about historicity, about the need to recreate history in poetry, in the novel,” testifies Adam Mickiewicz, an attentive observer of the development of Russian literature of that time. The controversy surrounding the problems of the historical novel was important point in the struggle for realism in Russian literature, which Pushkin began in the mid-20s and then continued by Belinsky.

Attention to the historical past, reflecting the growth of national self-awareness of peoples, at the same time testified to the ever deeper penetration of reality and its interests into art and social thought. Belinsky points out that all further activity of progressive thought will and should be based on history, grow from historical soil.

Mikhail Nikolaevich Zagoskin was the first to contribute to the creation of a new genre of historical novel for Russian literature. The first such novel about “one of our own” was “Yuri Miloslavsky, or the Russians in 1612,” which appeared in 1829. His primacy is not only chronological (his “Yuri Miloslavsky” was published six months earlier than Bulgarin’s “Dmitry the Pretender”). Zagoskin, in his first historical novel, managed to most deeply touch the sense of national identity inherent in any social stratum in Russia at that time.

For Zagoskin, writing “Yuri Miloslavsky” became a kind of creative feat, a test of all his spiritual and intellectual strength. This is how Aksakov describes Zagoskin’s state at the time when “he began to prepare for writing a historical novel. He was completely immersed in this thought; completely overwhelmed by it; his usual absent-mindedness, to which he had long been accustomed and which was no longer noticed, intensified to such an extent that everyone noticed it, and everyone asked each other what had happened to Zagoskin? He doesn't see who he's talking to and doesn't know what he's saying? Meeting short friends on the streets, he did not recognize anyone, did not return bows and did not hear greetings: he was reading at that time historical documents and lived in 1612" [Aksakov, 1986, vol. 3, 400].

Over the next few years, many historical novels appeared, of which “Roslavlev, or the Russians in 1812” (1830) by M.N. played a certain role in the development of the genre. Zagoskina, “Dimitri the Pretender” (1829) by F.V. Bulgarin, “The Oath at the Holy Sepulcher” (1832) by N. Polevoy, “The Last Novik, or the conquest of Livonia under Peter I,” published in parts in 1831-1833, “Ice house" (1835) and "Basurman" (1838) by I. I. Lazhechnikov. In 1835, Gogol’s story “Taras Bulba” was published. In 1836, Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter” appeared. The Russian historical novel was created.

Among the authors of historical novels of the 30s, as noted above, a prominent place is occupied by Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov, who, according to Belinsky, acquired wide popularity and “loud authority” among his contemporaries. The son of a rich, enlightened merchant, who communicated with N.I. Novikov, he received a good education at home. Captured by the widespread upsurge of patriotism in 1812, he ran away from home, participated in the Patriotic War, and visited Paris. Subsequently, in his “Marching Notes of a Russian Officer,” published in 1820, Lazhechnikov sympathetically noted progressive phenomena European culture and protested, albeit restrainedly, against serfdom. Subsequently, he served for a number of years as a school director; By the 60s, his moderate liberalism had dried up, and his talent as a novelist had weakened; only his published memoirs about life meetings (with Belinsky and others) are of undoubted interest.

Each of Lazhechnikov’s novels was the result of the author’s careful work on sources known to him, careful study of documents, memoirs and the area where the events described took place. Lazhechnikov’s first novel, “The Last Novik,” is distinguished by these features. Lazhechnikov chose Livonia as the main setting for the action, which was familiar to him and, perhaps, attracted his imagination with the ruins of ancient castles.

The plot of "The Last Novik" is romantic. The author resorted to an unsuccessful fiction, making the hero of the novel the son of Princess Sophia and Prince Vasily Golitsyn. IN early years he almost became the murderer of Tsarevich Peter. After the overthrow of Sophia and the removal of Golitsyn from power, he had to flee abroad to escape execution. There he matured and took a fresh look at the situation in Russia. He followed Peter's activities with sympathy, but considered it impossible for him to return to his homeland. When war broke out between Russia and Sweden, Novik secretly began to help the Russian army that invaded Livonia. Having gained confidence in the chief of the Swedish troops, Schlippenbach, he reported on his forces and plans to the commander of the Russian army in Livonia, Sheremetyev, contributing to the victory of the Russian troops over the Swedes. Thus arose a dramatic situation in a romantic spirit. The last Novik is both a hero and a criminal: he is Peter's secret friend and knows that Peter is hostile towards him. The conflict is resolved by the fact that the last Novik returns to his homeland secretly, receives forgiveness, but no longer feeling the strength to participate in Peter’s reforms, goes to a monastery, where he dies.

The novel exposes the hypocritical, soulless serf-owning attitude of the Livonian barons towards the peasants and their needs, hidden under the mask of patriarchy. At the same time, the author could well count on the reader being able to apply the images of the Livonian serf landowners to Russian reality. Their black world is opposed in the novel by noble people: zealots of enlightenment and true patriots I.R. Patkul, doctor Blumentrost, pastor Gluck and his pupil - the future Catherine I, noble officers - the Traufert brothers, learned librarian, natural history lover Big and others. Most of them are historical figures. These characters are the bearers of historical progress in the novel. They all admire the personality of Peter I, sympathize with his activities, and wish for a rapprochement between Livonia and Russia.

In light colors, Lazhechnikov paints the image of Peter himself, combining the simplicity and grandeur that are given in two scenes of Pushkin’s “Arap Peter the Great.” But if Pushkin clearly imagined controversial nature activities of Peter, then in Lazhechnikov’s novel the Petrine era, Peter himself and his associates are extremely idealized. Lazhechnikov does not show any social contradictions and political struggles, he ignores the barbaric management methods used by Peter. The appearance of Peter is given in the spirit of the romantic theory of genius.

Lazhechnikov's most significant novel is The Ice House (1835). When creating it, the novelist read the memoirs of figures from Anna Ioannovna’s time - Manstein, Minich and others, published at the beginning of the 19th century. This allowed him to recreate with sufficient accuracy the atmosphere of court life during the time of Anna Ioannovna and the images of some historical figures, although in sketching them he considered it possible, according to his views, to change something in comparison with reality. This applies primarily to the hero of the novel, Cabinet Minister Art. Volynsky, slandered by the Empress’s favorite German Biron and sentenced to terrible execution. The writer idealized his image in many ways. The historical role of Volynsky, who fought against the temporary foreigner, was undoubtedly progressive. But in historical Volyn positive traits combined with negative ones. Peter I beat him more than once for his covetousness. Like other nobles of his time, Volynsky was no stranger to sycophancy, vanity, and careerism. All these features of his personality are eliminated by the writer. Volynsky in the novel is full of concern for the welfare of the state and the people, exhausted by heavy exactions; He enters into the fight with Biron only for the good of his homeland.

Volynsky's rival, the arrogant temporary worker and oppressor of the people Biron, is sketched by the writer much closer to the historical appearance of the empress's favorite. Despite all Lazhechnikov’s caution, the drawn image of Anna Ioannovna herself testified to her limitations, lack of will, and lack of any spiritual interests. The construction of the ice house, in which the wedding of the buffoon couple was celebrated, is shown by the writer as an expensive and cruel entertainment.

The plot presented Lazhechnikov with the opportunity to deeply reveal the plight of the people. For the holiday, conceived by Volynsky for the amusement of the Empress, young couples were brought from all over the country, creating the image of a multinational Russia. In the fear and humiliation experienced by the participants of the play in the ice house, in the fate of the Ukrainian tortured by Bironov’s minions, the theme of the suffering of the Russian people under the yoke of Bironovism is heard. Conveying the dreams of the firecracker Mrs. Kulkovskaya about how she, the “future pillar noblewoman,” will “buy peasants in her name and beat them with her hands,” and, if necessary, resort to the help of an executioner, Lazhechnikov lifts the veil over serfdom morals, expressing his indignant attitude towards serfdom, his position as a humanist writer.

In the plot of the novel, political and love intrigues are constantly intertwined, romantic love Volynsky to the beautiful Moldavian Marioritsa. This line of plot development sometimes interferes with the first, weakening the historicism of The Ice House. But it does not go beyond the life and customs of the capital noble society of that time. Not always skillfully intertwining the two main motives of the plot development of the novel, Lazhechnikov, unlike most historical fiction writers of his time, does not subordinate history to fiction: the main situations and the ending of the novel are determined by the political struggle between Volynsky and Biron.

Reproducing in the novel “local color”, some interesting features of the morals and life of that time, the writer truthfully showed how state affairs were intertwined in the time of Anna Ioannovna with the palace and home life of the queen and her entourage. The scene of the people's fright at the appearance of the “language”, at the utterance of the terrible “word and deed”, which entailed torture in the Secret Chancellery, is historically accurate. The Yuletide amusements of the girls, the belief in sorcerers and fortune-tellers, the images of the gypsy, the palace jesters and firecrackers, the idea with the ice house and the court entertainments of the bored Anna, which the cabinet minister himself had to deal with - all these are picturesque and true features of the morals of that time. In historical and everyday paintings and episodes, in depicting the horrors of Bironovism, the realistic stream in the writer’s work continues to flow.

Let us turn directly to the novel by A.K. Tolstoy "Prince Silver". Based on all of the above, we will try to identify in him the features characteristic of the genre artistic historical prose.

1.2 Features of historical literary prose in the novel by A.K. Tolstoy

The novel "Prince Silver" is of undeniable interest as a notable milestone in the formation of some artistic principles genre of historical fiction in Russian literature.

Boguslavsky notes “unlike many authors of historical novels of the first half of the nineteenth century, A.K. Tolstoy did not strive for a primitive, superficial fictionalization of specific historical material, but for the reconstruction of that moment in national history, which seemed to him the embryo of a historical drama that subsequently played out over many decades. Such a moment from the past can deeply excite a true artist.

The writer had at his disposal extensive factual material, which he subjected to careful selection, grouping and fine processing. Tolstoy strove for such an artistic organization of this material that the main thoughts and ideological premises of the author, the unconditional moral condemnation of Ivan the Terrible and his despotism would not only become clear to the reader, but would be artistically proven. The writer's human sincerity and civic excitement captivate the reader. The author does not talk from above, does not make categorical judgments, does not make declarations - he thinks together with the reader and together with him looks for the answer to his questions. The author's ardent interest, evident from literally every line of the work, is one of the integral signs of real literature.

A.K. Tolstoy objected to the pedantic, literal adherence to historical facts in a work of art. The writer, who persistently put forward the thesis of the predominance of the psychological principle over the documentary-event, believed that the truth of life, the internal logic of the artistic image often force a shift historical facts. He defended the right to fiction, the thesis of the artist’s freedom of creative treatment with material as the most important principles of his aesthetic code. This author's tendency is felt very clearly in the novel. In many cases, the writer, for purely artistic reasons, deliberately “condenses events”, condenses facts that actually happened over a number of years into the two months covered in the novel. So, for example: the disgrace of Metropolitan Philip Kolychev does not date back to 1565, when the novel takes place, but to 1568; murder of Kolychev by Malyuta - by December 1569. Neither A. Vyazemsky nor the Basmanovs were executed; Their fall from grace dates back to 1570 and was associated with the “Novgorod treason.” Neither Boris Godunov (who was only thirteen years old in 1565) nor the eleven-year-old Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, naturally, could during this period play the role assigned to them in the novel; in particular, Godunov was first mentioned in documents only in 1567 - at the same time, by the way, when Malyuta was first encountered... Tolstoy is equally bold in uniting genuine historical characters in a single action as with characters behind whom one can guess a specific historical prototype, and with fictional characters. The images of the guardsmen are “condensed” and somewhat schematized in the novel. Vyazemsky is endowed with a superficial “stormy-melodramatic” (as one critic wrote) character; The image of Malyuta is painted with only black paint and does not go further than the traditional type of villain who settled in historical novels long before “Prince Silver”. Young Basmanov, although sculpted by the author more clearly than the other guardsmen, also turns out to be devoid of an integral character.

In its architectonics, the novel is very capacious; several different storylines develop as if independently of one another and at the same time all converge into a single action. Tolstoy showed himself to be an extraordinary master of rhythmic construction: chapters, internally very intense, are replaced by smooth, calm in tone; storylines full of energetic action alternate with other lines lacking such action.

The plot is skillfully intensified, and the 20th chapter, middle in position in the novel, is at the same time the culmination in content and the largest in volume; it successfully combines such heterogeneous material as the interrogation of Serebryany in prison, the dispute between Malyuta and Godunov, the falconry scene, the meeting of the king with the blind, and the confession of the robber Korshun.

The harmonious architectonics of the novel is somewhat disrupted by the last, 40th chapter, which not only in time (after “seventeen difficult years”), but also in content falls out of the general fabric of the work and is deprived of an organic connection with the previous one. The style of the novel combines romantic and realistic elements, but the realistic tendency clearly predominates.

One of the important artistic features"Prince Silver" is the author's submission to the realistic trend. It is reflected, in particular, in the careful attention with which the writer paid to everyday details, to the recreation of a real historical situation in all its original colorfulness.

With what knowledge, how interesting and “tasty” the novel describes the utensils, clothing, ceremonial horse harness, and weapons common in Rus' in the 16th century (chapters 8, 15, 36); how colorful and tangibly convincing the scene of the royal feast is.

An important role in the artistic fabric of the novel is played by lyrical digressions, which are accompanied by the author's preface and conclusion. In these digressions the theme of the homeland develops, native nature, her beauty is glorified. Each of these lyrical digressions(about Russian song in Chapter 2, about the homeland and its past in Chapters 14 and 20, about Russian nature in Chapter 22) is an example of magnificent artistic prose and connects the novel with Tolstoy’s lyrical poetry, imbued with the same motives.

The language of the novel is full of archaisms, historicisms, and phraseological units. The author includes this layer of vocabulary to more accurately and completely recreate the flavor of the era. The author's attraction to the epic folklore tradition is noticeable; a number of episodes are written in language heroic epics(Ring’s story about Ermak in Chapter 13, the scene on the Poganaya Pool in Chapter 14, the episode of Maxim’s mortal wound in Chapter 26, etc.).

In the first paragraph, we indicated the features of a historical novel and identified these features in the novel by A.K. Tolstoy "Prince Silver". These features are:

1. the novel organically combines fiction with real historical reality;

2. the language of the novel is rich in temporal indicators of the era.

In the following paragraphs we will consider these features in more detail.

novel temporal archaism historicism

"Golden Age" of Russian Literature. Romanticism, realism

A major role in the development of national self-awareness was played by the work of N.M. Karamzin “History of the Russian State”. The basis of this process is imbued with the “Philosophical Letters” of P.Ya. Chaadaeva...

Emergence ancient Russian literature

Pagan legends in Ancient Rus' were not written down, but were transmitted orally. Christian teaching was presented in books, therefore, with the adoption of Christianity, books appeared in Rus'. Books were brought from Byzantium, Greece, Bulgaria...

Dandy and dandyism in Russian culture of the 19th century

Genre originality of Mary Renault's historical novels of the 50s - 80s. XX century

The genre of a literary work is determined on the basis of several principles: whether the work belongs to a particular type of literature; prevailing aesthetic pathos (satirical, comic, tragic, pathetic, etc....

Intellectual literature of the twentieth century

Western intellectual (philosophical) prose of the 20th century is marked by the penetration of detached intellect into the sphere of the reflective-unconscious, into the archaic structures of mythopoetic texts...

Origins folk books about Doctor Faustus

Faust is one of eternal images in world literature. It arises from folk books about Doctor Faustus. It is assumed that the hero of folk books, Doctor Faustus, is a historical figure. Faust lived in Germany in the 16th century...

Features of the concept sphere in Walter Scott's historical novel "Quentin Durward"

A historical novel is a work of art whose theme is the historical past (some researchers indicate a chronological framework - no earlier than 75 years before the text was written, that is, the life of three generations)...

Features of the concept sphere in Walter Scott's historical novel "Quentin Durward"

Sir Walter Scott - English novelist, essayist, historian, poet and politician, left behind a unique literary heritage. He is rightly called “the creator of the historical novel genre”...

Roman like literary genre

Romanticism

Romanticism in literature

In the 19th century, Russia was somewhat culturally isolated. Romanticism arose seven years later than in Europe. We can talk about his some imitation. In Russian culture there was no opposition between man and the world and God. Zhukovsky appears...

Satirical and fantastic beginning in Lao She's novel "Notes on Cat City"

The defeat of the Qing dynasty shook up all layers of Chinese society, which contributed to the emergence of two opposition political trends - revolutionary democratic and reformist...

The originality of A. Blok's patriotic lyrics

The theme of Russia in Blok's lyrics

The cycle "On the Kulikovo Field" is Blok's highest poetic achievement of 1907 - 1908. A piercing sense of homeland coexists here with a special kind of “lyrical historicism”, the ability to see one’s own - intimately close - today and eternal in the past of Russia...

The end of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century were an era of great historical events - social changes, bloody wars, and political upheavals. The Great French Bourgeois Revolution, the brilliant rise and dramatic finale of Napoleon, national liberation revolutions in the West, the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising in Russia...

All this gave rise to a heightened sense of history in the minds of people of that time, in which the most sensitive contemporaries saw a new distinctive feature of the century, and contributed to the formation of a special “historical direction” of thought, attention, and interests.

This was reflected with great force, and even above all, in fiction. A new genre of historical novel is emerging, the emergence and flourishing of which is associated with the name of the great English writer Walter Scott (1771-1832). Walter Scott's novels are still read with great interest, but for the people of that time they were a highly innovative phenomenon, a major artistic discovery. These are the first steps in the formation and development of the genre of historical novel.

Under the pen of Walter Scott, the very type of historical novel took shape, organically combining artistic fiction with real historical reality. Pushkin gave the formula for such a novel precisely on the basis of the experience of Walter Scott and his many followers in all major European literatures: “In our time, by the word novel we mean a historical era developed on a fictional narrative” [Pushkin, 1949, vol. 11, 92].

In our work, we are interested in the emergence of the Russian historical novel. Let's move on to consider this issue.

The success and rapid development of the historical novel gave rise to a lively debate around its problems in magazines and literary circles in the first half of the 1930s. “At this time they talked a lot about local color, about historicity, about the need to recreate history in poetry, in the novel,” testifies Adam Mickiewicz, an attentive observer of the development of Russian literature of that time. The controversy surrounding the problems of the historical novel was an important moment in the struggle for realism in Russian literature, which Pushkin began in the mid-20s and then continued by Belinsky.

For Zagoskin, writing “Yuri Miloslavsky” became a kind of creative feat, a test of all his spiritual and intellectual strength. This is how Aksakov describes Zagoskin’s state at the time when “he began to prepare for writing a historical novel. He was completely immersed in this thought; completely overwhelmed by it; his usual absent-mindedness, to which he had long been accustomed and which was no longer noticed, intensified to such an extent that everyone noticed it, and everyone asked each other what had happened to Zagoskin? He doesn't see who he's talking to and doesn't know what he's saying? Meeting short friends on the streets, he did not recognize anyone, did not answer bows and did not hear greetings: he was reading historical documents at that time and lived in 1612” [Aksakov, 1986, vol. 3, 400].

Among the authors of historical novels of the 30s, as noted above, a prominent place is occupied by Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov, who, according to Belinsky, acquired wide popularity and “loud authority” among his contemporaries. The son of a rich, enlightened merchant, who communicated with N.I. Novikov, he received a good education at home. Captured by the widespread upsurge of patriotism in 1812, he ran away from home, participated in the Patriotic War, and visited Paris. Subsequently, in his “Marching Notes of a Russian Officer,” published in 1820, Lazhechnikov sympathetically noted the progressive phenomena of European culture and protested, albeit restrainedly, against serfdom. Subsequently, he served for a number of years as a school director; by the 60s, his moderate liberalism had dried up, and his talent as a novelist had weakened; only his published memoirs about life meetings (with Belinsky and others) are of undoubted interest.

The plot of "The Last Novik" is romantic. The author resorted to an unsuccessful fiction, making the hero of the novel the son of Princess Sophia and Prince Vasily Golitsyn. In his youth, he almost became the murderer of Tsarevich Peter. After the overthrow of Sophia and the removal of Golitsyn from power, he had to flee abroad to escape execution. There he matured and took a fresh look at the situation in Russia. He followed Peter's activities with sympathy, but considered it impossible for him to return to his homeland. When war broke out between Russia and Sweden, Novik secretly began to help the Russian army that invaded Livonia. Having gained confidence in the chief of the Swedish troops, Schlippenbach, he reported on his forces and plans to the commander of the Russian army in Livonia, Sheremetyev, contributing to the victory of the Russian troops over the Swedes. Thus arose a dramatic situation in a romantic spirit. The last Novik is both a hero and a criminal: he is Peter's secret friend and knows that Peter is hostile towards him. The conflict is resolved by the fact that the last Novik returns to his homeland secretly, receives forgiveness, but no longer feeling the strength to participate in Peter’s reforms, goes to a monastery, where he dies.

In light colors, Lazhechnikov paints the image of Peter himself, combining the simplicity and grandeur that are given in two scenes of Pushkin’s “Arap Peter the Great.” But if Pushkin clearly understood the contradictory nature of Peter’s activities, then in Lazhechnikov’s novel the Petrine era, Peter himself and his associates are extremely idealized. Lazhechnikov does not show any social contradictions and political struggles; he ignores the barbaric management methods used by Peter. The appearance of Peter is given in the spirit of the romantic theory of genius.

Lazhechnikov's most significant novel is The Ice House (1835). When creating it, the novelist read the memoirs of figures from Anna Ioannovna’s time - Manstein, Minich and others, published at the beginning of the 19th century. This allowed him to recreate with sufficient accuracy the atmosphere of court life during the time of Anna Ioannovna and the images of some historical figures, although in sketching them he considered it possible, according to his views, to change something in comparison with reality. This applies primarily to the hero of the novel, Cabinet Minister Art. Volynsky, slandered by the Empress’s favorite German Biron and sentenced to terrible execution. The writer idealized his image in many ways. The historical role of Volynsky, who fought against the temporary foreigner, was undoubtedly progressive. But in historical Volyn, positive features were combined with negative ones. Peter I beat him more than once for his covetousness. Like other nobles of his time, Volynsky was no stranger to sycophancy, vanity, and careerism. All these features of his personality are eliminated by the writer. Volynsky in the novel is full of concern for the welfare of the state and the people, exhausted by heavy exactions; He enters into the fight with Biron only in the name of the good of his homeland.

In the plot of the novel, political and love intrigues, Volynsky’s romantic love for the beautiful Moldavian Marioritsa, are constantly intertwined. This line of plot development sometimes interferes with the first, weakening the historicism of The Ice House. But it does not go beyond the framework of life and morals of the capital's noble society of that time. Not always skillfully intertwining the two main motives of the plot development of the novel, Lazhechnikov, unlike most historical fiction writers of his time, does not subordinate history to fiction: the main situations and the ending of the novel are determined by the political struggle between Volynsky and Biron.

Let us turn directly to the novel by A.K. Tolstoy "Prince Silver". Based on all of the above, we will try to identify in it the features characteristic of the genre of artistic historical prose.

The Russian novel has its own characteristic features developments due to the uniqueness of the country’s historical process. In ancient Russian literature, the religious worldview took a central place. Therefore, the literature of that era was entirely imbued with religious and moralistic sentiments; it didn't even have the slightest forms short stories and novels. Forms of political epic (“military tales”) and religious epic (“hagiography”) were created. The Russian novel began to take shape in the 18th century. For two hundred years, the Russian novel has gone all that way historical development, which took the French novel up to six centuries. By the beginning of the 18th century. From a moralistic, morally descriptive story (“Woe-misfortune,” “Savva Grudtsin,” etc.) a “philistine short story” gradually grew, a striking example of which is “The Tale of Frol Skobeev.”

In the eighteenth century, much was done to establish new Russian literature; the foundations of many genres, including epic, were laid, which received powerful development already in the nineteenth century.

The development of the historical novel in Russia occurred faster than, for example, in France, and, therefore, it is necessary to understand which processes proceeded differently and why. We will find out the varieties of the novel during the 18th - 19th centuries, and what significance the emergence of the historical novel had in Russian literature. This will serve as the necessary background for turning to Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy’s novel “Prince Silver” and carefully examining it. This novel has received insufficient attention in research. The works examined the language in Tolstoy’s work, the author’s use of folklore, or his passion for the era of Ivan the Terrible, but specifically about the novel “Prince Silver” not as much has been written as we would like, but the novel is interesting for research. Therefore, our study attempts to study the novel by A.K. Tolstoy’s “Prince Silver” in terms of continuity of the tradition of the historical novel.

During the Middle Ages, numerous narrative works arose, which were disseminated orally by traveling singer-storytellers. These works are knightly epics and legends in their genre. They are also united into cycles around heroes and plots. They answer the same ideological questions that the epics of antiquity answered, but on a new social basis and in a new style. They heroize the exploits of knights, bearers of moral valor, the political identity of chivalry, and religious orthodoxy. Epic and legend of the ancient and middle ages, being large narrative works, however, were not yet what later received the name of the novel.

Continuing this in the second half of the 18th century. adventurous novels arise (Iv. Novikov, M. Komarov, M. Chulkov " Pretty cook"). A medieval novel is a chain of adventure stories united by one or more heroes. The adventure novel reflected an interest in the individual personality and its fate.

At the same time, in literature there are translated adventure-knightly novels, mainly French, on the model of which Russian writers of the classic era are trying to create their own works. At the very end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. under the pen of Izmailov, Narezhny and others, a moralizing adventure novel appears, combining idyllic and satirical sketches of the morals of the province and the capital. In the 20-30s. XIX century the adventurous “moral-descriptive” novel continues to develop. An example of such a novel is considered to be Bulgarin’s novel “Ivan Vyzhigin” and others. Researchers trace the line of the noble morally descriptive and incriminating novel from Narezhny and Kvitka-Osnovyanenko (“Pan Khalyavsky”) and ending with Gogol. A social and everyday realistic novel also emerges, based on relevant examples of English and French novel. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” and Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time” become models for a whole galaxy of novelists of the 1850-60s. Of these, “I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov and L.N. Tolstoy reaches great heights with his realistic novels." In written different styles In the works of these authors one can find a description of social reality and the individuality of images. A.I. Herzen, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.G. Pomyalovsky, V.A. Sleptsov and I.V. Omulevsky dedicated their novels to the resolution social problems who did on Russian soil what they German literature created by the fiction writers of Young Germany. The subsequent period produces such works as “Anna Karenina” and “Resurrection” by L.N. Tolstoy. In the 1870-80s. many novelists appear (B.M. Markevich, V.V. Krestovsky, V.G. Avseenko, etc.). Some fiction writers are trying to continue the traditions of the classic realist novel.

The authors began to write novels, but no longer the adventure-naturalistic ones of the old style, but everyday, psychological, social, realistic novels. Having developed in the works of the Middle Ages as a definite and complete literary genre, showing a separate circle of ideological interests, the novel now expresses the corresponding ideological and artistic needs of new social strata of modern times. In each individual national literature this happened in accordance with the course of the country's historical development. By the 1830s, a special direction in literature began to take shape - the historical novel. He, one might say, “absorbed” those achievements in the field of the novel genre that were achieved in previous years. Its emergence is explained by the fact that the Russian people sought to know and understand their historical past.

The first such novel about “one of our own” was the novel by I.I. Zagoskina “Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612”, which appeared in 1829. Over the next few years, many historical novels appeared, of which “Roslavlev, or the Russians in 1812” (1830) by M.N. played a certain role in the development of the genre. Zagoskina, “Dimitri the Pretender” (1829) by F. Bulgarin, “Oath at the Holy Sepulcher” (1832) by N. Polevoy, “The Last Novik, or the conquest of Livonia under Peter 1”, published in parts in 1831-1833, “Ice House” (1835) and “Basurman” (1838) by I.I. Lazhechnikova. In 1835, the story by N.V. was published. Gogol's "Taras Bulba", in 1836 "The Captain's Daughter" by A.S. appears. Pushkin.

The first who gave the concept of how to build a historical novel with a skillful combination of fictional heroes with real heroes who go back to truly existing persons was Walter Scott. In the second decade of the 19th century in Russia, his novels were very popular. It was his traditions that the authors began to adhere to when they began to write novels of this genre. A historical novel, according to the writer, must reproduce history more fully than a scientific-historical study, and for this it must combine real historical figures and fictional ones, depict privacy people, combining love intrigue and political action. For example, in the novel "Quentin Dorward", events are passed through the prism of a central fictional character, usually unremarkable, who, by the will of fate, turns out to be a participant in various events. This allows us to depict great historical figures and reveal their human characters. Meeting plot hero with a historical person, on whom his fate then depends, in V. Scott happens by chance, on the road, in a tavern, and the hero usually does not know with whom he is dealing. They manage to provide each other with some services, and then their new meeting, already in different circumstances, often as representatives of fighting camps, and a very dramatic collision is created. This is how W. Scott builds the relationship between the Scotsman Quentin Dorward, who was hired for palace service, and the cruel French king Louis XI. Special significance in W. Scott's novels they acquired detailed descriptions of the area with all its features, the flavor of the era, and costumes. It was also important for him to show the customs, habits, and prejudices of the people of that era. However, the writer does not strive to fully adhere to the reliability of the facts; he rearranges dates and speculates on the character of this or that historical figure. Zagoskin, following the traditions of W. Scott, does the same: the action of the novel begins in the spring of 1612, and the heroes only learn about the facts that have already happened: about the Muscovites’ oath to Vladislav, about the murder of False Dmitry, about the capture of Smolensk. The novelist's main task was not to reproduce the episodes chronologically, but to recreate the “spirit” of that era. In the novels of V. Scott, as in those of his followers, in the foreground, as a rule, the image of fictional characters is in the foreground, and historical figures are a kind of background for them.

The first collection of the historical works of Walter Scott was published in Edinburgh in 1827. Then they were republished several times and translated into foreign languages. Walter Scott as a critic aroused considerable interest in France in the 1830s. Several articles appeared in Russian translation in “Son of the Fatherland” (1826-1829) and in other 19th-century magazines. Special meaning acquired the history of “old morals”. The spiritual life of the nation, starting with the works of W. Scott, has become an integral component of the historical novel. The success and rapid development of the historical novel caused a lively debate in magazines and literary circles in the first half of the 30s of the 19th century. Adam Mickiewicz said: “At that time they talked a lot about local color, about historicity, about the need to recreate history in poetry, in the novel.” The controversy surrounding the problems of the historical novel was an important moment in the struggle for realism in Russian literature, which was started by Pushkin in the mid-20s of the 19th century and then continued by Belinsky.

For Belinsky, the development of the historical novel in Russian literature was not only the result of the influence of Walter Scott, as claimed by S.P. Shevyrev and O.I. Senkovsky, but a manifestation of the “spirit of the times”. Attention to the historical past, which spoke of the growing national self-awareness of the people, also testified to a deeper penetration of reality and its interests into art and social thought. Belinsky points out that all further activity of progressive thought will and should be based on history, grow from historical soil. According to Belinsky, the significance of Walter Scott was that he “completed the connection of art with life, taking history as an intermediary.” “Art itself has now become predominantly historical; the historical novel and historical drama interest one and all more than works of the same kind that belong to the sphere of pure fiction,” the critic noted. In attention to history and reality, he saw the movement of Russian literature towards realism.

V. Scott's novels are usually divided into two main groups. The first is dedicated to the past of Scotland, the period civil war. This is a whole gallery of Scottish types from a wide variety of social strata, but mainly the peasantry. Writer versus "sentimental" literature XVIII V. takes a further step towards the development of the novel. Scott's second main group of novels deals with the past of England and continental countries, mainly the Middle Ages and the 16th century. (“Ivanhoe”). There is historicism here, especially external historicism, a resurrection of the atmosphere and color of the era. The picture he gives of the “classical” Middle Ages reveals a reality that is different from modernity. This has never happened before in the literature. This was a real discovery. Each of Scott's novels is based on a specific concept of the historical process in given time. Thus, “Quentin Dorward” gives not only artistic image Louis XI and his entourage, but reveals the essence of his policy. The Ivanhoe concept, where the central event for England at the end of the 12th century. The national struggle between the Saxons and the Normans was put forward and turned out to be extremely important for the science of history - it was the impetus for the famous French historian Og. Thierry.

The tradition of W. Scott had a powerful influence on world literature, especially in Russian. She gave impetus to the creation of a Russian historical novel. And later, when this genre began to develop, writers continued to rely on the traditions of W. Scott. Already in the second half of the nineteenth century, Russian literature was enriched with excellent examples of the historical novel. Not the last role in the development of the historical novel goes to A.K. Tolstoy, who becomes the successor to the traditions of Zagoskin, Lazhechnikov and Veltman, while managing to bring something of his own to literature. A striking example Similar novels in his work are the novel “Prince Silver”.

The history of Russia is no less exciting, important and interesting than the world. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

Why do we study Russian history? Who among us did not ask this question as a child? Not finding an answer, we continued to study history. Some taught it with pleasure, some under pressure, some did not teach it at all. But there are dates and events that everyone should know about. For example: October Revolution 1917 or the Patriotic War of 1812...

Knowing the history of the country in which you were born or live is vital. And it is precisely this subject (history), along with the native language and literature, that should be given as many hours as possible in school education.

Sad fact - our children today decide and choose for themselves what books to read, and often their choice falls on well-promoted brands - literature based on the fruits of Western fantasy - fictional hobbits, Harry Potter and others...

The harsh truth — books and textbooks about the history of Russia are not so promoted, and the circulation is not so huge. Their covers are modest and their advertising budgets are usually non-existent. Publishers have taken the path of maximizing benefits from those who still read something. So it turns out from year to year that we read what is inspired by fashion. Reading is fashionable today. This is not a necessity, but a tribute to fashion. The trend of reading with the aim of learning something new is a forgotten phenomenon.

There is an alternative in this matter - I don’t like it school curriculum and history textbooks, read fiction, historical novels. Truly cool, rich and not boring historical novels, in to a greater extent based on facts and reliable sources, not so much today. But they exist.

I will highlight 10, in my opinion, the most interesting historical novels about Russia. It would be interesting to hear your lists of historical books - leave comments. So:

1. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

It’s difficult to call it a novel, but I simply couldn’t not include it in this list. Many people think that it will be very difficult for a “newbie” to read Karamzin, but still...

“History of the Russian State” is a multi-volume work by N. M. Karamzin, describing Russian history from ancient times to the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles. The work of N. M. Karamzin was not the first description of the history of Russia, but it was this work, thanks to the high literary merits and scientific scrupulousness of the author, that opened the history of Russia to a wide educated public and contributed most to the formation of national self-awareness.

Karamzin wrote his “History” until the end of his life, but did not have time to finish it. The text of the manuscript of volume 12 ends at the chapter “Interregnum 1611-1612,” although the author intended to bring the presentation to the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty.

Karamzin in 1804 retired from society to the Ostafyevo estate, where he devoted himself entirely to writing a work that was supposed to open national history for Russian society...

His initiative was supported by Emperor Alexander I himself, who, by decree of October 31, 1803, granted him the official title of Russian historiographer.

2. Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy

"Peter I"

“Peter I” is an unfinished historical novel by A. N. Tolstoy, on which he worked from 1929 until his death. The first two books were published in 1934. Shortly before his death, in 1943, the author began work on the third book, but managed to bring the novel only to the events of 1704.

This book contains such a powerful impulse of pride for the country, such strength of character, such a desire to move forward, not giving in to difficulties, not giving up in the face of seemingly insurmountable forces, that you inevitably become imbued with its spirit, join its spirit so that it is impossible to tear yourself away.

IN Soviet era"Peter I" was positioned as the standard of the historical novel.

In my opinion, Tolstoy did not lay claim to the laurels of a chronicler-historian. The novel is magnificent; whether it corresponds to historical reality is not a primary issue. Atmospheric, incredibly interesting and addictive. What else do you need for a good book?

3. Valentin Savvich Pikul

"Favorite"

“The Favorite” is a historical novel by Valentin Pikul. It sets out a chronicle of the times of Catherine II. The novel consists of two volumes: the first volume is “His Empress”, the second is “His Tauris”.

The novel reflects major events Russian history of the second half of the 18th century. In the center of the story is the image of the favorite of Empress Catherine II Alekseevna, commander Grigory Potemkin. Many pages of the novel are also devoted to other major historical figures of that time.

Work on the first volume of the novel began in August 1976, the first volume was completed in November 1979. The second volume was written in just one month - in January 1982.

Palace intrigues, the decline of morals at the Russian court, great military victories over Turkey and Sweden, diplomatic victories over almost all of Europe... the uprising led by Emelyan Pugachev, the founding of new cities in the south (in particular Sevastopol and Odessa) - an exciting and rich plot of this historical novel. I highly recommend it.

4. Alexandre Dumas

Fencing teacher Gresier gives Alexandre Dumas his notes made during a trip to Russia. They tell how he went to St. Petersburg and began teaching fencing lessons. All his students are future Decembrists. One of them is Count Annenkov, the husband of Gresier’s old friend, Louise. Soon a rebellion breaks out, but is immediately stopped by Nicholas I. All the Decembrists are exiled to Siberia, among them Count Annenkov. Desperate Louise decides to follow her husband and share the hardships of hard labor with him. Gresier agrees to help her.

In Russia, the publication of the novel was prohibited by Nicholas I due to its description of the Decembrist uprising.

In his memoirs, Dumas recalled what Princess Trubetskoy, a friend of the Empress, told him:

Nicholas entered the room while I was reading a book to the Empress. I quickly hid the book. The Emperor approached and asked the Empress:
-Have you read?
- Yes, sir.
- Do you want me to tell you what you read?
The Empress was silent.
- You have read Dumas’s novel “The Fencing Teacher”.
- How do you know this, sir?
- Here you go! This is not difficult to guess. This is the last novel I banned.

Tsarist censorship especially closely monitored Dumas's novels and prohibited their publication in Russia, but despite this, the novel was widespread in Russia. The novel was first published in Russia in Russian in 1925.

Imperial Petersburg through the eyes of foreigners... - very worthy historical work, especially from such a master storyteller as Dumas. I really liked the novel, it's easy to read - I recommend it.

5. Semenov Vladimir

This book was written by a man of unique destiny. Captain of the second rank Vladimir Ivanovich Semenov was the only officer of the Russian Imperial Navy who, during the Russo-Japanese War, had the opportunity to serve on both the First and Second Pacific squadrons and participate in both major naval battles - in the Yellow Sea and at Tsushima.

In the tragic Battle of Tsushima, while on the flagship of the Russian squadron, Semyonov received five wounds and, after returning from Japanese captivity, lived only a short time, but managed to supplement his diaries, which he kept during the hostilities, and publish them in three books: “Reckoning”, “Combat” at Tsushima", "The Price of Blood".

During the author’s lifetime, these books were translated into nine languages; they were quoted by the triumphant Tsushima himself, Admiral Togo. And at home, Semenov’s memoirs caused loud scandal– Vladimir Ivanovich was the first to dare to write that the battleship Petropavlovsk, on which Admiral Makarov died, was blown up not by a Japanese mine, but by a Russian one, and, contrary to public opinion, he very highly assessed the activities of Admiral Rozhestvensky.

After early death V.I. Semenov (he died at the age of 43), his books were undeservedly forgotten and are now known only to specialists. This novel is one of the best memoirs about the Russo-Japanese War.

6. Vasily Grigorievich Yan

"Genghis Khan"

“To become strong, you must surround yourself with mystery... boldly follow the path of great daring... not make mistakes... and mercilessly destroy your enemies!” - this is what Batu said and this is what he, the great leader of the Mongolian steppes, did.

His warriors knew no mercy, and the world was choked with blood. But the iron order that the Mongols brought was stronger than the horror. For many centuries he shackled the life of the conquered countries. Until Rus' gathered its strength...

Vasily Yan’s novel “Batu” not only gives a broad idea of the historical events of the distant past, but also captivates with a fascinating narrative about the destinies of different people, among whom are princes, khans, simple nomads, and Russian warriors.

The cycle “Invasion of the Mongols” by Vasily Yan is for me the standard of a historical epic. Well, “Genghis Khan” is a brilliant start to the trilogy.

The personality of Genghis Khan is incredibly attractive for a historical novelist. One of the many Mongol princes, who was a slave in his youth, created a powerful empire - from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea... But can a man who destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives be considered great? It should be noted right away that the author is of little interest in the formation of Mongolian statehood. And Genghis Khan himself appears in the novel somewhere after the 100th page. And for Ian, he is, of course, a person, and not the Dark Lord from fantasy. Kulan Khatun loves his young wife in his own way. Like most people, he is afraid of senile infirmity and death. If he can be called a great man, then he is, of course, a genius of evil and a destroyer.

But by and large, Vasily Yan wrote a novel not about a great tyrant, but about time, about people who happened to live in an era of great upheaval. This book contains many colorful characters, grandiose battle scenes, and an amazing atmosphere of the East, reminiscent of the fairy tales of “1001 Nights.” There are plenty of bloody and even naturalistic episodes here, but there is also hope, age-old wisdom allowing you to believe in the best. Empires are built on blood, but sooner or later they fall apart. And even those who consider themselves the ruler of the world cannot escape from death...

7. Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov

"Ice House"

I.I. Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) is one of our best historical novelists. A.S. Pushkin said this about the novel “The Ice House”: “... poetry will always remain poetry, and many pages of your novel will live until the Russian language is forgotten.”

“The Ice House” by I. I. Lazhechnikov is rightfully considered one of the best Russian historical novels. The novel was published in 1835 and was an extraordinary success. V. G. Belinsky called its author “the first Russian novelist.”

Turning to the era of Anna Ioannovna’s reign—more precisely, to the events last year her reign - Lazhechnikov was the first of the novelists to tell his contemporaries about this time. In a fascinating narrative in the spirit of Walter Scott...

8. Yuri German

"Young Russia"

“Young Russia” is a novel by Yu. German, telling about the beginning of changes in the era of Peter the Great. The time described in the book is dedicated to the struggle of the young power for access to the Baltic Sea. The novel was published in its first edition in 1952.

The novel takes place in Arkhangelsk, Belozerye, Pereslavl-Zalessky, and Moscow. The author describes historical events through the lives of the main characters - Ivan Ryabov and Sylvester Ievlev, reveals the relationship between the state and the church, shows the character of the era through detailed descriptions life and way of life of the Russian North and the capital.

A very historical and very relevant novel for all Russian patriots.

9. Sergei Petrovich Borodin

"Dmitry Donskoy"

One of best novels Sergei Borodin.

“Dmitry Donskoy” is the first work in a series of historical novels on the history of medieval Moscow about the struggle of the Russian principalities under the leadership of Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich against the yoke of the Tatar Golden Horde, the end of which was marked by the decisive battle on the Kulikovo Field in 1380.

One of those historical books that I read as a child, anticipating game battles on relevant topics. It is clear that now it is unlikely that it will be possible to find out how it really was there; history is not an exact science, but, nevertheless, aesthetic and artistic value cannot be taken away from the book in question. One of distinctive features of this work, stylized as Old Russian, the language of the narrative and, in particular, the language of the characters’ dialogues. This simple technique helps the author create the effect of a more complete and deeper immersion of the reader into the historical context of what is happening.

10. Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov

"The Living and the Dead"

K.M. Simonov’s novel “The Living and the Dead” is one of the most famous works about the Great Patriotic War.

The work is written in the genre of an epic novel, storyline covers the time interval from June 1941 to July 1944. One of the main characters is General Fedor Fedorovich Serpilin (according to the novel, he lived in Moscow at 16 Pirogovskaya Street, apt. 4).

I enjoyed reading this masterpiece. The book is easy to read and makes a lasting impression. This is undeniable brilliant work, which teaches you to be honest, believe in yourself, and love your homeland...

My historical list fiction not that big. However, I chose some of the most striking and memorable works that I personally liked. History will always be the most interesting genre of fiction, and historical novels will always be the most interesting bookshelf in my library. I look forward to your lists in the comments. Love the history of your country, read the books you need.

The origins of the Russian historical novel

Roman A.K. Tolstoy's "Prince Silver" as a genre of historical fiction