Many students undertaking teacher-preparation courses in Australian universities, and/or teachers are likely to be avid readers of Australian historical novels. This chapter is written with the object of deepening their appreciation of the rich tapestry of the Australian historical novel. It does so in order that they might increase their understanding of the way that historical novels can fully engage students in an appreciation and understanding of Australian history, particularly the different ways in which generations of Australian historians as compared to writers of historical fiction have perceived the past.

Historical novels versus History textbooks in the classroom

Although textbooks have not always been used in significant numbers for SOSE/HSIE/History in Australian classrooms, their use may increase with the advent of the national History curriculum. But that is unclear at the time of the writing of this book. It is clear, however, that in New South Wales secondary schools, where history continues as a mandatory subject in grades 7-10, that History textbooks are used widely. My own experience is of crates of class sets of three or four different textbooks being available for any class, often dominating all of class time, the lesson being little more than reading comprehension.

What advantages do historical novels have over traditional-style textbooks? Groce and Groce (2005) remind us of the fact textbook publishers are faced with massive challenges in attempting to present a huge amount of knowledge and skills to students at a particular grade level: ‘There will routinely be criticism of how material is presented or of information that has been omitted for various reasons’ (p. 101).