Skip to main navigation Skip to main content

Graywolf Press is proud to announce a series of events throughout 2024 celebrating fifty years of adventurous publishing, featuring debut and longstanding authors and taking place in New York City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Chicago, and Tucson. More here

Book Title

The Art of History

Subtitle
Unlocking the Past in Fiction and Nonfiction
Author 1
Christopher Bram
Body
One has to look no further than the audiences hungry for the narratives served up by Downton Abbey or Wolf Hall to know that the lure of the past is as seductive as ever. But incorporating historical events and figures into a shapely narrative is no simple task. Acclaimed novelist Christopher Bram examines how writers as disparate as Gabriel García Márquez, David McCullough, Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, and many others have employed history in their work.

Unique among the Art of series, The Art of History engages with both fiction and narrative nonfiction to reveal varied strategies of incorporating and dramatizing historical detail. Bram challenges popular notions about historical narratives as he examines both successful and flawed passages to illustrate how authors from different genres treat subjects that loom large in American history, such as slavery and the Civil War. And he delves deep into the reasons why War and Peace endures as a classic of historical fiction. Bram’s keen insight and close reading of a wide array of authors make The Art of History an essential volume for any lover of historical narrative.

Share Title

List Price
$12.00
ISBN
ISBN
978-1-55597-743-6
Format
Format
Paperback
Publication Date
Publication Date
Subject
Pages
Pages
176
Series
Series
Trim Size
Trim Size
5 x 7
Keynote
A captivating new addition to the Art of series that explores historical narrative in fiction and nonfiction

About the Author

Christopher  Bram
Credit: Draper Shreeve
Christopher Bram is the author of The Art of History: Unlocking the Past in Fiction and Nonfiction, as well as nine novels and two works of nonfiction. He lives in Greenwich Village and teaches at New York University.

 
More by author

Praise

  • “Delightful. . . . A must-have book for anyone looking to hone their historical writing craft.”Historical Novel Society
  • “An excellent introduction with a conversational style that makes Bram’s criticism accessible to anyone with even a modest interest in historical storytelling.”PopMatters
  • “Exploration, appreciation and instruction combine in this slim, accessible study of literary history and historical literature.”—Shelf Awareness
  • “Bram's close reading of both successful and flawed passages from classic literature . . . [offers] valuable insights that writers can draw on for their own historical narratives.”Poets & Writers
Back to Table of Contents