Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders

This is not a book on how to write historical fiction. It is a book on how not to write historical fiction. If you're hard at work writing your historical novel, but you're wondering if your medieval Irishmen would live on potatoes, if your 17th-century pirate would use a revolver, or if your hero would be able to offer Marie-Antoinette a box of chocolate bonbons . . . (The answer to all these is “Absolutely not!”) . . . then Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders is the book for you. Medieval Underpants will guide you through the factual mistakes that writers of historical fiction—both beginners and seasoned professionals—often make, and show you how to avoid them. From characters crossing streets that wouldn't exist for another sixty (or two thousand) years, to 1990s slang in the mouths of 1940s characters, to South American foods on ancient Roman plates, historical novelist Susanne Alleyn exposes frequent goofs, stresses the hazards of assuming too much about details of life in past eras, and offers tips on how to avoid errors and anachronisms while continually reminding writers of the necessity of meticulous historical research. Second edition, revised and expanded "I've been writing historical fiction for several decades, and I found this book immediately useful. I wish it had been published long ago. Written with humour, knowledge and common sense. An essential!" Sandra Gulland, author, MISTRESS OF THE SUN and The Josephine B. Trilogy