Derailment
A Train Of Thought That Jumped The Track

Every so often I stumble on a book that opens up an entirely new area of knowledge for me. Last Thanksgiving I was on vacation in Florida and picked up Bernard Cornwell's historical novel, Sword Song in a used book store. Only later did I learn that this was the fourth in a series of books set in ninth-century England that tell the story of King Alfred the Great and the defense of Wessex, the last remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdom during the period of Danish invasions.

This is a time period of which I knew little, and though these are novels, they have been thoroughly researched and I've felt transported to that time. When I read the actual historical accounts, I can relate to them much better. That's what I love about historical fiction-- it breathes life into the dry facts of history and fires the imagination. I'm half tempted to try to learn Old English!