I love history but straight history can often be a bit dry. [icopyright one button toolbar] James Michener was a perhaps the the first to sugar coat history with well researched fiction. His novels were turned into Broadway plays, movies and TV mini series. Another author of that genre is Edward Rutherford. His first novel, Sarum, covered 10,000 years of history of the Salisbury Plain in England and was an instant success in spite of being incredibly long. Like what Michener did in his novel Centennial Rutherford follows families over time but since he is dealing with Europe the time frame is much longer. I still consider Sarum to be one of the best novels I have ever read and have in fact read it several times. My copy of Sarum is nearly worn out because I have loaned it to friends who have also read it and loved it. I am now reading Rutherford’s novel London and it is really fascinating and a very enjoyable read. It too is a long novel and I am only about a quarter of the way through it. Once again Rutherford is following families over time. Is sugar coated history a bad thing? I think not as long as the fiction is well researched. Both Michener and Rutherford seem to have done this.