Trouw: Interview about captivating history books

Interview in Dutch daily Trouw with Scaliger professor Rick Honings about literature, history, creative fiction, and how far authors are allowed to go.

Attributions without sources touch upon the boundary between historic truths and fiction. For Rick Honings of Leiden University and Benjamin Duerr, who are both nominated for the Libris History Prize, this line is sacred, writes Trouw.

But how then can history books become easy to read?

Duerr: “Minutes from meetings of the conferences were the most important sources, but newspaper articles and diaries added colour.”

“During the writing process, I specifically read literature published around the turn of the century, for example Flaubert and Tolstoy, who lived and wrote around that time. Because they are great writers they provide inspiration, and they offer insights into the thinking of people.”

Full interview in Trouw.