It’s a current fact that I love historical fiction. No, not the kind that wrongly says President Obama was born outside the U.S., but the kind in novels such as Stephen King’s new 11/22/63.

Why is historical fiction great? For one thing, it enables you to learn about the past in a way that goes down easily and entertainingly.

I realize it’s better to read historical fiction and nonfiction history books. After all, historical fiction can idealize, overdramatize, and “error-ize” the past. But this fun and absorbing book genre is better than reading no history at all — especially when the novelist does plenty of research…