Douglas W. Jacobson is a fellow Wisconsinite who writes historical fiction. Both of his World War II novels, NIGHT OF FLAMES and THE KATYN ORDER, have received recognition and accolades from state organizations, and his website carries over thirty articles on World War II history (including this one, “The Story of Zegota” about Polish Christians who helped save Polish Jews during Nazi occupation).
As every writer knows, research plays a critical role in writing historical fiction, and Douglas Jacobson has done his fair share of digging into the past. Today, he talks about uncovering the best research.
Getting it Right
Doing Research for Historical Novels
As the old saying goes, “The devil is in the detail.” One of the reasons I have always loved historical fiction is that it is a truly marvelous way to learn a bit of history. Some authors of non-fiction (Stephen Ambrose comes to mind) have a flair and style of writing that make their work enjoyable and easy to read. But, in my humble opinion, there’s nothing quite like curling up with Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance or Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth for the ultimate reading experience . . . and, a great way to learn history.
And that brings us to the issue at hand. Writing good historical fiction places a special burden on the author, the burden of getting it right. And getting it right doesn’t stop with the big stuff, the dates and locations, the battles and who won the war. It gets right down to the detail. For example, what would a serf in the thirteenth century be likely to eat for breakfast? What type of profanity would a soldier likely have used during the Napoleonic wars? Did the troopers of the Polish cavalry carry lances during World War Two?
It’s the detail that immerses the reader in the time and place of your story. It’s the scent of the kerosene lanterns and the smell of the boiling cabbage, the sticky mud of the footpaths and creaking of the yardarms that give a story its life and vitality. It’s what makes it real. But, making it real, of course, means doing the research.
When I set out to write my first novel, NIGHT OF FLAMES, I had been studying and reading about World War Two for most of my adult life. I knew a lot, but not nearly enough. For instance, I wanted to write about the Polish cavalry because the notion of horse-drawn armies in WW2 has been largely ignored even though almost all the armies in the first few years of the war—including those of Germany and Russia—relied heavily of horses for transportation. But how was a Polish cavalry brigade organized? What type of weapons did they carry? What did their uniforms look like? How far could they travel in a day? Where did they find food for the horses and who re-shod them when necessary? Did they really charge tanks?
Let’s stick with this issue for a moment to pursue the ways and means of research. You can learn a lot on the internet these days and, indeed, I found numerous websites filled with detail about WW2 era cavalry. I also found a marvelous book entitled, THE CALVARY OF WORLD WAR TWO, chock full of information about specific cavalry regiments from Poland, France, Germany and Russia, their organization and leadership, the types of horses and weapons, battles and anecdotal accounts. But the most fascinating of all was my experience at The Battle of the Bzura Museum in Kutno, Poland, which I visited during one of my trips to Poland. It was a treasure of maps, artifacts, displays of uniforms and weapons, canteens and knapsacks. And, even more fascinating, was an encounter the next day with an elderly gentleman in Walewice, Poland who happened to be sitting on the front porch of his home while we were wandering around the town square looking for some type of commemorative plaque. Through the translation offered by my friend and Polish history scholar, Slawomir Debski, the elderly gentleman confirmed that the Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade did, indeed, cross the Bzura River and confront a German infantry battalion in that town on 14 September, 1939. He knew . . . because he was there. That’s the best kind of research.
And, that’s exactly the same discipline I used in researching for THE KATYN ORDER.
Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast who has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, NIGHT OF FLAMES: A NOVEL OF WORLD WAR TWO, won the 2008 “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Library Association. Doug’s second historical novel, THE KATYN ORDER, is a story of intrigue and danger, of love and human courage in the aftermath of one of history’s most notorious war crimes. THE KATYN ORDER received the 2011 “Honorable Mention Award” from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland’s experience during WW2, and has published articles on European resistance and escape organizations during the war. He lives in Elm grove, WI with his wife, Janie.
ABOUT THE KATYN ORDER:
The German War Machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Rising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has.
Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they just might change the fate of Poland.
Caught up in the vortex of cataclysmic events, Adam and Natalia struggle to survive, fighting for freedom and clinging to an uncertain future in a world gone mad. The Katyn Order is a story of intrigue and danger, of human courage under extraordinary circumstances, a story of love and a quest for redemption.
When Christi asked me if I’d write a guest post about research in historical fiction, my first reaction was pretty much: “But I SO haven’t figured that out yet.” Then I remembered that a lot of my favorite posts are ones where I sort of think things through, so I checked with Christi if that would work. Luckily (?!), she said, “Yes.”
