I read mostly nonfiction but when I read fiction it is almost always good historical fiction.

I was first introduced to historical fiction when I pulled “Arundel” by Kenneth Roberts from a library shelf. A chronicler of the French and Indian War, the Revolution, and the War of 1812 Roberts was born in Maine and lived much of his life there. Most of his fiction includes Maine settings and people.

Roberts’s first book was “Arundel,” the story of Benedict Arnold’s 1775 march across the wilds of Maine to attack Quebec City as seen through the eyes of young Steven Nason. His next book was “Lively Lady,” published in 1931 and is the story of the War of 1812 adventures of Captain Richard Nason the son of Steven. George Orwell in reviewing The Lively Lady, aptly described it and most of Roberts fiction as “blood-and-thundery stuff chiefly interesting as showing that the old-fashioned nineteenth-century type of American bumptiousness is still going strong.”

Roberts followed with “Rabble in Arms” in 1933 the story of the American retreat from Canada that culminated with the American victory in the two Battles of Saratoga. These events are seen through the eyes of Peter Merril and Benedict Arnold, is again the hero. Roberts makes clear that he feels Arnold’s bad treatment by his superiors led to his treason.

Robert’s best book and biggest seller was “Northwest Passage,” the story of Rogers Rangers in the French and Indian War. In the same way that “Arundel and Rabble In Arms” were attempts to rehab the reputation of Benedict Arnold, Northwest Passage was an attempt to do the same for Robert Rodgers who later fought for the British in the Revolution.

If you haven’t read Roberts, you are missing a lot.

My favorite writer of historical fiction is Walter D. Edmonds. Edmonds was a great storyteller adept at creating a sense of time and place in his writing. His attention to detail draws the reader into the story so deeply that you almost imagine you are there. His description of the ambush that became the Battle of Oriskany in “Drums Along the Mohawk” is so powerful that you almost feel you are there with musket balls whizzing over your head.

Edmond’s characters are well developed and go about their everyday lives as boatmen on the Erie Canal, a farmer plowing his land, his musket nearby, or members of a small circus traveling the canal.

It has been said Edmonds was most comfortable when he was writing about the Mohawk Valley, the Erie Canal, and the Black River Canal. His output reflects that with adult novels like “Rome Haul,” “Erie Water,” “The Wedding Journey,” “The Boyds of Black River,” and collections of short stories that include “Mostly Canallers” and “In the Hands of the Senecas.” His master work was “Drums Along the Mohawk” published in 1936 and is the story of the people of German Flats in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution

Surprisingly more than half of Edmonds writing was for children with books like “The Matchlock Gun,” “Wilderness Clearing,” “Time to Go House” and “Bert Breen’s Barn,” all of which I own and have read and enjoyed because they are good reading even for adults.

A while ago I came across a series on Netflix called “Babylon Berlin” that was based on two books by German Author Volker Kutscher “Babylon Berlin” and “The Silent Death.” The series piqued my interest and since then I have read the five books that have been translated into English.

These books focus on the life of Berlin Police Inspector Gereon Rath in the closing days of the Weimer Republic. These books could be seen simply as police thrillers or procedurals, but there is really a lot more there.

I am no expert on life in Berlin during the Weimer Republic, but I know enough about the period that I think Kutscher gives us a faithful depiction of Berlin in that time. In the time following the war life had improved but disabled veterans and those suffering from what we now call PTSD begged in the streets and slept in the parks. Unemployment was still high, and off the main streets tenements abounded.

Yet for those with money life was good in Berlin. Kutscher describes the colorful night life that offered a wide variety of attractions both legal and illegal. Berlin was often described as the city that even the Nazis could not control completely.

While aware of the politics of the times Rath was apolitical.

While the Nazi menace percolates in the background Gereon goes about his work dealing with cases that include tracking down a hired killer who happens to be an American gangster and investigating the death of a starlet in a movie studio. It is not until book four entitled the “Fatherland Files” while Rath is working on a murder case in East Prussia that he becomes aware that the Nazis are gaining prestige and support. In book five The March Fallen Hitler takes power. As swastikas and uniforms appear everywhere Gereon understands that life will never be the same.

But we will have to wait to follow Rath’s further adventures as only five of the books have been translated into English.

Books six through nine covering the years 1934 to 1937 are out in German but their translations were delayed by the pandemic. The 10th and final book is in the works.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com