I've always been interested in history, in fact it was just about the only subject I ever really liked in school.

I also love a good historical fiction movie and/or book. When I say good, I mean one that is historically accurate. After all, if you're dealing with real historical events, regardless of what the fictional side of the story might entail, you really should make some effort to get the historical part of the story right.

One of the best such movies I've ever seen is The Lion in Winter with Katherine Hepburn and Peter Otoole.

It'll drive me berserk when I run across a book or movie that knowingly distorts history for the sake of getting a good line in, or simply because of poor research or willful ignorance.

Over the decades there have been numerous movies made about the battle at the Alamo, and the only one of the entire bunch that was anywhere close to being truly accurate is the latest one with Billy Bob Thornton.

I remember literally tossing a book a few years ago after reading the first page. It was an espionage tale that took place during the first World War. It opened with a German U-boat sailing along the coast of occupied Holland. The reason it got launched is the minor little detail that Holland was never occupied in WW1.

There was a movie made in the seventies called Soldier Blue with Peter Strauss and Candace Bergen. It revolved around an incident that took place in Colorado called the Sand Creek Massacre. It was about an Indian village that got wiped out by the U.S. cavalry, men, women and children for no better reason than that they were there. It's a fairly familiar story from that period of time.

I was thoroughly enjoying the movie until about half way through when the two main characters, Bergen and Strauss were discussing their lives and what led them to the point they were at. Strauss said that his father before him had also been a cavalry member, and was killed at the Little Big Horn with Custer.

Neat trick since Sand Creek took place in 1864, and the battle/slaughter at Little Big Horn didn't occur until 1876.

There are numerous other examples I could give, but you've got the drift by now.

Ciao

Quotes of the day:

Whatever is not nailed down is mine. Whatever I can pry loose is not nailed down.

Collis P. Huntington

A gentle Quaker, hearing a strange noise in his house one night, got up and discovered a burglar busily at work. He went and got his gun, came back, and stood quietly in the doorway. "Friend," he said, "I would do thee no harm for the world, but thou standest where I am about to shoot."

James Hines