The purpose of this essay is to highlight how English historical non-fiction novels can be used in a combined Swedish Upper Secondary English and History classroom to provide the pupils a deeper understanding of the past. By providing the pupils three-dimensional characters with their own thoughts, feelings, and agendas, it is possible for them to engage further and more deeply in the concerned historical time period than if they were simply to read and learn about it from their textbooks. Therefore, this essay provides examples from three different historical fictional novels on how the characters provide a deeper understanding of the time periods they are situated in. In order to do this, the theory “new historicism” is used because it indicates that authors always put their own thoughts and feelings into their fictional work, intentional or not.