That should be totally up to the writer
As a reader of historical fiction, I do prefer the background info to be factual. However, a good work of fiction, is, well…fiction. that being said one can’t know all the details of characters personal lives and experiences - why it is ultimately fiction and those parts can’t be factual no matter how hard one tried.
I think the important part is not to decieve the reader. I also enjoy pure fiction as long as I know.
It should keep only some of the facts, the major, recognisable ones, but fictionalise all of the little details and incidents which we can no longer know happened anyway.
I find it a little bit disturbing that in Turtledove’s books, he claims that green lizard aliens fought against both the Allies and Axis, when in fact no such aliens ever fought in WWII. He should have written those books more realistically.
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