Sir Walter Scott of Ivanhoe fame is said to have invented the historical novel with the publication of a Scottish-themed piece called Waverly in 1814. Though it predates Ivanhoe, which was published in 1820, Ivanhoe remains by far his most well known and influential work.

The method of the genre is to write about fictional characters and events inserted into a world that accurately reproduces the settings, manners, and personages of a certain period and place.