Truth is stranger than fiction

The famous idiom is true – there’s so much strangeness in truth. On the other hand, it’s really difficult to teach history yet fictional shows like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones captivate the imagination.

Why is that? Why don’t historical dramas engage audiences the same way fictional ones do? I think a big part of it is that we know the ending to history. What would be the point of a WWII show when we know Germany, Japan and Italy lose? The suspense, the uncertainty, the not-knowing-what-comes-next – that’s what makes fiction so compelling. History, by definition, has already happened.

But here’s where it gets interesting. What if we could use allegory to teach history in a more engaging way? What if we created a fictional world where characters inspired by real historical figures could interact in an unknown setting – similar to how Game of Thrones operates? Imagine taking the complex web of alliances, betrayals, and power struggles that led to World War I and transplanting them into a fictional universe where the audience doesn’t know how things end.

The beauty of this approach is that it would be both captivating and educational. Viewers would get hooked on the characters and the plot, and only later – perhaps after the series concludes – would they discover the true historical identities and events that inspired the story. The reveal itself would be a powerful moment of learning.

I’ve been reading The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark, which covers the lead-up to WWI, and it strikes me just how much the real history reads like epic fiction. The characters are fascinating, the alliances are Byzantine, and the consequences are staggering. The problem isn’t the source material – it’s the delivery mechanism. We need to meet audiences where they are, and right now, that means wrapping truth in the compelling packaging of fiction.

History is stranger than fiction. We just need to present it that way.