Winterson's cast share the names of the historical protagonists, though she has reshaped them into fictional characters – even Shakespeare is given a cameo.
There is something refreshing about this secularism, as if she were throwing the weight of the novel, that secular, tragicomic form, behind her historical protagonists, and against the hagiography that distorts the remembrance of this riven period.
Altogether more important than the personal dramas of the historical protagonists are the sectarian disputes dividing both sides.
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC Publisher: Ubisoft Assassin's Creed: Revelations is an aging, decrepit continuation of a once-captivating franchise, which is sort of appropriate given that it's about the aging of its two historical protagonists, Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad.
In Piscator's production of Sturm über Gottland ("Storm over Gothland"; 1927), which is set in the 14th century, a filmed prologue showed the major actors moving toward the camera, metamorphosing in the process from historically costumed characters to representations of modern historical figures; the protagonist, for example, turned into Lenin.
Even before the announcement, there was wide interest in al-Mabkhout's historical novel, whose protagonist is nicknamed "the Italian" for his slick good looks.
"The Adventures of Amir Hamza" collected a great miscellany of fireside yarns and shaggy-dog stories that over time had gathered around the travels of its protagonist, the historical uncle of the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2007, Publisher's Weekly called Elsner's first novel, "The Nazi Hunter" "a gripping debut thriller" while Kirkus Reviews praised its "intriguing protagonist, terrifying historical lessons, and a well-orchestrated, pulse-pounding conclusion".
But now, amazingly, I am doing a PhD at a Russell Group university, looking at non-white protagonists in historical drama.
Kurt Franz, like many of the book's protagonists, is historical: he became commander of the Treblinka camp.
