History Through Literature

We don't do much history formally, as I have mentioned before. My sons are interested in history and seem to get to know plenty about it in their own ways, maashAllah. Imagine my surprise as we walked over to the park last weekend to hear them discussing together the actions of the Axis powers and Allies in World War II, the sequence of events etc! I've certainly not taught them about any of that, I don't prefer that sort of history myself!
I have always read a lot of literature set in history books to the boys. Some books give you plenty of historical information along with the story, especially the "My Story" series, while others just give you little bits of information amongst their story line, for example "Carries War" by Nina Bawden. Even E Nesbit's "Treasure Seekers" or "Railway Children" give you a little social history through their setting. Other books we've read include Ian Serraillier's "Silver Sword" and "Theres No Escape".
Currently I'm reading them Meindert Dejong's "House of Sixty Fathers" which is set in the Second Sino Japanese War of 1937-1945. Dejong has what seems to me a very individual style of writing, which is very simple and direct, but full of humour and insight. The book is about a boywho gets accidentally separated from his parents and his journey as he tries to get back and find them again.
I find that reading this type of literature with the boys gives them little windows of insight into different times and different places and sparks their interest to find out more.
As they grow older I have other books in mind for future reading inshAllah, such as "Empire of the Sun" byJG Ballard and " A Single Tear" by Wu Ningkun. There are so many more. Of course these books must always be seen as portraying one side of the story, the author's viewpoint and they are not intended to be historical accounts, but they give a flavour of their period and can lead on to further learning, inshAllah.