Genre of the week: Historical Fiction

This is one of the few genres that I haven't read any books in, now that I think about it. I was sure that I had, but looking through my personal library, I guess I never did. So there goes the section where I ramble about the books I've read.

So what kinds of experiences have you guys had? I know there are a broad range of subjects covering everything from Hitler winning WW2, to what would happen if __________ was never invented/born. Wow, this is really bugging me that I've never read something like this.

I too don't have too much experience with historical fiction saved for some movies. I did read one historical romance novel that was set around 1700-1800, but that one is very romance focused so that probably doesn't count, haha. Another novel I read was of a group of cops/detectives on a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure kind of adventure and some chapters would be in the present while the others would be on the past. The "past" chapters have a religious flavor to it (some mentions of famous bible stories), however, so some parts of that novel could be considered more as religious fiction.

I think a lot of Shakespeare plays while more known as tragedies can be considered as historical fiction too, like Julius Caesar. As I mentioned several times here, though, I only read a few so my knowledge Shakespeare is also limited.