Historical fiction has to be my favourite way to learn about the past. Set in a time period with influential people of the era but with a fictional character to make the story come alive, historical fiction has all the elements of an exciting adventure. Bethlehem Press specializes in historical fiction stories that make the time periods jump off the page as they tell the tales of the people who make up our past. Madeleine Takes Command is a book anyone interested in Canadian history will particularily want to read. Set in New France in 1692, and based firmly on the facts, we read the story of Madeleine de Vercheres, age 14, who's parents have left her with a garrison of soldiers who are not willing to obey a young girl. After they have been slaughtered, she is left to convince the enemy outside her door that there is stll a garrison of soldiers to man the fort until her parents return with reinforcements from Montreal. It is a story of bravery, honour and quick thinking.