The genre historical fiction includes stories that are about the past. To distinguish historical fiction from any fiction that is written about an era in the past, the criteria that the book must have been written about a time that occurred in a historical context in relation to the author of the book.[4][5] The criteria that the story be set before the middle of the previous century is sometimes added.[5] Historical fiction stories include historical details and includes characters that fit into the time period of the setting, whether or not they are real historical people.[4]