Use of ?Ateşten Gömlek? novel in history class for teaching National Struggle era

20th century is an extraordinary time period in Turkish history while Ottoman Empire ruling was ending and Turkish Republic being founded. History of Revolution and Kemalism class, a compulsory course in all levels of education from primary schools to undergraduate education, covers the events in that era. Along with the fact that 20th century affected current time significantly; there are some issues in teaching of History of Revolution and Kemalism classes which are not independet from general problems experienced in history education. Among those, giving emphasize to political events and straight-forward teaching issues come first.Historical stories and novels are among tools that should be benefited to improve history teaching. Assisting to history classes by means of putting emotions and thoughts of humans into words makes literary works as essential tools that should be used in history teaching. Historical fictions and novels portray history in students? minds, open a new perspective into history, and make history and literature more attractive. In this regard, use of historical stories and novels in Revolution History and Kemalism classes contributes to the students? understanding in history and development of positive attitude towards history.This study aimed for determining students? opinions on using historical novels in Revolution History and Kemalism classes. The research is a descriptive study which used qualitative research techniques. 100 high school students from Trabzon Science High School and Akçaabat Anatolian Teacher Training High School were included in this study. Students were asked to read `Ateşten Gömlek?, a historical novel written by Halide Edip Adıvar, and then answer a questionnaire prepared to reveal students? opinions on using historical novels in history classes. The questionnaire contained 11 open-ended, and 20 multiple-choice likert- type questions.Results showed that, the novel used in this study (Ateşten Gömlek) improved the history class understanding of students by conceptualizing the events in their mind and learn the subjects in an effective way. In addition, it helped to enrich students? vocabulary, history terminology, and the perception that there are different perspectivies in history and in its interpretation. In the lights of these evident, use of historical novels in history classes was found to be beneficial.