Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century. Varieties Viking These books feature Vikings during the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. Heroes in Viking romances are typical alpha males who are tamed by their heroines. Most heroes are described as "tall, blonde, and strikingly handsome." Using the Viking culture allows novels set in these time periods to include some travel, as the Vikings were "adventurers, founding and conquering colonies all over the globe." In a 1997 poll of over 200 readers of Viking romances, Johanna Lindsey's Fires of Winter was considered the best of the subgenre. The subgenre has fallen out of style, and few novels in this vein have been published since the mid-1990s. Medieval These romances are typically set between 938 and 1485. Women in the medieval time periods were often considered as no more than property who were forced to live at the mercy of their father, guardian, or the king. Always a lady, the heroine must use her wits and will and find a husband who will accept her need to be independent, yet still protect her from the dangers of the times. The hero is almost always a knight who first learns to respect her and her uncommon ideas and then falls in love. Heroes are always strong and dominant, and the heroine, despite the gains she has made, is usually still in a subordinate position. However, that position is her choice, made "for the sake of and with protection from an adoring lover, whose main purpose in life is to fulfill his beloved's wishes." Tudor Set in England between 1485 and 1558. Elizabethan Set in England between 1558 and 1603, during the time of Elizabeth I. Stuart Set between 1603 and 1714 in England. Georgian Set between 1714 and 1811 in England. Regency Set between 1811 and 1820 in England. Victorian Set between 1832 and 1901 England, beginning with the Reform Act 1832 and including the reign of Queen Victoria. Those set during this period but in a fictional country may be Ruritanian novels such as those by Beatrice Heron-Maxwell. M.M. Kaye focuses on the British Raj in this period rather than England itself. Pirate Pirate novels feature a male or female who is sailing, or thought to be sailing, as a pirate or privateer on