(Abstract) "In the four recent novels considered in this study, Nicaraguan novelist Sergio Ramírez adopts a particular stance towards history that reflects the essence of the sub-genre known as the new historical novel. The novels treated in the dissertation, Sombras nada más (2002), Margarita, está linda la mar (1998), Un baile de máscaras (1995), and Castigo diving (1988), all recreate key moments in Nicaraguan history from the unique perspective of the new historical novel...My research argues that Ramirez's novels question and even attack the official version of events in Nicaraguan history. In addition to identifying the numerous traits of the new historical novel in each of the four novels, I also consider how the adoption of this particular approach affects the view of Nicaraguan history and the concept of history in general that the novels present." The author mentions that "the rapid growth of the new historical novel in Latin American literature in the last twenty years has left a dramatic mark on the works of celebrated writers such as Alejo Carpentier, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando del Paso, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa." Ph.D. Dissertation.