Perhaps you read “historical romance.” This would indeed be different if it was “historic romance”–more Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte and less unlaced corsets, cravats, and smelling salts. Though perhaps I need a better example, the French being the French and all.
While “pre-historic” might cause some confusion to this lesson, remember that:
- “historic” is an adjective denoting an important event in history;
- “historical” means something simply having taken place in the more distant past.
The invention of the internet was historic; the cloning of Dolly the sheep was historic; the founding of this writing tips blog was historic (no?). But none of these examples are historical. See the difference? Edit yourselves carefully.