The problem is that most folks developed an antipathy to literature back in high school. This innoculated them from realizing the great books out there. I've actually learned quite a bit of history from literature. Often such books spur my curiousity about events and I then read history books about them. But the initial curiousity is set off by the novels.
Unfortunately, schools have taken the joy out of reading for most and turned them off to reading for life with their endless essays and character analysis's that are graded so subjectively that many students just throw their arms up and search the web for boilerplate phrases to get the assignment over with (in my day, it was the Cliff notes).
Some students are fortunate to develop a love for reading in spite of it. I happened to be one of them.