Well written Tom, I agree with you. My wife also has a degree in history and English and is a teacher in both. I am amazed at the number of books you have read! I thought I had read a lot but I dont even come close :)


>>Hi Alex, I do not want to take sides in the thread that exploded in Re: Devteach - (Getting into Canada) Thread #897012 but your comment in Message #900547 re "alternate history books" peaked my interest.
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>>imo there is no objective history except for in the most simple cases. History is observed, interpreted, and documented by humans with the human tendency of subjectivity. What one can get is a concensus view of history within a society or community or group of people. When that happens then automatically, within that group, all other versions are labeled "alternate history".
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>>History is truly written by the victors. Or even better by George Orwell in 1984 "Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past".
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>Jos;
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>Contrary to what some people have said, history is not boring. In fact it is very dynamic!
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>At age ten I developed a strong interest in history. A plan had to be created so I could learn more on historical matters. First I read everything I could about pre-history, and then began with the beginnings of human civilization. It became apparent that there were different “flavors” of the same story. At this point I was sixteen and sought a sense of direction.
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>As I came closer to the then present I realized that the story became more complex. There was so much more detail as we approached the present. At the same time there was less understanding.
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>One thing about history is you can look at an event and say a war was fought and there was a victor. Now what caused the war, and hundreds of other question related to that one idea become apparent. You always have the argument of how true any of what has been written is.
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>I would read a minimum of five books from authors from different countries on major events. An example was if two countries fought a war, choose one author from each of those countries and three from countries not associated with that war. By time I was 20 I had read an estimated 17,000 history books. Thank God for public and school libraries! By the way I am a speed reader.
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>It is amazing how history changes depending upon “what is popular at the moment”. That “moment” may in fact be one hundred or more years. An example is during the nineteenth century United States authors (and just about all other artistic, creative, scientific, and cultural endeavors) were looked down upon. The Europeans defined “what was correct” and history was no different.
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>After completing engineering college I went back to get an advanced degree in History. To me the subject is fun and I taught our son and daughter what I know and feel. Yes, history is about feeling as well as knowledge. I know how to make history interesting and our son graduated with a degree in history and is now a teacher.
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>What interests me the most about history is not the great kings, wars, battles and events but rather the life of the common man. Has the life of the average person improved since the dawn of civilization? I love to argue that fact!
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>Within an audience a book of history will be embraced or condemned. The academic world is a world unto itself. As the ability to print became more accessible a greater number of people were able to publish. Just one book and chapter – “Mein Kampf” Chapter 11 – Nation and Race, by Adolph Hitler will convey what I mean. I used that as my graduate Thesis. The ability to publish a book is so simple these days. A person can have one copy of a work published or more if they like.
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>Then we add the Internet, which to some people is the “absolute truth about all things”. To people that believe this is true for some reason they do not acknowledge a basic truth. Almost anyone can create a web site and say whatever they want. It is therefore “the truth”. Such individuals refer to specific URL’s to back up what they say. That is a topic onto itself.
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>He who controls the press controls history.
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>Tom