>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.


Tom

Excellent post. I am also amazed at the number of books you mentioned. I read several a year (meaning several a month) and I thought I was reading plenty!

>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!

You would probably enjoy (if you haven't already) one of my favorite books:
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond


>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.

Very true. I use to see people that believed anything in print, in a book or newspaper. "Look its in the book, it must be true!"So much easier to fool them now on the Net. Ahh, the lack of skeptical thinking. Would have made P.T. Barnum happy!

On the subject of different views on the same chapter of history it was very interesting for me visit the War Museum in Vienna last year. As a student of military history I try to visit every history type of museum I can. Anyway, I got to see the car where Archduke Ferdinand was killed (see picture I took here). That event, as you most probably know, was the spark that started WWWI. The amazing thing to me was the explanation card for the event given at the Museum. My books on history had always referred to Gavrilo Princip as an Anarchist, yet the Museum (my first reading from the "other" side of the story) referred to "a terrorist", not even giving his name or trying to explain the whys from the perpetrator point of view.