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I love history. I have been kind of jumping around reading here and there about various time periods. I cant say that I have a favorite. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good starting point? I love the middle ages, however I also love eras prior to that.
This might be a good one to start with:Amazon.com: History of the World (9780195210439): J.M. Roberts: Books
Roberts also did one on the History of Europe which was very good. From there you can get more specific as to what eras interest you. But I'll bet if you start with the 'Middle Ages" like I did, you'll want to keep going into the past to try and understand why things were the way they were then
Are you looking for histories of an overall time period or something more specific, like a focus on a particular war, event or a biography of a historical figure? Because the last is more my specialty.
Have you read anything about the War of the Roses yet? If not, I would definitely look into that, it's near the end of the Middle Ages but a very interesting period of time. But my favorite historical figure from the High Middle Ages is Eleanor of Aquitaine.
I've found that a good starting point for people that are interested in Western Civilization is to study the Roman Empire from it's founding through to the collapse and go from there. There are many older cultures and civilizations that shaped the world, but western history can seemingly be divided into pre-Rome and post-Rome. I think that for someone who likes the Middle Ages, the study of Rome and specifically the rise of Christianity and the empires collapse would lay the groundwork nicely for examining the Middle Ages in context.
I've found that a good starting point for people that are interested in Western Civilization is to study the Roman Empire from it's founding through to the collapse and go from there. There are many older cultures and civilizations that shaped the world, but western history can seemingly be divided into pre-Rome and post-Rome. I think that for someone who likes the Middle Ages, the study of Rome and specifically the rise of Christianity and the empires collapse would lay the groundwork nicely for examining the Middle Ages in context.
Exactly what I am doing now...sort of starting at the "beginning" rather than jumping into the Thirty Years War or other era As you say, it puts the rest in context.
I love history.I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good starting point?Any suggestions?
By all means start with the history of your own country. Get a good foundation and grasp there, then at a later time you can expand your horizons. Am assuming that you are an American, so that gives you more than five centuries of recorded history to work with.
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As you say, it puts the rest in context.
