"Fun" history

In my profile, I mention that I like "fun" history, but what does that mean to me?

I was always a good student, from Kindergarten to the day I graduated from college. Nevertheless, I tend to have trouble getting in to history. I did well in all of my History classes, but I just can't get *into* it. I don't like "history" that's dry and boring, and so many history books and textbooks are written like that (or maybe it's just me). I do, however, like history books that make history seem like an adventure -- explain history to me in a fun and exciting way that makes me want to pay attention, not fall asleep. Better yet, don't "explain" history to me; describe it.

I love Arcadia Publishing, especially their Images of America and Then and Now series. They're good visual depictions of history -- not so much "You are there"-type of depiction of history, but visual representations of how things change. One picture might be a lone homestead with lots of trees, then the next picture is that same piece of land, but now with a skyscraper, a condo, three Starbucks stores, and 20 cars. That draws me in -- seeing how things change over time. The one downside, though, is that the books are done by whoever is local to the area, not necessarily a history/writing professional, so the quality varies depending on who's writing it. Still, pictures! Pictures are fun!

I also like historical fiction, to some extent. I grew up in a house that, to a young child, seemed like it was filled with James Michener books. I finally read one last summer (They're also huge, so I had to properly psych myself up to read one!), and really enjoyed it. Michener was really good about thoroughly researching his topics, so even though they're fictional, they're good representative portrayals of the times. I read Mexico, and supplemented it with My Mexico, detailing some of his research and story ideas. The one caveat to the historical fiction genre, though, is that some historical fiction is awful in its accuracy. Granted, with historical fiction the aim isn't to be 100% true-to-how-it-happened, but some books seem like they're so far off, without meaning to be. Or perhaps they're off intentionally, but if you don't know how things really happened, you become misinformed about the history behind the events in the book. One book that I liked that addressed that was Shakespeare's Secret, a children's book written by Elise Broach. In the conclusion, she explains to the young reader what was true (or at least what we think is true) and what liberties she took. Brilliant! And of course I love John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles.

In other words, I like my history as Mary Poppins might prescribe it: a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.


Arcadia Publishing
Images of America
Then and Now
Shakespeare's Secret