Hello 🙂 I love history, but I have a hard time retaining facts. So I’ve found that stories and even fiction set in reality really help me with that. One of the ways I find I can engage in a discussion involving human history is if I’ve read a book set in the time/era at hand. One example of this is the works of the Christian author Francine Rivers , namely, the “Mark of the Lion” series, which was set in Ancient Rome. I love learning so much, but furthermore, I’ve found that having the information attached to a beautiful story (book) where I get emotionally involved and connect with the characters, the history element is much more likely to sink in to the deeper parts of my brain and imprint themselves there.
So I’m looking for anything that fits this category of book, not necessarily a particular time period in history. Just whatever comes to your mind where you got caught up in the character’s and story but the author had also done the ground work and ensured it was historically accurate to the best of their ability and you end up learning a lot about what was going on during that time, how people lived, how they viewed their circumstances, governments, innovation, wars, the rise and fall of rulers or empires, anything and everything.
One thing I want to explore sometime from this same angle is hopefully the chance to read some books by people who either lived through WW2 and the holocaust, or know enough about it to write a work of fiction about it. I am very curious how seemingly normal people got brainwashed into being okay with a certain chunk of the human population “getting rid of” another chunk of the human population. I know the basic answer to this but I’d love to read books by people it happened to, or people who have studied the phenomenon. But I just strongly prefer fiction (or just a human/autobiographical/biographical story) so I can retain information 90% better (I don’t know why!). I do like non-fiction and I’m such an avid learner at hear that most of my book collection is made of non-fiction. I just know I want stories in general, and how they capture me almost like I’m there and I acclimate to the surroundings and environment at the time, thus learning so much more about them!
Thanks so much for any suggestions! I’m excited to ask!
by OrangeBloodMoon