#17 – Read a book about the major world wars… DONE!
You may be thinking, only a dummy would admit they used World History For Dummies to brush up on their history of the major world wars. Lol!
I actually found it to be a great tool for this purpose.
I initially considered it because I know of a well-respected professor who uses one of the Dummies books as a text for his course. The writing is easy to follow, and historical events are discussed not simply chronologically, but within categories and then chronologically. For example, I read about wars in one section about conflicts around the world and in another about the evolution of combat technology.
All in all, I found it to be a helpful resource (especially for someone who was once familiar with world history and just let it slip from memory). I’m proud to say that I can once again speak intelligently about the causes, events, people, and resolutions of the major world wars.
As an extra bit to this project, I was reading an American history book as well. I really enjoyed what I read, but it had to go back to the library before I was finished–I’m not a very consistent reader, heh heh. What I loved about it is that it is almost entirely the firsthand accounts of the people who actually LIVED the history. Excerpts from letters and other pieces written by people throughout history are woven together by the book’s modern author. If you’re interested, make sure to take a look at Mine Eyes Have Seen: A First-Person Account of the Events That Shaped America.
