A story told through history
My several and simple years of studying history in high school did not mark me. I can barely remember the when and the where (of my classes), other than by reference to how old I must have been, and in what town my parents lived. Your experience may have been like mine.
After all, and after the fact, it didn’t really matter who won the Hundred Years’ War. I doubt that any single soldier stuck it out for the whole time. And as for the names of kings in England and France, just write the names Henry/Henri and Louis on your wrist where it won’t get spotted during the big exam. Simple.
However, and again, after the fact, I do like documentaries that cover history as reality. This afternoon, two episodes of the excellent series Michael Woods: History of England. Thank you, Mountain Lake. Here’s the short version. People live in places for a long time (unless a nuclear reactor or a volcano blow up). When a place has citizens for a long time (this is about history), there are traces of the people that stay. Place names. The routing of main and secondary roads. Hills that were made by collective effort (think burial mounds). And in an organized society, there might even be written records of how the citizen and the law collided.
I know that “history” where I live is shorter (in the context of permanent traces), but I’m tempted to get trowel and some window screen… and so equipped, to check out the back yard for traces of earlier residents. Could be fun, and sifting dirt is much more interesting than explaining that king #7 came after king #6.
