Late Roman Empire, the American Civil War, WWII, and the Vietnam War.
The study of early Christianity, from the death of Jesus until Constantine.
The American West. I read histories of some of the western United States.
Herodotus - I re-read The Histories about once every couple of years.
Pre-history - I can’t get enough Stone Age
General histories - The Columbia History of the World, The Penguin History of the World. There’s just something compelling about trying to cram the whole shebang into one volume of 1,000+ pages. (I know, I’m a sick bastard. Anybody got any recommendations?)
Rome, Greece, Egypt, Byzantium…
And then, there are the histories of specific endeavours like Music. Biographies of great composers and performers come under this heading, (for me, anyway) and again, I can’t get enough.
Biblical history is what fascinates me the most.
I grew up in private christian schools so I learned the faith portion, but for me knowing that some of these things ACTUALLY happened, and looking at it from a historical standpoint makes it seem all the more real
My personal interest in history is the leadup to the formation of the ideas of Capitalism and modern Republics. But I’m not enough of a history buff to really delve deep into this, I fear.
Still, the whole thing is amazing. Smart dudes doing problem solving is the funnest thing there is to watch and this was problem solving of world changing proportions.
Pretty much anything with gunpowder is boring to me; anything with Christianity involved is at least mildly boring. It’s weird - history is my profession and I’d rather study almost anything other than modern history.
I do Greece and Rome. My favourite bits within those are Republican Rome, religious history and Herodotus (hi, Ministre!).
The American Civil War. I collect books on it. Started with Shelby Foote’s trilogy and grew from there. I’m learning to distinguish the scholarly from the purely literary; Foote was a novelist who wrote nonfiction about the war, but I still go back to him when I’m looking for a reference. I even have a HUGE book that reproduces actual Civil War tactical field maps. The damn thing weighs ten pounds!
As do I, although, as What Exit? well knows, I consider Washington to have been our greatest president, with Lincoln a close second. (T.R. is certainly among my top five or six, though).
I went through a period as a kid when I was gaga for anything concerning the Titanic. Then I went through a WW2 craze, with an unfortunate (but brief) focus on Nazi Germany. Then the American Revolution, and more recently the Civil War. I’m a member and former president of my local Civil War roundtable and still strongly have that interest. The American presidency and British monarchy still fascinate me. Heraldry, off and on, and historic flags, and space exploration. American politics in just about all eras. Naval history. I could go on, but I won’t; those are the biggies.
I voraciously read our World Book Encyclopedia growing up and wasn’t shy about correcting grownups’ misconceptions (yes, I could be annoying). Now Wiki is dangerous, because I can spend hours just jumping from page to page, learning new stuff, endlessly fascinated.
What doesn’t particularly interest me, truth be told? Other than the Roman Empire, just about anything before the Hundred Years War. Agriculture. The Middle Ages generally. The Black Death. Russian, African and Asian history, by and large. Not that it isn’t important, just that it never grabbed me (and no, I’m not looking to be converted). To each their own.
These days - The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.
I’ve been through a lot of places/eras - in books, anyway.
Other historical obsessions:
World War 1
WW2
Australia, particularly in the Colonial Period (1788 - 1901)
Britain in the the Victorian era, including the various colonial wars
The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars
The Industrial Revolution
Ancient Rome, particularly the Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC to 68 AD)
…and a bunch of other stuff. I’m a history nerd, and not too ashamed to admit it.
I had a big phase of being into pre-history, too, particularly the period from the last Ice Age through to the start of recorded history.
Hmmm.
WWI - especially Canadian involvement
Tudor and Stuart Britain
Britain, period
Akenhaten (sp?) period in Egypt
the Crusades
Russian, especially the fall of Nicholas II (and also everything to do with the imposter Anastatsias)
I’ll read pretty much anything historical - and my interest tends to wander.
All things Elizabeth I/Henry VIII fascinate me. I know way more about that era than any other. It’s just so… bloody.
Also very much like ancient Greece & Rome, but am sadly clueless about it nowadays. I should probably dig out my college books and re-read them.
I’m an early American, Colonial, native American Buff.
Born and raised in New England I am endlessly fascinated by old stone walls, stone structures, foundations, old wells and excavating ancient colonial middens. I began my college career as an archaeology major - didn’t last, I switched to psych - and now I fancy myself as an amateur archaeologist.
I’ve owned land where we’ve found lots of cool old artifacts, my wife even gave me a section of basement to sustain my archaeological fantasies.
I’ve got collections of arrowheads, a couple cannon balls, old glass bottles things like that. Some of the cooler things I’ve cleaned up and have on display, such as a candlepowered or whale oil powered nav light from an offshore fishing schooner circ. 1888.
Alice the Goon and Salinqmind, I, too, wrote a term paper on the plague! I did mine for microbiology; then I double-dipped myself and reworked it for European History!
My mom was a history teacher, so maybe I absorbed her interest. But I got a BS degree and took exactly zero history classes in college, so I’m sadly undereducated. Mostly I absorb my history via historical fiction, which leads me to look up the corresponding facts, but I do read the occasional biography or non-fiction book.
I usually focus on English history: I like the Plantagenets and the Tudors (I have an unhealthy fascination with Henry VIII), I like the Napoleonic wars, I like the Victorian era, and I like WWII.
I’m also interested in Ancient Rome, from Sulla through Claudius. And just this year I’ve been reading a bit of non-fiction about the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers.
I enjoy studying the Plantagenets (medieval England), the Restoration, any and all things Scottish, and the1920’s.
I go off and on the Classical world.
And my spurts of attempts at genealogy will spawn interests in various eras like the Revolution.
I’m jealous, I have yet to find anything more exciting that some fossilize sea creatures and shark teeth in my area. Not even an arrow head.
I usually take a weekend to scout out some places that may be of interest, places with old foundations and such - public land is a plus. Our old house was on land that had an old foundation on it…but we’d find arrow heads out in the back field after it rained. We’re going back many years, haven’t been “arrow-hunting” in a while! I’ll post some pics when I get back…
The Victorians fascinate me. They remain very close to our day and yet their attitudes (on women and children particularly) seem so very thankfully far away.
16th/17th century Europe with a particular focus on England (obviously, as it’s where I’m from). Also Islamic history, and I’ve read a fair bit about Byzantium too (the last two affect each other a fair amount). No real interest in modern history and I’m extremely clueless about American history (civil war… something about slaves?).
Me too. Does anybody have a book recommendation for delving into Haig’s blunder specifically and/or the whole of trench warfare tactics and strategy in general? WWI is a subject I haven’t read much about.
My preferred subject is WWII, mainly in the ETO. I’ll read just about anything that grabs my attention though. This has led to me getting fairly serious interests in the Napoleonic Wars (especially the British army of the period) and the American Revolution. I like to read biographies (and autobiographies) of major historic figures and memoirs of rank-and-file troops.
Military history is definitely my focus, but I find it’s a gateway subject to the rest of a period. Eventually I ask, “Why were these guys fighting?” or “Who’s idea was that?” Then there’s a whole new set of things to get into.