I read a lot of history, but for several years now, my focus has been on the early Carolinas, including Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to Roanoke and Colonial Charleston, and The War Between the States. Earlier this year I read a few books on Texas history as well.
My focus changed a few months back when, on a whim, I downloaded, The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Angle-Saxon England by Marc Morris. The monumental event had been mentioned numerous times in my college classes, and while I knew the battle, which occurred in A.D. 1066, was a turning point in English history and that it somehow impacted the codification of laws, I didn't know how or why. Since the Kindle download was on sale for $1.99 at the time, I was about to find out.
I was very pleased with both the content and the writing. The author didn't merely provide information on William the Conqueror's attack on King Harold's forces. With rich, vivid detail, active writing, and hook endings (which, surprisingly, work quite well in a history book) he thrust me into the medieval world of England from the time of the Anglo Saxon kings and Viking incursions, to William's determination to win a crown he claimed had been promised to him. I could not read fast enough, and when I finished, I wanted to know more.
Though I hopped back in time, the next book on my list was The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin R. Merkle. As with Morris's book, active writing and amazing historical details kept me glued to the pages. The history was so vivid and alive, I felt as if I were experiencing it as it unfolded in the pages. I literally gasped once, startling my husband.
Those two books gave me a better understanding of history and conditions in England, including those that that would eventually give birth to my own nation, so I decided to learn more. I took another jump in time and read Dan Jones's The Magna Carta and then began reading a version of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles that I found online. I put that aside when my husband presented me with a copy of Jones's The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England. Jones's style differs from Morris and Merkle. Where the latter two keep the action moving, Jones tends to introduce a subject then stop to fill the reader in on the background of that person or event. Even so, both of his books are packed with fascinating details of the Plantagenet dynasty and are a must read for anyone interested in this era of history.
As I read both of Mr. Jone's works, I came across frequent mention of a knight by the name of William Marshal, who served under Henry II, his eldest son Henry the Young King, Richard I, and King John (and apparently one more.) When I reached the death of King John and Marshal in The Plantagenets, I downloaded The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones. It's a wonderful complement to The Plantagenets, mirroring information a few times and filling in gaps at others.
I'm in the middle of it now. I have a few more books to read after I finish this and The Plantagenets. After that, I'll hop back across the pond and start on a book about US Grant.
It's been a great time of reading that has, and continues to, nourish my mind and knowledge.