Places of Interest
Keen eyed readers of this Blog will have already noticed that I tend to focus on particular themes, people, time periods and places in my reading. What you, obviously, won’t be aware of is the types of books I own but have yet to read/review as well as the books I continually add to my ever growing Amazon Wish List. Even I have been not exactly surprised by but intrigued by where my attentions mostly are especially when it comes to places of interest.
As I’ve already stated on several occasions I have limited my historical reading to British and European examples. Despite the fact that my interests extend beyond the borders of Europe I can’t dedicate myself to the history of an entire planet whist doing (or reading) anything else. I just wouldn’t have the time. As my ancestry is from Ireland I have a focus on that troubled land too. So starting with those two reasonably obvious examples where else does my interest reside?
UK and Ireland
France
Germany
Spain
Italy
Russia
North Africa
The Middle East
Afghanistan
India
Japan
China
That probably covers over half the world and is more than enough to be getting on with I feel. I have minimal interest in most of Africa except that bordering the Mediterranean with the possible exception of South Africa at the time of the Boer War. I do have an interest in South-East Asia, and in particular Vietnam, but I’m going to restrict myself typically to the French occupation/empire in Indo-China before the US became involved. As to America itself, despite its relatively short history, I imagine that I could spend years trying to understand that continental player on the world stage but, yet again, really don’t have the time to focus any great energies on it. No doubt American history will be touched upon – as in my reading of Civil War blockade runners – just not exclusively. All of the above will, generally, apply to my reading of history. My fiction reading will continue to range across the globe and, hopefully, to other worlds too. My non-history reading, likewise, will be global in nature. With my underlying attempt to understand just how we got here I can’t very well edit out half the globe without seriously throwing any subsequent judgements into doubt. I think it’s going to be an interesting journey. I’m particularly ‘pumped’ about my future Middle East reading but that passion will probably fade over time and my focus will be somewhere else. Such is the bane of having a butterfly mind….. [lol]
4 comments:
The issues that you bring up in this post are things that I think about a lot. I also have an enormous range of interest, especially in history. But if I just follow my whims I would be all over the place. It would be hard to read coherently. I also want to read a lot in one particular area so that I can be very knowledgeable in one area. Thus I read a lot about The American Revolution. A fair amount about a few other areas that I like to concentrate in and sometimes just on a whim.
Have fun on your journey. I look forward to your upcoming posts.
that's probably the way to do it, CK... otherwise you end up like me: reading eclectically all my life and finally achieving a senility- inspired grasp of the whole of everything; it really is funny how, after a certain age, almost every new piece of knowledge fits neatly into a pre-arranged slot... sometimes i think that's how a computer must feel; assuming they do....
My interest in Africa is rather like yours, almost limited to the northern area of the Med. I have read broader African history, but it seems like the Sahara cut off civilizations like Nubia, Mali, and so on from the constant action around the Med and the Middle East. South America isn't even on the radar except during the Age of Discovery....hence my study series!
@ Brian: It's good to have a focus but be able to hold it back enough so it doesn't become an all consuming obsession. It's nice to break away from time to time for a bit of fresh air and a different perspective. Plus spontaneity is sometimes a lot of fun.
@ Mudpuddle: I believe that everything is connected so it doesn't really matter where you start your investigation of the world. You could be interested in the invention of the light bulb and all of a sudden you're into 19th century social history, electricity production, railways, telecomms and branching out from there. Following your nose leads everywhere but always eventually leads home.
@ Stephen: There are huge areas of the world that don't even blip on my radar - and that was before I even restricted myself to concentrating on Europe. Some areas and some subjects just don't interest me at all - although that's mostly sport!
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