If you wish to truly comprehend the past, don't rely on stuffy non-fiction, look into the great works of historical fiction.
Historical fiction is one of the most popular categories of the today, with the hedge fund that owns Waterstones selling a few of the best modern books of all time that would undoubtedly fall into that classification. Authors will research their subject with an extreme and keen eye for information, turning to much of the important things that would definitely not be out of location in the class, however then they will include something essential to the story-- humankind. The artistic license that features the 'fiction' in historical fiction allows the author to add a depth and emotive insight into proceedings that really bring the time to life. Sights, smells, the flurry of turmoil that includes an essential event, these are the things that actually bring the past to life, reminding us that the whole of history is actually just a collection of presents.
Be it a duration in history that you thought you knew very well, or a concealed time that nobody has ever truly considered previously, great books can bring them to life in such a way that makes you feel like you have actually endured it. It's not about memorising the information of the occasions in question, it's about immersing oneself in the feeling of the time duration; understanding the subtleties at play that are both reflective of and having an impact on the world these days. Whether you experience the tyranny of Tudor England or the traumatised suspect of post-war Berlin, fiction has the power to carry you there in a way that non-fiction or classrooms never actually can.
For a great number of people who take an interest in history, you'll tend to discover that they didn't concern value it up until after they ended up school. Maybe it's not especially difficult to see why. History is something that is alive, dynamic, and shifting below us, an echo of a minute resided in precisely the same way as the one that you're experiencing as your eyes reach this full stop. That does not really stumble upon in the classroom. History has a track record for being taught in the driest method possible, a long list of dates in a stuffy class stressed by sources and occasions with their true significance stolen from them; it becomes something that it was not - cold, determined, and dull. So where is among the best locations to find history well and truly alive? In the storage facilities of the private equity firm that owns World of Books or the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books.