I think historical insights are best internalized by the reader when they can identify with another person from history. I don't think that's the only way, of course, but a lay person is more likely to develop an interest in a subject if they can see themselves in the historical situation. One of my favorite histories is of a Columbia Basin sheepherding family called the MacGregors. I'm a sheep and cattle raiser myself, but through their story, I gained a familiarity with the economic and political history of the late 1800's, up through the second world war and into the start of my own time. The historian made use of many in person interviews. It has been an important book in my life. Another book on the life of Andy Little, an Idaho sheepman, missed the mark, because it was too focused on the personalities and gossip, rather than taking an interesting and worthy individual and placing them among the context of the time that they lived in order to gain a better understanding of that time. Thank you again for your thought provoking post.
I think historical insights are best internalized by the reader when they can identify with another person from history. I don't think that's the only way, of course, but a lay person is more likely to develop an interest in a subject if they can see themselves in the historical situation. One of my favorite histories is of a Columbia Basin sheepherding family called the MacGregors. I'm a sheep and cattle raiser myself, but through their story, I gained a familiarity with the economic and political history of the late 1800's, up through the second world war and into the start of my own time. The historian made use of many in person interviews. It has been an important book in my life. Another book on the life of Andy Little, an Idaho sheepman, missed the mark, because it was too focused on the personalities and gossip, rather than taking an interesting and worthy individual and placing them among the context of the time that they lived in order to gain a better understanding of that time. Thank you again for your thought provoking post.