Why I Like History

Recently I was accepted into a volunteer position at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, “A community organisation committed to collecting, researching, and sharing an understanding of the history of Victoria.”*+ For years I have longed to enter into the wider history world and take my passion for the subject and field beyond my own study, so it is needless to say that this new opportunity excites me very much. I also have the chance to learn in person from others who are more knowledgeable and skilled in the field than I and to thus grow further myself. Even better, I have been placed in the bookshop where I work back-of-shop with the books. History itself is awesome. History and books is double awesome!! If you happen to be in Melbourne sometime, do stop by and check it out and our little museum display as well.

I have been thinking about why it is that I like history so much. Why is this such a thing for me? Those of you who know me well know that this is one of the things that sticks in people’s minds about me. I am a nerd, I know, and unashamed of it. And it’s a good thing. You all need historians in your life, even if you don’t think so.

In light of this, I thought it might be fun to write a short blog post about why I like history. Where did it begin? And why does it fascinate me so much?

Memories of my childhood are hazy but as a home-schooled girl I vaguely remember sitting with my Mum, and which ever siblings were born and doing school at the time, around the table listening to Susan Wise Baur narrate her first Story of the World book on Ancient History. I can hear her voice in my head to this day. Certain aspects of ancient history have stuck in my mind since then that remain connected with what I heard in those history audio CD’s, probably because that was the first time I was introduced to them. Sumeria. Mesopotamia – the land between the rivers. Athens & Sparta. And Alexander the Great. These are just some of them. The fact that they’ve stayed with me all these years, also says something for the impression they made on me as a young child.

In more recent years, I have mulled over what it was exactly that so gripped and fascinated me about history all those years ago. Was it the Roman legionaries who looked so cool in their tunics and armour with the little gladius at their side? Was it the stories of heroes and battles and adventures that I loved so much, and even more because they were true? (well, kind of anyway, but that’s an debate for another day). Was it that it unleashed something in my imagination and let it run wild and free like it needs to for every young child? I think that it was all of these things and more. More than anything else, history gripped my imagination. I poured over piles of history books and re-imagined myself as back in that time period and place as those people, costumes and all. It ignited my young imagination and placed me in the shoes of people long ago.

It inspired me. I created costumes, made swords and bows and arrows out of whatever was available, cooked historical food and organised Roman and Medieval feasts for my family, wrote Latin and Roman numerals in my school books, used Latin words in conversation with family, and imagined myself as made up historical people in time period in my mind and games, and roped my younger siblings in as well.

Perhaps it also had something to do with the development of my empathetic nature, my ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes? Who knows.

As I entered my twenties, however, I realised a theme: many of my imaginary historical stories and games centered around people facing adversity and hardship with courage and hope. Having just gone through 4-5 years of serious illness, I knew that it had gone from being a game to being real life. Did history, therefore, help to prepare me for real life? Did it help me to develop that courage and hope at a young age before I really understood what they were, courage and hope that helped me to face real life and hardship as I grew older?

I realised also that people, cultures, and civilizations were endlessly fascinating to me. Reading about them is like, to echo C.S. Lewis, entering into another world. To quote him in Experiment in Criticism, “We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as our own…” He was writing about literature, but I believe the same applies to history. After all, most of us learn about history from reading books. History helps me to understand people and human nature. We are truly an odd bunch. An awfully broken and twisted and messed up bunch, but a bunch that is also capable of great kindness and heroism and sacrifice nonetheless.

It is important to me to try to understand why things happen, e.g. why that empire fell, why this culture was the way it was, why they engaged in this practice, why this person acted the way they did and made the decisions they did, and so on. I enjoy looking at and understanding the ideas and beliefs that drove those decisions. I just like to understand things. I like to understand why things are the way they are today, how we got to where we are, and it also gives me a certain insight into and broader perspective of today’s modern world which is not as great as we think it is.

There are many reasons why I like history. But I think when it really comes down to it, it’s. just. plain. cool. 😀 Can that be okay? I think so.

I believe I was born the bookish historian type and all it took was was the right books and CD’s to awaken that within me, and that I owe to my Mum and shall be forever grateful. But, just as with anything else, it takes years of dedication and hard work (A LOT of work) to gain a solid and broad and deep knowledge and understanding of history (historical literacy) and to learn the proper skills needed to do good history practice and good historiography. It is a journey I will gladly be on for the rest of my life. It just gets more fascinating with time. And the world gets more broad and deep and rich and interesting.

Why do you like history? Or not like history? Please, share with me. I would truly love to know! 😀 Let’s chat.

Footnotes

Photo taken by me at the Highland Games and Celtic Festival March 2024.

*Royal Historical Society of Victoria; Web; historyvictoria.org.au; What We Do; accessed 6 Feb 2024.

+ My home state in Australia

Lewis, C.S.; “An Experiment in Criticism”; quoted in “The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New World’s Through Others Eyes”; Harper One; 2019.