British/General Ancient-Renaissance History

[glottal]

Ah, Ravenna.  Possibly the coldest (in terms of people, not temperature) twon I visited in Italy, but the Byzantine art is worth the trip.  I remember when we went there - without a hotel reservation - they asked if we wanted to stay in the historical area, or the beach.  We said the historic area.  They answered 'good, because it's impossible to get a hotel room in the beach area'.

Anyway, I also love history.  My particular interests include:

California History - Most "U. S. History" courses could be renamed "History of the Eastern United States" with very little adjustment to the curriculum.  California history is quite different from the history of the Eastern United States.  I think it is sad that most Californians know more about the history of the East Coast than the history of their own state.  Anyway, California History was the only class from the History Department that I ever took in college.

French Revolution - You said it, Fierce Deity

Ancient Eastern Mediterranean - I am also fond of the general history of the pre-Roman Eastern Mediterannean (Ancient Greece, the Hittite Empire, Egypt, Canaan, Sumeria, etc etc.)

History of Mid-Sized East Asian Countries - My most newly acquired interest in history, largely because I now live in Asia.  I think Korean history is the most interesting so far, but I've only begun exploring the history of countries such as, say, the Phillipines.  I do not, however, find the history of Japan that interesting (I consider Japan to be a large, not a mid-size, East Asian country).

I don't think the purpose of learning from history is so much about not repeating mistakes - people tend to repeat mistakes even when they do know the history - but it's a way to better understand who we are.  The world today makes a lot more sense when you know the context (and history is part of that context).

[Lambonius]

Interesting...I figured as much about a specific breed of sheep, but wasn't sure what breeds were around in the Mediterranean at the time.  Makes sense!