As far as reading’s concerned, I’ve always had history as an abiding interest, in particular the history of the twentieth century, and the turmoil which dominated the middle years of the 1930’s and 1940’s. As a teenager, I bought a book which I’ve always held responsible for this, William L. Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. This book alone impressed upon me the stunning, cataclysmic events of the Second World War, and gave me a curiosity about what happened, why it happened, and who the main players in that tragedy were; but also the impact on and actions of the ordinary people who were swept along on the tsunami of events.
This is me. Your author. The owner of this blog. After a career in local government, working in social housing , I took early retirement in 2009. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to spend my time pursuing some of my hobbies, which include photography, travel, caravanning, and reading.
As my school history curriculum had consisted of little more than British monarchs, British wars of the medieval period, and lots of dates of battles, and my teachers had never shown any inclination to make the subject interesting, the events which had caused such massive turmoil throughout Europe only thirteen years before my birth seems to me to be not only more relevant and meaningful but far more interesting and exciting.
The last thirty years or so has seen not only a huge number of books on the subject, but also the rise to prominence of a number of historians who have established well-deserved reputations – Ian Kershaw, Richard J Evans, David Cesarani, Nicholas Wachsmann, Antony Beevor, Lawrence Rees to name but a few.
Thanks for reading. Al Northcote.
Northcote Corner...Quiet Please. 