YY to Who do you think you are?
History can be such a dry subject which does seem to bare no connection to your life. But social history which places you into some sort of context with your own life is much more interesting and an entry point to more traditional military history and political history.
I confess I am a geek when it comes to this, but I've learnt so much from doing my own family history and DH's history. Far more than I ever learnt from history at school (or even university).
There's one murder in DH's family which they published an account of what happened in the newspaper followed by another of the execution. The first is shocking to read even today when we are used to pretty violent stuff on TV.
Its incredibly graphic, saying where the blood ended up. (Domestic violence incident, husband kills the wife by slitting her throat, after she had returned from going to court over his violent behavior, in front of his 15 year old nephew. He then tried to slit his own throat but cocked it up).
The second article about the execution, is amazingly voyaristic and makes me think it was the Victorian form of reality TV in the detail it goes to. It pretty much says every word he said to whom in the hours before his death and what he ate, how long it took to walk to the gallows and how quickly he died. Oh and course, the newspaper said he was otherwise a nice bloke.
It made me think that the Victorians were not quite as prim, proper and prudish as you think. And they'd have bloody adored Love Island.
Finding out about the murderers in the family is hardly boring. I mean, how many murder mysteries are on TV every day? And whilst thats the extreme end, most people have stories in there somewhere, often not to far into the distinct past.
My weaknesses? I know fuck all about golf and cricket and central African countries. I'd get stuck on pre-20th Century Prime Ministers too. Computer Programming? Just no. Ditto Physics.