Favorite historical period to study?

[Lorgar-Aurelian]

I was just wondering what everyone's favorite historical periods or events to learn about were? You don't have to list just one but go ahead and list which ones strike your fancy the most.

I personally have a wide variety of interests but I'd have to say my favorites are as follows.

Medieval Europe
Prussian and French colonial history.
Belgian history
The Crusades
Persian history from ancient times to modern times.
Ancient Greek history
Byzantium,
Arabian and Islamic history
Indian history
Chinese history with a focus on Ming and Han dynasties.
Russian history starting with the Kievan Rus onwards

I could of course go on but those are some that I am most interested in.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Ancient Egypt and pre-Islamic Arabia.

(I reserve the right to be biased. )

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

I was just wondering what everyone's favorite historical periods or events to learn about were?

• China: the late Eastern Han Dynasty - the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Three Kingdoms era;
• Japan: Warring States period;
• Aegean area: the Graeco-Persian War;
• although it doesn't count as history - Stone Age Europe & possibly China too

 

[Augustus]

• My favourite is late antiquity, particularly the early Islamic period because it is like a very complex puzzle where there is always more to discover.
• The Roman Republic/Empire
• Medieval Europe (inc. Crusades)
• Later Islamic Empires
• A bit of the Greeks too

 

[Rival]

Early Mediæval Europe.

Communist East Europe.

There are more but they are my two favourites.

 

[james bond]

Currently, I'm looking at the 1500s and current times to learn about forecasting. Apparently, the two most successful forecasters in human history lived in these times.

 

[Flame]

Warring States China

Classic Antiquity

The Renaissance

Age of Enlightenment Europe particularly the French Revolution.

 

[1137]

Predynastic Egypt, the Armana period, and the Seti/Ramses lines of pharaohs.

 

[Lorgar-Aurelian]

Predynastic Egypt, the Armana period, and the Seti/Ramses lines of pharaohs.

Totally didn't see Egypt coming

 

[1137]

Totally didn't see Egypt coming

That's why I was more specific

 

[Twilight Hue]

Indigenous cultures. South and North America. So little left because so much was lost. Either through time or the settlement of the Europeans.

It has taken on a hue of mystery and intrigue on a way of life that we all but forgotten in the modern era.

 

[Politesse]

I am mostly a Post-Colonial type of guy, especially in terms of my professional career. I spend most of my time studying the indigenous cultures of the United States and Canada, for both personal and professional reasons, and I have made something of a miniature career out of publicizing the buried facts, and naming names when possible, from the California genocide of the late 19th century. I don't know if I would say that I enjoy this work -it is grim - but I certainly enjoy the company of those I've met through it, and as a sometime instructor of Native Studies, sometimes to Native students who still feel the trauma of poverty and a burgled heritage, I feel it very important that my home state should learn to acknowledge its past.

Other time periods I find interesting are the "Archaic"/Woodland period, also on this continent, the cultural and political adaptations to the last period of global warming based on evidence that is as compelling as it is scanty. In general, the period of global history between the evolution of our species and the explosion of archaeological evidence following 12k BP or so. There's this huge blank spot in our understanding of our evolution as a global society and culture, and I will always find it fascinating.

Within written history, I am also a fan of West African studies, especially the study of the last independent indigenous polities and the integration of subharan Africa into the global economic and religious system over time. I also spent a lot of my student days studying Maori history and culture, and still enjoy catching up on the latest developments in Polynesian studies. The Crusades, especially the Fourth, same deal for similar reasons.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Ancient Greece and Rome
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture
1920s and '30s
WWII
1950s and '60s
1980s

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Currently, I'm looking at the 1500s and current times to learn about forecasting. Apparently, the two most successful forecasters in human history lived in these times.

Do you mean weather forecasting?

 

[Alison Wonderland]

Medieval & Early Modern Europe, pre-colonial Americas, the World Wars are also limitless fascinating even though they've been done to death.

1950s-1970s is also an interesting turnpike in Western history, culminating in the 80s.

 

[Deidre]

Medieval history
Ancient Rome
The Holocaust

 

[james bond]

Do you mean weather forecasting?

No, predicting what will happen in the future. Some people think it can't be done*, but two scientists have been very successful at it -- Nostradamus from the 15th century and Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, Ph.D, professor at Stanford and NYU. De Mesquita has developed an algorithm using advanced mathematics and the gaming theory and has been accurate to 100%. His algorithm is secret, so groups such as DoD have hired him to answer questions in order to have him make predictions using it. Here's an article and documentary on him.

Can Game Theory Predict When Iran Will Get the Bomb?
Can Game Theory Predict When Iran Will Get the Bomb?

 

[VioletVortex]

I find the later ancient times and Early Medieval times to be very interesting. WWI and WWII are also areas of my interest.

 

[Wirey]

I liked when I had hair on top of my head instead of my back. That count?

 

[Guy Threepwood]

I was just wondering what everyone's favorite historical periods or events to learn about were? You don't have to list just one but go ahead and list which ones strike your fancy the most.

I personally have a wide variety of interests but I'd have to say my favorites are as follows.

Medieval Europe
Prussian and French colonial history.
Belgian history
The Crusades
Persian history from ancient times to modern times.
Ancient Greek history
Byzantium,
Arabian and Islamic history
Indian history
Chinese history with a focus on Ming and Han dynasties.
Russian history starting with the Kievan Rus onwards

I could of course go on but those are some that I am most interested in.

I'd like to go way back and see what the world was really like hundreds of millions of years ago..

Other than that - Rome perhaps, but most of all-

If I had a time machine and could visit one single time and place, (other than my own younger life with family etc) - I'd have to say Victorian London, all the sights and sounds would be the most fascinating (maybe not smells!)

How would you answer that; if you had one choice?