Pirates me hearties, pirates!

[--Pete]

Hi,

As mentioned my history isn't the best. It was knowledge that I never received as a "package" and just got bits and pieces of from various sources so I'm enjoying tying some of those strings back together. :)

History never much interested me in school. It was presented as a collection of factoids (names, dates, events) that needed to be memorized and regurgitated on demand. Reading the text was ruined because we had to 'outline' it (and about half our grade depended on that outline), a task I found unproductive (I have a memory) and boring. And, though I didn't know it at the time, what I was exposed to was more 'southern, American, Catholic propaganda' than it was unbiased (right;)) history. It wasn't till I developed a taste for historical ('hysterical' according to my history educated friends) novels that I developed a taste for history. At first it was just researching some tidbit from a novel, but it became an interest in itself.

From what I've heard from those presently enduring it, the teaching of history hasn't changed much in the interim. Sad, that such a fascinating topic is taught so poorly.

--Pete