Learn About The Past With Historical Non Fiction Books

By Alexandra Anderson


The demand for historical non fiction books has never been greater. With the increased choice of formats now available, either by the traditional paper method, or the more recent addition of the e-book, many more people are now taking the opportunity to venture into this genre. It is after all, through history that the story of mankind is told.

Learning about past events, gives an insight into the lives and culture of the people at that time. It charts the major events, including battles for the conquest of land, the way the people were governed and their belief systems. In today's technological age, a lot of information is readily available through the internet.

This however, was not always the case. The very first tomes were written by hand, on parchment or vellum. This was a very labor intensive job, and several different people may have be needed to produce one volume. These books were highly treasured, and some were also beautifully illustrated with pictures, depicting the written words, as relatively few people could actually read.

As there were very few of these early volumes, they consequently commended a high price. Only a very small section of society would ever of had the opportunity to own one, and many people would never even have had access to a copy of one. However, these were the first history books, recording what was happening at that time.

This continued until the sixteenth century, when the printing press was invented. This at last gave a major section of the population, the chance to find out about the world that they lived in. The ability to be able to read and write, gave many individuals, the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. Books then, as now, provided knowledge, and that in turn brought about more favourable circumstances.

The early universities had the added advantage of having their own libraries, which included many early copies as well as rare editions collected over time. However, the only people who could have use of them were the students and their lecturers. During the nineteenth century, the provision of public libraries started to take off in many countries. This allowed the general public free access to many volumes, which included fiction and non fiction titles.

A lot of people enjoy collecting books connected to their own particular interest, accumulating a large number of volumes during their lifetime. Private collections across the world hold some very rare and expensive early editions. A very early case of this need to gather information, can be found in the Royal Library of Alexandria, situated in ancient Egypt. It is understood that it housed over 400,000 volumes, before later being destroyed.

People across the world want to find out more about their own culture and its history. Sales of this type of material continues to increase, as more research is carried out in this area of writing, and subsequently published. If you are searching for titles of historical non fiction books, details of companies who stock this genre can be found online.




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