Binges

I admit, I’ve been on two binges over the last few months.  Not everyone likes to admit to their binges.  Usually they are food binges, or alcohol or whatever…but my binges got started in the most innocent of ways.

Binge #1:  I was reading a series of historical novels and suddenly I was caught up in the story of the Tudors, focused primarily on King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  What incredible people, what incredible times, and how they turned the tides of our religious history.  If we think our politics are convoluted and tied up in other countries, as a nation, we come by it naturally, our ancestors created the same type of intrigue. 

 I found myself reading book after book (no historical fictions here) and watching the Showtime ‘Tudor’ series through Netflix.  Then I turned to the several excellent movies that have been made regarding Elizabeth I.  I compared notes between what has been produced for the movies and how the books told the stories.  There are a lot of inconsistencies even between really well researched authors.  I suspect they come from different religious/political perspectives and of course are subject to interpretations. 

If we ever wonder how we got to where we are today as a country, then part of the answer is in our history.  Doubt me??   Go read some books!

Binge #2:  The second binge got started with Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point’.  In there some where, I don’t even remember the context, there is mention of “Albion’s Seed” by David Hackett Fischer.  Again, I don’t remember the context, but something about the mention of the book poked my interest, so I headed to Half Priced Books and by golly, there on the shelf was “Albion’s Seed”.

First a warning, this book is not for the faint of heart!  It is over 900 pages and Mr. David Hackett Fischer takes an interesting approach.  Albion is the pre-history name of England and Mr. Fischer researched to the tiniest nit, the historical impact of the four major ‘pathways’ of immigration from England into North America.  So, he looked at the education, architecture, sexual mores, religious background, dress preferences, child rearing practices, etc., etc. of the Puritans, Quakers, English Elite and Scottish/Irish immigrants and postulates that what we see among these practices still impacts our behaviors and choices today, depending on our historical heritage.  It was a very long read but extraordinarily revealing of who we are today as a culture!

That launched my ‘career’ of reading David Hackett Fischer.  If you want to learn American History, and you do it via reading, and you want to read interesting history books, try him.  So far I’ve read ‘Albion’s Seed”, “Washington’s Crossing”, “Paul Revere’s Ride” and am about to start “Champlain’s Dream”.  Again, if you can’t sit through very detailed descriptions of Revolutionary War battles, etc., etc., don’t start this project.  I am still amazed that I read every single word, but he is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, so if you’ve got the time, he’s got the research.

When I stop my life for a moment and just ponder, which I am prone to do in the early morning hours before my feet hit the bedroom floor, I realize these two Binges are first cousins.  Binge #1 is a part of the definition of Binge #2 and combined together they provide a profound insight of our history, if we are of English/Scottish/Irish descent.  And that history defines us.  We are so removed today from our roots, that in many ways we have lost our way.  But our history, even back to pre-history eras is out there for us to discover if we are curious enough.

It’s a choice... or maybe a binge.

Enough said.