[gerdesj]

"How many newspaper stories from the 1700s have you read?"

Social history interests me. So does genealogy, although I am the apprentice. My family tree has over 150,000 records in it - thanks to my uncle's painstaking research.

I generally try to read summations by people who have read all those articles but I am happy to dive in myself if I have to.

Just off the top of my head: A great example of trying to get inside the thoughts and ideas of a long departed peoples - "Courtesans and Fishcakes". That book deals with the cultural mores of ordinary people not gods and kings and legends and stuff.