“That is the only proper way to study history,” George went on, wisely ignoring the interruption. “Read history lightly, about some period, then read the best works of poetry or fiction dealing with the same events. Then come back to history again. The characters will be real people to you and not mere names. You will eagerly extend your researches to details about these familiar acquaintances and friends, and learn particulars that you would else have shirked as dull and laborious.”
~ Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Good Men and True