Niall Ferguson - Empire

Ferguson's Empire is mandatory reading. For all reasons I've stated elsewhere, and just for the understanding and perspective the subject gives us now. As he enters into the 20th century the perspective you'll have on things you've felt and acted out your entire lives will be striking. (By the way it was the Germans who riled up all this Islamic jihad s*** in WWI, as a tactic of war against the British Empire.)

This kind of perspective is good and necessary. It feels universal and complete. It frees a developing soul from confining cultural and political influences in a real way because it is based on understanding. - C.

[I.e. the 400 year history of the British Empire is a subject we underestimate or take for granted or just ignore which has influenced the world we see around us in such foundational ways. It's not just another subject of history. The French Revolution is similar. There's nothing new under the sun, but that's because somebody did things once. For a similar type of perspective, in this case on America and what we are going through currently, this article is good:

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Future-tense--X--The-fourth-revolution-7395