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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
what kind of impact did they make? did they change your life somehow? or are we just talking about books we like?
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I'm really interested in locating contemporary problems within unresolved conflicts that took place in the past. As such I found Hill's book about the English Civil War and Winstanley's writings during that period especially enlightening in the way that they both seemed to provide some light on contemporary issues.
In the case of Peter Taylor's two books (especially
The Loyalists), it was a way of understanding (without necessarily sympathising with) a lot of what was talked about within my family (which had stong Loyalist leanings) regarding the whole Northern Ireland issue. Throughout much of my childhood I was expected not to understand but merely to accept their view and for years I reacted by simply rejecting all of it and not paying any interest in either side. So it was a big step for me to finally read those books and so, yes, I suppose in that small way they were quite life-changing.