A Centennial Biographical History of Hancock County, Ohio Book

The study of history has changed a lot since this book was published--and thank God. Aside from being extremely racist, the book seems mainly concerned with the presence of Europeans in India (e.g. Alexander the Great) rather than elucidating facts of Indian history. Otherwise, it seems mainly an academic exercise in debating when the exact reigns of various houses began and ended or critiquing Indian sculpture as crude or primitive.

For all that it calls written certain accounts "fantastical," it seems to be remarkably credulous of others (e.g. relaying accounts of standing armies of ~350,000 soldiers).

It focuses little on daily life for the great mass of people, the tough issues of political economy in the ancient world, or the real development of religious thought (versus dating movements).

Anyway, the one thing this book has given me is a fuller appreciation for the way history is studied today.