About
What is Dad History? And what is dad history? DadHistory.com is a one man blog that recommends history books and occasionally posts original historical content. Dad history is a genre of historical scholarship, typically resembling an easy to digest three hundred page book on an event of World War II. Think the historical events that are the basis of Band of Brothers, a book detailing the advantages and disadvantages of the M4 Sherman tank, or a biography of Andrew Jackson. The historian Michael J Douma defines dad history as historical works that are relatively simple to read, offer little nuance on the historical subject it tackles, and most importantly, they sell. This site is not dedicated to recommending books that fall into this category, but will instead seek to expand upon what is traditionally considered dad history. Some recommendations and articles may fall into the narrow definition of dad history, but most will not. Please do not misunderstand me: I love studying World War II. I enjoy many topics that belong to the narrow definition of what dad history is. However, it is my belief that this narrow definition has become part of a stereotype, that the average American male cannot handle or does not desire the complexity and richness that a great work of history can offer. No more receiving books on submarines for Father’s Day just because “that's what dads like”...unless that IS what you like!
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I am not a professional historian, nor do I have plans to become one. My university education gained me a bachelors degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I currently teach high school United States history in the Milwaukee suburbs. I am a history nut, plain and simple, and I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to share my passion with young people every day (aside from the ten weeks of blissful summer vacation every year). However, my voracious appetite for consuming books and other historical content tends to be more than is useful in the typical high school classroom. This blog is my pressure release valve, a place where I can talk freely about the things that have piqued my interest. My hope is that the recommendations and articles on DadHistory.com will inspire you to dive into a topic you may not have thought about before, and make you a genuinely more interesting person as a result.
One note about the recommendations on this site: they are recommendations, not reviews. By nature of writing about a book, I am recommending it to my readers. That means that some books I read will not make it onto this site, as I seek to curate the recommendations to ensure high quality articles. However, I will be clear in my recommendations about the contents of the book, as I am cognizant that not every book I recommend will be interesting or approachable for everybody. Some books may be rather wonky in nature, and I will be sure to note that. Others will better fall into the dad history genre, and those will be reviewed with that fact made clear. There will be a clear bias towards works of US history, but you never know what might make it on here.
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