Anyone fascinated by a certain historical period?

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History is a big interest for me, and I was just wondering if anyone else finds a certain time and place in the past (or more than one) to be really engrossing. I actually haven't had the kind of historical interests where you research everything there is to know about a certain period, etc., but I think part of that may be due to the fact that I have so many other interests that I feel strongly about. Once I've spent time on reading, writing, music, movies, etc., there isn't really a lot of time left for historical digging (especially when you subtract time spent at work, cooking, cleaning, and all those other "life" things).

Also, even though there are certain periods of time that are particularly interesting to me, it really kind of is history "in general" that I'm drawn to ("you can't really understand the present and future without understanding the past" is an idea that's always made a lot of sense to me). Almost every time and place is interesting to me in one way or another, especially when you can see how it relates to other times, places, situations, and events.

Having said that, there are a couple of historical periods that I've found to be particularly interesting, and that I've been wanting to look further into. One is the "Fin de siecle" period near the end of the 19th century. It was centered largely in France, but it kind of encompassed all of Europe as well. The art, clothing, worldview, etc. of that period have been really intriguing to me for a while. I need to delve more deeply into it (especially the writing, which so far I've only gotten sort of a general idea of).

Another period I've wanted to find out more about is time that Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled in Romania (1965-1989). I saw a documentary about it on the History Channel or something about a year or two ago and it really kind of stuck in my mind (I'm currently working on a short story set in that period). He was a ruthless dictator and set up kind of a strange "cult of personality" situation in Romania. At first it looked like he would take the country in a more open or liberal direction than the other Soviet bloc countries, but over time his regime grew more and more oppressive and weird. He was finally overthrown and executed in 1989. Anyway, I've just been meaning to find out more about what life was like for the people who had to live under that, the kinds of things that went on, etc.

So let me know if there are any specific times and places you find particularly engrossing, and if possible talk about the things you think are interesting about them (you can talk at length if you want to, or it can just be brief - it's up to you).

I like studying the American Civil War. It's a complex and fascinating time and I doubt it's possible to fully understand it. And there were no computers back then, so it's a nice break. World War I is similarly absorbing.

Oh, yes. For me, it's the 1980s. Should be obvious.

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