Two quotes from two of my favorite people:
“We are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last 24 hours; we are not the best informed as to the events of the last 60 centuries.” – Will Durant
And,
“News is old things happening to new people.” – Malcolm Muggeridge
Which when combined may well mean that one should shoot their TV and pick up a book such as:
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories
The recently published The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika
Or coming in February 2010, The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade.
I have all but the last two. All are great reading and give you a healthy perspective on daily events. Guess what, man hasn’t changed. Only the names are different.