I always find stories about common people from the past to be some of my favorite historical writing. While it's true that history is made by great people and great events, most people are not great and reading about the common people of the time is always fascinating.

Ones I have read and enjoyed are:

- As The Romans Did by Jo-Ann Shelton. This book tries to paint a picture of everyday life in the Roman Empire

- History of Hadley by Sylvester Judd, Lucius Manlius Boltwood. Details the history of a small town in Massachusetts.

Two of my favorite books growing up were The Real Diary of a Real Boy and The Great Brain. Both are accounts of a young boy growing up in 19th century, small town America. The Real Diary is about Exeter, NH in the 1840s. The Great Brain is about Utah (and is much better written, I think most Hacker News readers would benefit from giving this book to their child). The books were penned after the fact, but were based on the author's boyhood experiences. These books both painted a portrait of old-time life, and also gave me a feeling of continuity with the past.

I also enjoyed (as an adult) Papa Married a Mormon which is John Fitzgerald's (Great Brain author) semi-autobiographical first novel.

Exactly. When you find an old newspaper, you read the classified ads. Because ordinary people wrote about their daily needs there. Its so human.

Sounds a lot like my childhood. I also created my own imaginary world, complete with elaborate drawings and fabricated back history. I was also a voracious reader, remixing those stories into my own variants that fit in with the made up world.

Makes you realize why Minecraft has become so popular among young boys. It's an amazing tool to extend that creativity beyond maps on paper and into something more.