The Mystery Starts Here

If you’re a writer, not only of mysteries, but any form of fiction, "The Timetables of History" by Bernard Grum, would be a fabulous addition to the reference section of your library. This fat tome has snippets of life starting at -5000 and up to the 1900 that are fascinating. I have the Third Revised Edition, so I’m sure the book has been updated and revised since then. The book is divided into six sections: history/politics, literature/theater, religion/philosophy/learning, visual arts, music, science/technology/growth, and daily life.

I’m currently noodling a book set in the 1980’s in Florida. I looked up 1985 and found out that was the first time the Titanic was photographed by a remote controlled camera, divers found the wreck of the Atocha a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Florida in 1622 with 400 billion dollars worth of treasure and that there was an earthquake in Mexico city that killed 7000. Now, I may not use any of that information, but I might. In any event, it was fun reading.

Say you’re writing a historical mystery set in 1920. You might want to work into the plot that F. Scott Fitzgerald published "This Side of Paradise" that year. Or, perhaps that Babe Ruth was sold by the Red Socks to the Yankee for $125,000. Neat, huh? Sprinkling your novel with a few concrete facts makes your work not only interesting but richer and more authentic. You’re readers will know you took the time to research the time period you’re writing about. I love to learn facts while reading fiction and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

You might be writing a romance set in 1191 Japan. You’ll definitely want to know that tea arrived from China in that year. Or how about this; U.S. copyright laws were amended in 1831: 28 years, renewable for 14 years. Of course you don’t want to simply plop facts into your text. By looking up what happened in the year or years you’re writing about can be a jumping off point, a place to start doing more defined research. And these facts might spark plot ideas or personality traits for characters.

The Timetables of History isn’t a book you’ll sit down and read and you may not use it often, but believe me it will be an invaluable addition to your reference library.

Tags: Bernarde Grum, history, literatue, music, politics, reference books, religion, science, Timetables of History, visuall arts

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