There is absolutely nothing to compare with Bill Bryson's Short History except for every other Bill Bryson book. However, he focuses a lot on the history of science (especially the British gentlemen scientists of the 1800s). I don't think she'd get anything out of it. Anyone actually curious about nearly everything should read the book immediately. Don't even finish reading this post.
We've actually covered this. She referred me to some nonsense that Paul states that he undertook to do the best research possible and he was a doctor or something, so he would never lie. The fact that one need not lie in order to misstate something appears meaningless to her. The fact that there is no other historian of the period whose word is taken as fact by current historians is also meaningless.
I'll look at it. My worry about Sagan and Shermer and the like is that she's probably been trained to instantly shut off her brain when she hears something about them. That was why I tried to hit her from the outside with Vonnegut. Nobody puts their guard up for Vonnegut.
Every time we correspond, I have to spend two paragraphs on how wonderful her family looks and how fondly I remember her from school and all sorts of nonsense just so she doesn't shut down completely.
Right, you have a really gem of a problem there. This is not unknown to me.
Is this individual a paper or emedia type. The reason I ask is that I read voraciously and the media matters not a whit to me. Nonetheless, if your protagonist is willing to read PDF, then I could drop some PDF links if it helps. For most of these foundational books, copyright has long since expired.
Nevertheless, I am fully aware that some are still wedded to paper, and I can hardly complain about that, given that the tactile joy of a physical book is a deep pleasure to me.
In any event, I can wheel you copies in PDF of any of the titles I have suggested (legal ones) and a fair smattering of the titles others have suggested.
But I harbour a belief that this would likely not much matter anyway. From your description, it appears to me that you have a teflon theist on your hands.
So here is a different suggestion. How about you set up, say, a moderated thread for the sole purpose of engaging in discussion? Naturally, as a mod you would have to defer to other mods, conflict of interest and so forth.
And sure, it gets robust in these here parts sometimes, but that is why I suggest a modded thread from the outset.
Look, I am simply suggesting possibilities. I do not know this individual, you do. It might well be that if, as you describe, this individual is as fragile and delicate as you say, then perhaps some form of walled garden might be entirely appropriate. Not the done thing here as such, I know, but sometimes you go the extra mile if you can.
