Well, you know, it takes a student determined not to make money to pick history, I'm told. A prof also once told me, when I handed in a paper that was a bit too abbreviated for his taste, that I seem to have left out the story in history. I'm learning to unlearn a lifetime of concise conversation (collective forum laugh?). I admire your concentration. I'm still determining mine, at this stage. It'll obviously be related to 20th century warfare (history seems to practically revolve around war) but I've been leaning toward the Spanish Civil (Air) War, specifically. Part of my study abroad is to immerse myself in the language and culture.
I suppose we've (I've) hijacked this thread way too far, as is. Apologies to all.
I spent a great deal of time deciding my concentration. I finally narrowed it down to three areas: Protestant Reformation in Germany, Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front, Alexander the Great. I chose Alexander because I enjoy the time period more than the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. Along with writing about the Luftwaffe, I would have to spend time learning the politics, social ramifications, and general public history that goes with World War II. Studying Luther would require much of the same, but the historiography is essentially endless on the Reformation (Marxism, Annales, Cliometry, Great Man, Freudianism, etc.). Thus, studying the Reformation would be about 80% historiography, which I did not like the sound of. Meanwhile, to me, there is nothing boring about the fifteen hundred years of Ancient Western history. From 1,000 BCE to 500 CE there is not a bad topic, in my opinion. Of course, this is one of the least popular areas of history, in the English speaking world at least. So, it is a bold move and there is no money it at all. But, one can survive on professor pay.