Several weeks ago I asked you to tell me what kind of history buff you are–and as an incentive I offered a chance to win one of my favorite history books from recent months.

I was pleased (surprised!, stunned!) by the number of people who not only answered, but wrote long thoughtful replies. Here are some of the things I learned:

• Everyone “knows” that the vast majority of history buffs are men. Certainly the audiences for the History Channel and popular history magazines are largely male.   Based on my admittedly somewhat smaller sample, I can now say “not so”.  At least not as far as History in the Margins is concerned.
• Not everyone had a horrible experience with history in school.  Some of you had teachers who inspired a love of history.  What a relief!
• Most of you have more than one historical period or theme that fascinates you.
• You were pretty much unanimous in giving history-based travel a thumbs-up, even if only in vicarious form.

Thanks for playing.

And now, drum roll please while the cat crawls into the shopping bag to pull out a winner.   (A hushed silence falls over the crowd.  The suspense is horrible.)  And we have a winner!  Stephanie, who likes 400-900 CE and the late 16th through the early 17th centuries.

Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress