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When Heather Cox Richardson was an undergraduate at Harvard, she took a course on the Civil War. Research for a final paper took her to the basement of the Division of Government Documents, known as Gov Docs, where she spent long hours reading articles on microfilm. The room was dark, cold and mostly empty, except for one professor and an unexpected visitor: John Updike. Richardson never spoke to him and she still doesnt know why he was there. But, in a phone interview, she recalled the chance encounter one of those things a student is popeyed over with fondness and reverence. Maybe it was the silence of the library; maybe it was the significance of her subject or the illustriousness of Updikes company; but by the time she completed her paper, a historian was born.

Richardsons latest project is Democracy Awakening, an examination of American history through the lens of authoritarianism, which debuted at No. 4 on the hardcover nonfiction list. Shes also known for Letters From an American, a wildly popular newsletter that presents the days political news in simple, streamlined terms.

When she sits down to compose her daily dispatch, Richardson tends to picture her college roommates as her audience. Theyre going to give me grief if I say something stupid, but they dont wish me ill, she said. Its much harder to write for an audience that you believe is eager to tear you down.

Not surprisingly, this Boston College professor is bullish on the importance of studying history. But what does she have to say to current undergraduates who feel pressured to focus on practical subjects like finance, law and computer science?

Anybody who studies history learns two things: They learn to do research and they learn to write, Richardson said. The reason that matters now is that most people who are in college now are going to end up switching jobs a number of times in their careers. She pointed out that some of these jobs may not even exist yet. So, Richardson continued, What history will give you is the ability to pivot into the different ideas, the different fields, the different careers as they arise.

A historian will also know how to metabolize confounding situations, distill them to their essence and communicate that information to others as Richardson does with current events in her newsletter. She said, It makes sense to recognize that these skills provide a tool kit for moving into the future in a way that Im not entirely sure we always recognize. Plus, you never know who youll meet along the way.

Elisabeth Egan is an editor at the Book Review and the author of A Window Opens.

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Heather Cox Richardson Wants You to Study History - The New York Times