The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a
must read in my opinion. I've never been affected by a book in such a way before (I was recently in Amsterdam and I got to see the Annex she lived in, was almost in tears, but I'm so glad that I went). I recently saw a stat suggesting that 41% for millennials in America think that 2 million or less Jews died during the Holocaust (it was actually triple this number, not even including the non-Jewish victims such as the Romani, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists/Political opponent, black people, disabled, and homosexuals), and 11% have never even heard of the Holocaust before. That's pretty disgraceful in my opinion, and just more of a reason to read this book (Personally feel like it should be mandatory reading at schools). I also think Dunkirk is a must watch film - according to many (and I agree) it's the closest a film could ever get to what life as an ordinary soldier during World War II was like - a pretty important perspective to understand.
Other things that I enjoyed, that are a bit (sort of) "lighter" than the above;
- Battle Royale (book). Not too "light" aha, but its really good. If you liked the Hunger Games, it's got a very similar premise, but tbh I think Battle Royale does it better. I also really enjoyed the movie, but its in Japanese so you have to get used to subtitles!
- Wag the Dog (film). One of my all time faves (was lucky enough to study this in year 12 too!). Basic premise: The US government fakes a war with Albania in order to distract the public from the President's underage sex scandal during the election. I think at a time when the idea of "fake news" seems to be at the forefront, this is a pretty interesting film to watch.
- Game of Thrones (TV). Not only is it just incred, but purely to avoid social exclusion once the next season drops in 2019
- Any documentary made by Louis Theroux, my hero (who studied history at uni bless up <3)