i don't think there's an essential stable of history books for everyone. if you're uruguayan the Tupamaros are pretty relevant, elsewhere substantially less. what i recommend and talk to people about around where i live is definitely not the same as what's important to someone in pakistan or angola.

i wouldn't want to discourage anybody from taking an interest or lessons from far afield, but if we're approaching this from what someone absolutely NEEDS to know, it's got to be local first.