I am embarking on my greatest journey yet, I’m planning to write a novel. My only problem is coincidentally what has lead to many of these same project of mine fall flat previously, lack of knowledge of the time and lack of resources.
Do any of you have any sources and things like that to describe what life was like in and around 1866? Of course I’m not looking for exactly 1st hand accounts but anything, from the writers of a farmer in 1866 to a modern day historian telling the story of the year.
Edit: Specifically frontier America
Any and all help is vastly appreciated.
I'm afraid you're going to need to be a little more specific than "the entire world in 1866" -- what region are you looking at? Are you caring more about urban or rural? Big events or daily life?
For example, I could link you to every issue of The Sydney Morning Herald from 1866, but if you aren't setting your story in Australia, that won't be very helpful.
A good guide for researching an era for histfic, not history.
Go to http://www.hollyi.net
Go to 50 Books.
You will get one page on the 50 Books theory and method, then one on more specifics. At the bottom of the second page is a link to blitz researching. Your timing on this does imply NNWM, and that's what the 30 Books or less is for.
Read fast, take lots of notes. Good luck!