The era of the splat books gave us many things that can best be forgotten. Most often because they served no purpose than to over power characters. The Historical reference line offers some redemption to the line. It not only gives the DM a means to use some historical elements in their campaign but in some cases serves to educate the reader. There are other products that do this better. The most notable of these are the GURPS line which in China, Aztecs, Dinosaurs etc gave us really in depth materials. All of that aside for 2e material this is fairly good stuff. If you get a chance to pick up some of the Historical Reference line at a fair price I don't think you will be disappointed.
