I really enjoy Confederate military and government postal covers.  It's one of the few types of items from the war you can actually trace back to a specific individual and know exactly who used it.  These covers originally contained letters to and from soldiers and their families which typically was the only way they knew their loved ones were safe both at home and on the front.  Historical items with a personal connection are so much more interesting to me as historic events happened to real people who lived through them.  I believe school teaches history in a way that makes most people perceive it as dates, places, and flash card facts.  This leads to a disconnect, when those involved were actually regular people who did and experienced extraordinary events.