This paper includes three studies about the Venerable Bede, the Great Famine of 1315-1322, and libraries in prisoner of war camps. The study of the Venerable Bede focuses on his views on and understanding of time, especially its relation to the Easter computus. The second study is a historiography of the Great Famine of 1315-1322, with an emphasis on the environmental aspects of the catastrophe. The third paper is a study of the libraries that were provided for German soldiers in prisoner of war camps in the United States during World War II, which includes an analysis of the role of reading in the United States’ attempt to re-educate the German prisoners.