This is a sharp deviation from the original material (p.11), as I'm not using this section to sell something.
Comprehending history, studying maps and floor plans and obtaining some artistic ability or skill will be most helpful in establishing and maintaining an interesting and exciting campaign. There are so many good books and stories that have been written, adapting both fantasy and non-fantasy themes, that is it not possible to give a complete list here — but in truth, it does not matter what is read, it matters that the language and characters depicted have depth, nuance and details necessary to render an excellent climax and resolution. There is so much free content in the world, that will not cost a dime, but some guidance can be given here.
First and foremost, begin with simple and straightforward world histories that have been written for a juvenile audience. These works are disinterested in providing detailed information, but are there to give you what you need at the outset: a clear, plain overview of human history, so that you can understand what got us from the distant past to here. This is only the beginning, obviously — but it will enable you to separate the times and events of human history so that when reading stronger material, you're not left confused about where the Romans, the Arabs, the Mongols, the Catholic Church, the rise of monarchies or the happenstance of wars fit into the milieu. This doesn't mean you need base your game world specifically upon the Earth, but understand why the Romans fell will help provide the background for a stagnating or deteriorating culture. History will explain how a new idea can sweep the world and radically change everything, or how a new technology can allow a backward people to slaughter and conquer more sophisticated cultures. Through studying history, we can learn how vast organizations are built, and how political systems create their own problems, or why wars happen and how they are won or lost. All these things can help a DM see how grand events moving beyond the party's reach can create eddies of excitement and interest, forming episodes that can sweep the players into action and adventure.
With a modicrum of history under our belts, we can plunge into numerous books describing what everyday life was like during the middle ages, the Roman period, in ancient China, or any place in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Many of these details will seem trivial or mundane, but reading about ordinary places and ordinary lives will help in describing the scenery behind the adventure. If we can imagine the busy streets in our minds, the washer women hanging sheets out of windows, the teamsters fighting with one another as they try to get around, the hawkers with their wares, the beggars, the wealthy and their retinues, the smells and the sounds, as well as water splashing from the rooftops and running like rivers down the streets when it rains, or avoiding the baking sun under awnings in the height of summer, we can help the players feel like they are really there. How the people interact, what's important to them, who respects whom, who fears whom, how food is grown, what sacrifices have to be made in the winter or how grateful people are for the spring, we can feel more viscerally what it must be like to be an independent adventurer walking about in such a place. The less we make these people like a modern shop owner, and more like a medieval shop owner, the greater the feeling of being out of place, out of time and out of water.
Finding simple books on sociology or anthropology can help as well, particularly when deciding how intelligent peoples would act and function outside the normal social system. It will help us understant what a hundred orcs spend their time doing in the wilderness, when there is no one to raid and no player characters to kill. By understanding the societies of human beings, we can extrapolate how the societies of other groups might function, what they might treasure, how they might practice religion or reward important persons inside their ranks. Through understanding interpersonal heirarchies, group behaviour, habits and traditions, we can make things in the hinterland come alive for the players, so they are not merely fighting stick figures, but beings with motivations, desires, fears, troubles and ambitions. Coupled with what we know of history, we can find empathy for their conflicts, their lack of resources or their willingness to cooperate and show kindness. Implementing these ideas into our game world produces shading and refinement, so that not every encounter and parley says the same things and ends in the same fights.
Biology, too, digs into the weirdness of life, of things that exist as parasites or huge non-thinking colonies, so that we can understand monsters without intelligence. Understanding how creatures like mollusks, insects and other animals obey the rhythms and vicissitudes of survival, eating, migrating and giving birth can give fresh life to how any monster is motivated. Tapping into this resource of knowledge is another means of expanding our understanding behind what's actually happening when a party is attacked by a "wandering monster."
With this much under our belts, we can begin to investigate into more specific subjects, like siege, shipbuilding, administration, religious ritual, craftsmanship, armour & weapons, falconry, estate economics, alchemy, medicine ... anything, really, for once we have a grounding in liberal education, we can apply ourselves to any subject that appeals to our fancy. And with every investigation into these things, we will breed new ideas, new possibilities for invented adventures, new designs and endless reasons for the people in our game world to BE. It is very important to keep abreast of the tsunami of human knowledge, for in that knowledge are the tools to make anything we want made for the game, ourselves, freeing ourselves from the dependency of other people's prejudices about what makes a good campaign.
Further research beyond this will only be more empowering. Developing artistic skill will allow the DM to create their own maps, images and atmosphere; a truly dedicated aspirant may set out to make their own miniatures, their own model sets, their own published books and personalized designs. It is all a matter of beginning with simple overview materials, and simple easy-to-read literature, until more and more complex materials becomes a daily reading habit. Imagination is a monster than needs to be fed everyday, or else it withers. It cannot thrive on cold beans and water. It needs the very best fare we can contrive to support it.
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