I think that reading history make you a better person, more sympathetic to others, more critical in your analysis, more skeptical of standing interpretations, more knowledgeable of the world.

Why is this? How can reading history make us better people?

I think stories help us relate to others. By telling ourselves stories, we also build our own sense of identity. Stories are essential for personal development. This view is now common in much cognitive science and psychology, and historians have much to learn from these disciplines.

In a video interview I cannot recommend too strongly, Dr. Kevin Currie-Knight interviews Dan McAdams, author of The Art and Science of Personality Development (Guilford Press, 2015).