Hi! I've the Pocketbook IQ 701. Hope that my replies will be helpful.
I bought the IQ 701 in December last year. The backlit LCD is very useful for reading in a dark room. You can adjust the brightness easily. I've not used it for checking emails but it connects to my home wifi network with no problems after I've configured it.
You can also surf the net with the included browser which is similar to the default browser in most Android phones. You can't play Youtube videos out of the box but you could download apps or the Skyfire browser which allows you to play flash videos. I've tested Skyfire and it works well for Youtube.
Yes, the IQ 701 has a full colour screen and I love reading full colour comics on it. If your History books are in pdf format, they should be readable on the IQ. You could also download various free apps for reading pdf files. Other ebook file formats can be read using either the included Reader app or other Android apps such as Aldiko which you can download for free (legally).
I bought my IQ from Dulin's Books (
http://www.dulinsbooks.com/). I believe they can ship to anywhere in the world. I would recommend a visit to their website.