|
Alikchi posted:I enjoyed IRON KINGDOM but it's much more political history focused on the monarchs than it is anything cultural or etc It talks a lot about culture especially the clubs later on.
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2015 08:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 02:46 |
|
|
sbaldrick posted:This is going way up my to-read list. Please let me know what you think whenever you get around to it! I've been considering using some or all of it for teaching to undergraduates at some point in the future, so I'd be interested to hear someone else's opinion.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2015 19:36
|
|
|
SPQR by Mary Beard, is it good? Gonna ask for it for xmas. http://www.amazon.com/SPQR-A-History-Ancient-Rome/dp/0871404230
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2015 01:29
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:SPQR by Mary Beard, is it good? Gonna ask for it for xmas. Bought it a few weeks ago so it better be. Hopeful. The negative reviews all seem to be "whyyyyyy does she spend so much time on women and slaves, who cares", which is usually the sign of a book I'll actually like.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2015 17:46
|
|
|
smr posted:Bought it a few weeks ago so it better be. Hopeful. The negative reviews all seem to be "whyyyyyy does she spend so much time on women and slaves, who cares", which is usually the sign of a book I'll actually like. I loved her Meet the Romans series on the BBC for that reason, so I hope this is good too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2015 19:24
|
|
|
Hey I read through a bunch of pages here looking for a recommendation for my dad for Xmas. He generally likes fluffy ooo ra WW2/Iraq war books, but is actually a smart guy and I'd like to get him something a bit deeper in terms of lack of bias and content while still being an enjoyable read. Shattered Swords was brought up a few times, and by the descriptions i cant tell if it is too academic or not. What do you guys/gals think? If it may be too much, any suggestions?
|
|
#
?
Dec 14, 2015 03:13
|
|
|
Crazyweasel posted:Hey I read through a bunch of pages here looking for a recommendation for my dad for Xmas. He generally likes fluffy ooo ra WW2/Iraq war books, but is actually a smart guy and I'd like to get him something a bit deeper in terms of lack of bias and content while still being an enjoyable read. Does he like reading about Russia in WWII, or just America? If he likes reading about Russia, buy him A Writer At War by Vasily Grossman. It is the best memoir available about the Eastern front.
|
|
#
?
Dec 14, 2015 03:20
|
|
|
Crazyweasel posted:
Shattered Swords is a book milhist folks recommend often because a) it is incredibly detailed with a lack a factual errors, and b) is tightly focused on one battle, going into great detail into everything related to that battle. This is the kind of thing that normally only appeals to a certain kind of milhist nerd, which I am not. That said, I read it fairly quickly and enjoyed it immensely. I don't know if I'd recommend it to a casual reader with no preexisting interest in the topic, even though it worked for me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 14, 2015 04:10
|
|
man
|
Crazyweasel posted:Hey I read through a bunch of pages here looking for a recommendation for my dad for Xmas. He generally likes fluffy ooo ra WW2/Iraq war books, but is actually a smart guy and I'd like to get him something a bit deeper in terms of lack of bias and content while still being an enjoyable read. Shattered Sword has some ups and downs for you here. The authors aren't really academic at all - one's an MBA, the other one is IT, they're just hobbyist historians. Despite that, it is pretty technical, there's a few chapters spent digging into the real intricacies of how Japanese carriers operated. But there's also plenty of things that'd appeal to someone less interested in the historical fights over Midway. If you're worried about that, though, I'd advise looking at Neptune's Inferno, which is about Guadalcanal and the navy/marines there.
|
|
#
?
Dec 14, 2015 04:22
|
|
|
vyelkin posted:Does he like reading about Russia in WWII, or just America? I saw that a couple pages back. I'm a bit more uncertain about that, but it's definitely a future possibility. Thanks for the above posts, think I'll pick up shattered swordand if he thinks it's a stinker I'll snag him a handle of jack! Thanks !!
|
|
#
?
Dec 15, 2015 04:26
|
|
|
I've come to the point in my life where I feel it's time for me to learn as much about American history as I can. Currently on my line-up is 1776 by McCullough and after that I have The People's History of the United States by Zinn. What other important pieces would you guys recommend for entry level American history up to relatively present day?
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2015 17:59
|
|
|
a_young_doctor posted:I've come to the point in my life where I feel it's time for me to learn as much about American history as I can. Currently on my line-up is 1776 by McCullough and after that I have The People's History of the United States by Zinn. What other important pieces would you guys recommend for entry level American history up to relatively present day?
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2015 18:07
|
|
|
I would look at those survey books also anything by Eric Foner, if there's an Era you find particularly interesting read the relevant section of the Oxford History of the United States.
|
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2015 18:21
|
|
|
a_young_doctor posted:I've come to the point in my life where I feel it's time for me to learn as much about American history as I can. Currently on my line-up is 1776 by McCullough and after that I have The People's History of the United States by Zinn. What other important pieces would you guys recommend for entry level American history up to relatively present day? Zinn is crap. Read Foner instead.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2015 00:18
|
|
|
Silver2195 posted:Zinn is crap. Read Foner instead. why is that? I have various issues with zinn. but i am curious what your reasons are? also how is foner?
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2015 16:11
|
|
|
Howard Zinn himself once said that what he did with People's History was nowhere near the best, it was just one of the first and other people had done it better than him by the 1990s. The People's History has a lot of inaccuracies and misinterpretations, and it's all down to the fact that he was kinda pioneering the field, and there's been like over 40 years of better research done. Today, it's more useful for figuring out the state things were in when it was published, than the history it actually covers, if that makes sense.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2015 17:39
|
|
|
I am trying to track down a book I read an excerpt from some time ago and now have completely forgotten about. It was purpotedly a comprehensive description of jobs found in London in the 19th century, and the bit I read had the author interview people in charge of cleaning up the sewers and their trade. The whole book got a passing nod in the article, and I would like to get my hands on a copy. Does anyone know what book I am talking about? EDIT: Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor" is what I was looking for. Time to get a copy. Bushmeister fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Dec 19, 2015 |
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 09:30
|
|
|
fishmech posted:Howard Zinn himself once said that what he did with People's History was nowhere near the best, it was just one of the first and other people had done it better than him by the 1990s. The People's History has a lot of inaccuracies and misinterpretations, and it's all down to the fact that he was kinda pioneering the field, and there's been like over 40 years of better research done. Huh, so he's like the Edward Gibbon of American history.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 10:34
|
|
Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
|
Silver2195 posted:Zinn is crap. Read Foner instead. Seconding this. There's a reason why Foner's Reconstruction is still THE text on the period, despite being published in 1988.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 18:53
|
|
|
fishmech posted:Howard Zinn himself once said that what he did with People's History was nowhere near the best, it was just one of the first and other people had done it better than him by the 1990s. The People's History has a lot of inaccuracies and misinterpretations, and it's all down to the fact that he was kinda pioneering the field, and there's been like over 40 years of better research done. i like it enough, it has issues but its a good starting point for a alternative historical perspective look. I think he is too harsh sometimes and makes every rebel in south america a magical hero who can do no wrong,(i am not defending of the right wing "backyard policies" of propping up every dictator who shoot "commies", i just dont believe everyone is a magic hero) but he is pretty good. Dapper_Swindler fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Dec 19, 2015 |
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 20:18
|
|
|
Bushmeister posted:I am trying to track down a book I read an excerpt from some time ago and now have completely forgotten about. It was purpotedly a comprehensive description of jobs found in London in the 19th century, and the bit I read had the author interview people in charge of cleaning up the sewers and their trade. The whole book got a passing nod in the article, and I would like to get my hands on a copy. Does anyone know what book I am talking about? yeah that. i found it in a penguin classics edition in a used book store. its good stuff.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 20:20
|
|
|
a_young_doctor posted:I've come to the point in my life where I feel it's time for me to learn as much about American history as I can. Currently on my line-up is 1776 by McCullough and after that I have The People's History of the United States by Zinn. What other important pieces would you guys recommend for entry level American history up to relatively present day? The Oxford History series on American History is exceptional but quite approachable in my opinion. It's still unfinished and a little unequal between the quality of the volumes, so feel free to skip around though. Battle Cry of Freedom (Civil War), and Freedom From Fear (Depression+WW2) are both fantastic reads that I can't recommend enough.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2015 23:31
|
|
|
Subvisual Haze posted:The Oxford History series on American History is exceptional but quite approachable in my opinion. It's still unfinished and a little unequal between the quality of the volumes, so feel free to skip around though. Battle Cry of Freedom (Civil War), and Freedom From Fear (Depression+WW2) are both fantastic reads that I can't recommend enough. I'll check these out. Currently really enjoying listening to 1776 on audiobook while reading People's History. I understand where people are coming from with Zinn though- I'm not even that far through and I can pick up on where people are sort of turned off.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2015 00:54
|
|
|
I know basically nothing about the Napoleonic Wars aside from the names of some battles. Is there a good one book intro I can check out?
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2015 05:14
|
|
|
The War of Wars by Robert Harvey is what I'd recommend. It's a big book, but it presents everything approachably and with a bit of character-driven narrative following key figures. It focuses a bit much on the British and not enough on the Austrian or Prussian contributions to the war IMO, but it's still a very good overview of the Napoleonic Wars IMO.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2015 20:44
|
|
|
AdjectiveNoun posted:The War of Wars by Robert Harvey is what I'd recommend. It's a big book, but it presents everything approachably and with a bit of character-driven narrative following key figures. It focuses a bit much on the British and not enough on the Austrian or Prussian contributions to the war IMO, but it's still a very good overview of the Napoleonic Wars IMO. I just finished this about two months ago and can second the recommendation. He occasionally throws in some weird bits about the main actors' sexuality but, other than that, I found it a fine read, with a good grasp of the modern scholarship and written in an engaging fashion that keeps you going through what is a pretty thick book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2015 18:17
|
|
|
When I was an undergrad I read Parlor Politics about how the first couple first ladies helped create the "culture" of Washington D.C. and how politics works. It was a pretty cool book and I enjoyed reading it. Does anyone have anything similar but about how the Constitutional branches developed their character? Specifically Congress? The Parlor Politics book was for a course on the President but it was a broader examination and I'm currently interested in how the original institutional norms developed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2015 23:04
|
|
|
I want to read some kind of non partisan book about communism wrt to the idea by itself (what it is, etc) and how it was implemented or attempted and how/why/where things went wrong and so forth. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also is there anything similar but for socialism? Just trying to broaden my worldview and learn more about non-capitalism.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2015 17:55
|
|
|
I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2016 19:07
|
|
|
I quite enjoyed Madness, Betrayal, and the Lash, a tale of George Vancouver's efforts to survey the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. A bit niche, but there's a lot of drama around the voyage, despite him running it rather competently.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2016 19:25
|
|
|
Enfys posted:I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic. To Rule The Waves by Arthur Herman is a good place to start. It's focused on the [British] Royal Navy, but is a pretty solid introduction to the topic and the Royal Navy is going to be talked about in almost every book you'll find on naval history. If WW1 era naval history has your eye, Castles of Steel by Robert Massie is a big and sometimes dense read, but it's probably the best single-volume work on the subject. If you're more interested in WW2 stuff, take your pick of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Parshall and Tully (goes into great detail about the Imperial Japanese Navy during the early parts of WW2 in general, and about carrier operations), The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer (covers a particularly dramatic part of the Leyte Gulf campaign and life aboard destroyers and escort carriers), or Neptune's Inferno: the U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal also by James Hornfischer (covers more generally the US navy in the early to mid parts of WW2 as well as the Guadalcanal campaign).
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2016 19:58
|
|
|
Enfys posted:I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic. Six Frigates by Ian Toll about the founding and early days of the US Navy is excellent, highly recommended.http://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/039333032X Something about more general shipboard life, though it only covers the British Navy in the 1700s pre- Seven Year's War is The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy by NAM Rodger http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-World-Anatomy-Georgian-Navy/dp/0393314693 . You can look at the table of contents in Amazon's preview and see if that's something you'd like to learn about. Another good book is Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, who as a young student with eyesight problems thought a total change of scenery would help his ailment, and signed on a merchant ship from Boston to California and back. It was published in 1840, and he wrote this memoir based on the diary he kept during his voyage starting in 1834. It's very readable, even with all the nautical jargon, and best of all there's a free ebook version http://www.amazon.com/Years-Before-Mast-Richard-Henry-ebook/dp/B0082XP72S
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2016 20:00
|
|
|
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Nathaniel Philbrick). The film based on the book is in theatres now, though I haven't seen it yet. Philbrick assembles accounts and stories for an overall story of what went on to inspire Moby Dick. Overall short book, but lots of information about whaling and customs. Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage (Glyn Williams) and The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage (Anthony Brandt). These two cover virtually the same territory, but with different styles. Williams' goes back a bit further than Brandt's and I liked his just a bit more, but they're both good. The Royal Navy tries to save time and expenses and there's gotta be a way to cut through northern Canada, right? Both heavily feature the Lost Franklin Expedition. Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival (Peter Stark). Mostly involves the land expedition, but has bonus naval coverage as the Brits and Americans try to stake out claims in the Pacific northwest.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2016 04:02
|
|
|
The Master of Disguise by Tony Mendez is the ultimate non-fiction spy thriller about life as a CIA field type in the Cold War.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2016 15:21
|
|
|
Enfys posted:I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic. I'm currently reading through Lincoln Paine's The Sea and Civilization; it is wide-ranging but still very detailed, with a lot of emphasis on non-European seafaring. If you want a single book that covers shifts from shell-first to frame-first ship building, Polynesian island navigation techniques, and lots of trade routes, this seems pretty good. Sometimes he gets bogged down in name-and-date history, especially when talking about political developments that aren't primarily maritime (the Roman civil wars section in particular was pretty boring) but I'm digging it so far.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2016 04:52
|
|
|
Is there anything comprehensive and half decent (not holding my breath for "unbiased") about the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Wars? I know about the Misha Glenny and Laura Silber books, but they can't be very up-to-date given that they were written before the Kosovo War even started.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2016 17:27
|
|
|
Enfys posted:I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic. thatdarnedbob posted:I'm currently reading through Lincoln Paine's The Sea and Civilization; it is wide-ranging but still very detailed, with a lot of emphasis on non-European seafaring. If you want a single book that covers shifts from shell-first to frame-first ship building, Polynesian island navigation techniques, and lots of trade routes, this seems pretty good. Sometimes he gets bogged down in name-and-date history, especially when talking about political developments that aren't primarily maritime (the Roman civil wars section in particular was pretty boring) but I'm digging it so far. I just finished Salt by Mark Kurlansky (mentioned on page 1 of this thread) and I enjoyed it. Not as much as my father did, he spent a few months saying "Did you know?" a few years ago, and I got that urge in the middle of this book, too, but there are too many "Salt was the real reason! The only reason for this bit of history! No, really! Salt!" parts and not enough distinction made between Sodium chloride and all the other salty things that people have been digging up and selling over the centuries.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2016 02:59
|
|
|
A little while ago a friend and I began a president biography challenge of sorts. An expensive bottle of whiskey is on the line. The rules are simple, first to read a biography for each president wins. We've chosen to read the same books so that it's an even page count. So far I've read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow and just last night I finished John Adams by David McCullough. I enjoyed Adams over Washington so far but I was pleased with both. Which brings me to the point of this post. So far the books have primarily been selected based off of overall Amazon review but I was curious if any of you have read a president biography that they found particularly enjoyable. No rush, though, as I'm expecting this challenge to take a while.
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2016 20:30
|
|
|
The Presidential bio that made me love Presidential bios was American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis (who has created a little cottage industry in the pop press of trying to understand how the "founding fathers" interacted). I'm also excited for the Meacham Jefferson book, which I have on a desk in my office, but haven't gotten around to it. I think it was well received? Maybe not though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2016 23:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 02:46 |
|
|
Paper With Lines posted:The Presidential bio that made me love Presidential bios was American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis (who has created a little cottage industry in the pop press of trying to understand how the "founding fathers" interacted). I have the same Jefferson book. I've only read about twenty pages but reads pretty well so far.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2016 02:23
|
|