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Alright, here comes a long list of requests. I'm looking to learn more about the general history of the world. I've been indecisive lately over which country or continents I'd like to learn about, but I've decided that since I'd rather learn about whole regions in general first, and then decide which countries I'd like to learn about in more detail later. This includes: European history Middle Eastern history Southeast Asian history South American history African history So basically everything. Any recommendations of any sort would be greatly appreciated. Also, I'd like to know more about Modern Japanese and Chinese history and anything that goes into specifics of any of the eras/dynasties of ancient Japan, China, or Korea. (East Asia is really the only part of the world I know lots about.) Umm, for recommendations, I just finished Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader and The World of the Shining Prince and I thought they were pretty good. They're about North Korea and Heian era culture respectively.
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Aug 13, 2012 12:07
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:43 |
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Looking for recommendations, if no one minds. What's a good history of English/Scotland/Wales/Ireland? Or rather, good histories. I don't mind reading several books covering different eras if that's the best way to do it. As for Middle Eastern history, I read Destiny Disrupted as recommended to me in this thread a couple of years ago, and followed it up with The Great Arab Conquests. Now I'd like to find books covering the various caliphates in more depth, up to and of course including The Ottoman Empire/Mughal Empire. A good book covering the history of the area prior to the rise of Islam would also be well received. I also read Norman Davies' Europe: A History as was recommended to me in this thread, and that massive tome left me with more questions and headaches due to his breakneck paced all-inclusive writing. (Not that that's a bad thing, I'm just kind of dumb) The book often felt like Davies was attempting to present his history to readers already well versed in European history, but in a new way, rather than teaching the completely ignorant, like me. At the same time, he seemed to discourage people from reading national histories due to constantly shifting borders and politices, etc. so now I'm wondering how to look for more European history if I'm to avoid things like "History of France" or "History of Poland" or what have you. Should I search for more European history in the context of time periods or specific dynasties/kingdoms? At the moment I'd like to read more about European history in the pre-Renaissance era. Any recommendations in that regard would be great. And finally, are there any good books about Manchuria? In just about every book of East Asian history I've read, whenever the names Khitan or Jurchen or whatever pop up, they tend to be treated as nothing more than problematic border peoples that cause trouble for the Chinese and the Koreans from time to time and not much else. "King/Emperor so-and-so strengthened his reign by expanding the border into Jurchen territories."
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Feb 26, 2014 12:23
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PittTheElder posted:The book that immediately comes to mind is China Marches West, which seems to have a rather good reputation for it's content, although I'm finding it fantastically boring. While it does cover the late Ming period and the Manchu's rise to forming the Qing dynasty, it doesn't cover the earlier stuff, and is primarily about the Qing push into Central Eurasia. Cool, thanks! That sounds like it could be interesting. Have you, or anyone else read The Manchu Way I'm also thinking of picking that one up, but at the moment I'm hesitating.
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Mar 4, 2014 12:02
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