The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf

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FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

TheFallenEvincar posted:

I was definitely satisfied with Christopher Clark's books on Prussia and WW1, any recommendations for Tsarist/pre-Soviet Russian history?

The standard text for Russia is Riasanovsky's A History of Russia (Oxford Press). I liked it quite a bit; I was hooked when the first chapter went into detail about how Russia's geography shaped Russia's development and why it ended being so different than all the other European (or Asian) countries.

# ¿ May 3, 2014 17:06

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# ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:19

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Trujillo posted:

Anyone have any good recommendations on the history of Sicily? Also looking for some about the history of Venice/Italian merchant republics in general.

Norwich has a history of Venice. I haven't read it, but his stuff is usually pretty good (he did that epic three volume history of the Byzantine Empire).

# ¿ May 22, 2014 17:53

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Railing Kill posted:

I just finished re-reading King Leopold's Ghost and I kind of ~~want to blow my brains out~~ want to read something more upbeat. Anyone have an recommendations of history that's funny or lighthearted but still good?

Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder!

# ¿ Jun 12, 2014 16:40

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Grand Theft Autobot posted:

I'm working my way through American History, and I've recently reached the Great Depression. I have 6 books to get through before I reach WW2, but I want to get some recs now.

1. The best book on the Pacific War, bonus points of it chronicles the Sino-Japanese conflict and the early development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
2. Books that focus on key battles or campaigns: Midway, Guadalcanal, El Alamein or the whole Western Desert Campaign, Operation Barbarossa
3. I've read The Wages of Destruction. Are there any similar works on the economy and politics of Imperial Japan that you can recommend?

I can recommend Eagle Against The Sun by Ronald Spector as the best single-volume book on the Pacific War. It emphasizes the US-Japan conflict way more than China or Burma or what Britain was doing, and is very strong at analyzing what the US did right and wrong (it's the book that first made the point about how potentially catastrophic the split Nimitz/MacArthur command could have been). It's almost 30 years old, so maybe something else has come along to replace it.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2014 17:28

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

adebisi lives posted:

Inspired by Dan Carlin's hardcore history podcast I read GJ Meyer's A World Undone which was pretty good. Is there a good book to read that bridges the gap in world affairs from the end of World War 1 to the beginning of World War 2? After seeing how the first world war ended I'd be interesting in seeing the nitty gritty of the league of nations and all the chips falling into place for the rice of fascism and associated shenanigans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twenty_Years%27_Crisis

# ¿ Aug 23, 2014 07:40

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Plagues and Peoples was the first book to systematically look at the role plagues played in world history (turns out they have a tremendous influence on the rise and fall of great powers) and was very influential. It's 40 years old, so I don't know well the scholarship holds up.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 17:03

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Beltfed posted:

Haha

Oh, that's good. "I'm a working mercenary, it doesn't pay (literally) for me to go around badmouthing my employers"

# ¿ Mar 6, 2015 15:12

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Abu Dave posted:

Is there a good general world war 2 history book?

I'm fond of Keegan's The Second World War, although it's more than 25 years old and has probably been superseded by newer scholarship.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2015 02:45

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

dublish posted:

If it's anything like his book on the American Civil War, is was probably superseded by older scholarship as well.

It's from before his brain turned to tapioca, much more in line with The Face of Battle and The Price of Admiralty than his dreadful ACW and WWI books.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2015 03:20

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:

Could anyone recommend a good history on The American Civil War? I've watched the Ken Burns documentary about a dozen times but that's about it for my knowledge of the conflict. Preferably one that dedicates the same attention to both sides and doesn't read like shampoo ingredients. Thank you.

McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom. Arguably the best single-volume history of anything.

Foote's 3-volume work is very comprehensive and uncommonly well written (some people would rate it as much as a work of literature as history), but there's a strong Southern bias, especially in the third volume.

I always thought the big coffee-table book that accompanied the Burns series was really good for what it was.

FMguru fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jul 9, 2015

# ¿ Jul 9, 2015 16:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Karnow's Vietnam: A History was the standard one-volume work when I read it in the late 1980s; it may have been supplanted since then

# ¿ Aug 23, 2015 21:28

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

George MacDonald Fraser (who you may recognize as the author of the Flashman novels) served in Burma in WWII and wrote a terrific memoir about it (Quartered Safe Out Here).

# ¿ Nov 2, 2015 02:28

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

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?

It's not Zinn, but I can recommend Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth Davis is surprisingly decent and well written, covering most of basics from the early settlers through the modern day.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2015 18:07

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Firelizard posted:

I started reading Nixonland recently and have enjoyed it immensely. Can anybody here recommend me some authors comparable to Rick Perlstein for me to read after I'm done with his books on Nixon and Goldwater?

Perlstein seems to have that lane (the rise of Conservatism in the US 1950s-1980s, detailed with extensive analysis and tremendous use of primary sources) pretty much all to himself. Everything else is journalistic first-draft-of-history stuff, or focuses on particular people or events (lots of books on Nixon or Watergate, not many on how Nixon fits into the evolution of politics from Goldwater to Reagan).

One odd recommendation I can make is The Clothes Have No Emperor by Paul Slansky, which is a comedian's chronological account of the events of the Reagan administration and general US culture. You can get it from the dollar shelf used on Amazon, or free from the author: http://www.theclotheshavenoemperor.com/

# ¿ Feb 28, 2016 17:49

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

An old, old publishing joke was that books about doctors, dogs, or Abe Lincoln always sold, so the single greatest best-seller in history would be titled "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog"

# ¿ Apr 11, 2016 19:21

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

The Soul Of A New Machine - Kidder

The Hacker Crackdown - Sterling

The New Hacker's Dictionary - Steele and Raymond

Hackers - Levy

What The Dormouse Said - Markoff

# ¿ Apr 12, 2016 17:00

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

John Erickson was the first western historian to really do proper, in-depth work on the Eastern Front, getting access to Soviet archives and working them like a pro. The Road to Berlin and The Road to Stalingrad are his two big books and are foundational works in their field, but they may have been superseded by later research (both are from 1983).

# ¿ May 26, 2016 23:13

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

John Julius Norwich (the guy who did that epic three-volume history of Byzantium) did a single-volume history of Venice. I've not read it, but based on his other work, it's probably worth investigating. He also has a single-volume general history of the Mediterranean.

# ¿ May 28, 2016 02:32

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Also recommending The History Of Rome podcast, if you have three months of commutes (or gym workouts) you're looking to add something to.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2016 02:25

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Also Yergin, "The Prize" - history of oil.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2016 14:50

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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withak posted:

Gangs of New York

The book, not the movie. The movie is good too tho.

The author (Herbert Asbury) had a whole series of books about the history of America's seamy underbelly

Qikipedia posted:

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1933
All Around the Town: Murder, Scandal, Riot and Mayhem in Old New York 1934. (reissued as a "Sequel to Gangs of New York).
The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld 1936
Sucker's Progress: An Informal History of Gambling in America 1938.
Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld 1940. Reissued in 1986 by Northern Illinois University Press with a preface by Perry R. Duis; reissued again as The Gangs of Chicago
The Golden Flood: An Informal History of America's First Oil Field Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1941 (often dated 1942).
The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition 1950.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2016 02:59

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Boomer The Cannon posted:

Borders (RIP)

# ¿ Nov 15, 2016 04:16

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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navyjack posted:

Is "John Keay" a typo for John King Fairbanks? If not, China: A New History is good.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2017 13:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Schizotek posted:

Anyone got anything on the Tang Dynasty?

# ¿ Sep 20, 2017 14:18

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Grand Fromage posted:

Looking for history of computing books that are focused from the mid-60s up through the mid-80s or so, if such a thing exists. It doesn't have to exclusively be that time period as long as it has plenty of material in that range.

Kidder, The Soul Of A New Machine is the key text for that era

Levy, Hackers is another

# ¿ Jan 12, 2018 19:51

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Guy A. Person posted:

Are there any particularly good books on Lakshmibai? I read about her in India: A History and wanted to learn more!

Not history, but she�s a major character in the Flashman novel set during the Mutiny - Flashman and the Great Game, I think is the one.

# ¿ Sep 19, 2018 14:22

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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StrixNebulosa posted:

Who's the author?

Charles C Mann

(and seconding the recommendation, both for 1491 and the Cartoon History books)

# ¿ Jan 16, 2019 23:30

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Can anyone recommend a good book about the immediate post-WWI era in central and eastern Europe? I know about the armistice, the abdication, Versailles, and the Russian Revolution(s) and Civil War, but I just realized there was so much else that went on in 1918-1925 or so (Soviet invasion of Poland? Communists seizing control of several German cities? Whatever the hell happened in the dissolving A-H Empire? Allied occupation of Istanbul not Constantinople?) that I have only the faintest knowledge of.

e: vvvv I've added it to my queue, thx!

e2: poking around on Amazon recommends Ian Kershaw "To Hell And Back: Europe 1914-1949", which also sounds right up my alley.

FMguru fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Feb 13, 2019

# ¿ Feb 13, 2019 17:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Dadbod Apocalypse posted:

Give The Sleepwalkers a whirl. I think you�d enjoy it!

Tuchman�s Proud Tower is another good one.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2019 15:42

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Look Sir Droids posted:

What's a good book for the history of the Byzantine Empire? Prefer a single volume, but it's like 1000 years of history so I'm open to multi-volume.

The standard non-scholarly overview is John Julius Norwich's History of Byzantium. It's a three volume work; there's also a one-volume abridged edition.

I also recommend subscribing to the History of Byzantium podcast, which picks up from where the celebrated History of Rome podcast leaves off.

# ¿ May 20, 2020 01:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

HamsterPolice posted:

Any good general history on the Reformation? I'm interested in how it started and the consequences specifically. I don't know much about it besides Martin Luther nailing the thing to the door.

This'll fix ya: https://www.amazon.com/Reformation-History-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X

# ¿ Jun 10, 2020 03:51

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Mantis42 posted:

What's the book's title?

"A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2020 05:13

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Medieval Europe by Chris Wickham is a good, up-to-date primer on the era (and you follow it up with his prequel The Inheritance of Rome)

# ¿ Aug 6, 2020 00:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

A History of American In Ten Strikes by labor historian Erik Loomis: https://thenewpress.com/books/history-of-america-ten-strikes

# ¿ Aug 27, 2020 00:51

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Mantis42 posted:

I finished Reaganland earlier this week (I highly recommend it) and was wondering if there were any good books about the 80s and 90s American political history.

The Clothes Have No Emperor by Paul Slansky is the best history of 1980s America.

It's just a collection of events, organized by calendar date, tracking the batshittery of the Reagan administration (with a number of asides about culture and celebrity and world events).

# ¿ Aug 31, 2020 03:48

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Dapper_Swindler posted:

whats a good books about the cold war in the 1980s?

The End of the Cold War by Robert Service seems to be the leading general text on the subject

# ¿ Oct 4, 2020 03:12

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Chairman Capone posted:

Any recommendations for a good book on Europe spanning the first half of the 20th century? Could end at 1939, 45, even 56 or 68. But something that looks at that early chunk of the European century as a bloc of time on its own?

Ian Kershaw, To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914�1949

# ¿ Oct 5, 2020 18:25

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
sexually

Perlstein is very good in his area (the rise and triumph of the American conservative movement, 1950-1990), arguably the best there is for that particular specialty. But outside of his core competence, he can be hit or miss.

FMguru fucked around with this message at 20:16 on May 9, 2022

# ¿ May 9, 2022 20:08

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Epicurius posted:

This is actually about Motown's biggest competitor, but I recommend Robert Gordon's "Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion".

That book is also the basis of the excellent 2007 documentary of the same name.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2022 01:08

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# ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:19

FMguru: Sep 10, 2003; peed on;
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Lawman 0 posted:

One reason I find almost all ww2 alt-history uninteresting is that basically nothing really matters because the Axis was so incredibly outclassed.

Yeah, no matter what wartime decisions you change or military outcomes you reverse, the Manhattan Project wraps up its work in mid-1945 and the war ends with a total Allied victory shortly thereafter.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2022 18:15

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf

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