Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Ok, so I've just applied to several universities to study a History degree. I have a decent basic knowledge of lots of history, but thats about it. I would like to get back into the habit of reading and try and widen my historical knowledge in general before I go next September.

So recommend me some books. Nothing too heavy or specific - I'm looking for books like 'The American Civil War' - i.e. not books that are focusing on a very narrow topic or assume lots of prior knowledge of the period.

I have been told 'Stalingrad' is an excellent book, and would fit my criteria a lot. Confirm/deny?

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

I believe this book is still considered the standard for Civil War books: http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Cry-Freedom...9136571-2756460

Although good luck getting through it. Unless you're realllly interested in the subject, (I wasn't when I had to read it for school) it can be quite boring.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Hmmm, if you were bored by it I'll probably give it a pass. I need something interesting and gripping so I don't just give up after the first 50 pages. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Also I'm not specifically after Civil War books, was just using that as an example.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

1776 was a great book.

guns, germs, and steel was okay.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Great suggestion on 1776 - you know how I love the UK vs USA thing even if we do lose in this one [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]. I also know almost nothing about American History so this looks very interesting. Just ordered from Amazon.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

The Killer Angels
http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Angels-.../dp/0345348109

Pulitzer Prize winner, fiction-style account of the battle of Gettysburg and its greatest personalities. (Very very not boring, btw.)

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

The horrors of Nazism are pretty much apparent to most people, however the horrors of the Soviet Union are less widely known. Two excellent books on this subject are Gulag by Anne Applebaum and The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn about the system of labor camps and how the Soviet economy relied on their slave labor.

Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 by Catherine Merridale is an engaging investigation into the life of the average Soviet soldier during the Second World War, evoking both the brutality of the conflict and the stoic bravery of the common soldier.

August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a sweeping, majestic account of the disaster that befell Tsarist Russia in the opening campaign of the Great War. If you get the right version it may also contain some other additional stories about Russia before the Great War, a fascinating and somewhat neglected subject.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

I got a really cool book for 9 bucks on the remainder table at Barnes & Noble, The Roots of Strategy, The Greatest Military Classics of All Time. Edited by Brigadier General T.R. Phillips.

It starts off with Sun Tzu, 500 BC, for his The Art of War. Next is Vegetius from 390 AD with The Military Institutions of the Romans, which was written for the emperor but formed the backbone of European military theory throughout the middle ages. Then comes My Reveries Upon the Art of War, by Marshal Maurice de Saxe, 1732. Then The Instruction of of Frederick the Great for His Generals, 1747, and finally The Military Maxims of Napoleon.

I'm just leisurely poking into it here and there, and have gotten as far as page 110, the second book of Venetius. It's pretty good reading so far, but you do have to do some picturing of things in your head a bit as to exactly why something is a good strategy, sometimes. That's not a problem though and actually keeps the imagination active and helps paint a bit of color into the proceedings.

You could do worse than reading some of the leading strategists of the ages.

Also, a lot of recommendations would depend on what period you are focusing on, I'm sure.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

F. Scott Berg's biography of Lindbergh is just terrific. Lindbergh's life covered so many interests and so much of history that it's scope is broader than many other biographies. It also helps that he was a fascinating man.

This doesn't fit your criteria of being broad based, it is in fact quite narrow, but "River of Doubt" is an amazing book. It covers Teddy Roosevelt's trip through unexplored reaches of the Amazon in his fifties after he was no longer president. I read it trying to imagine Bill Clinton doing the same thing after walking out of the Oval Office. That led me to read several biographies of Roosevelt and it is in danger of becoming my historical obsession.

Battle Cry of Freedom is awesome by the way, and not at all boring if you have an interest in the Civil War.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

I guess it doesn't look good for me in that I have no [censored] idea who Lindbergh is. I'm gunna guess a US President though.

Edit : a swing and a miss. oh well

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States was good. Zinn's voice highlights all of the injustices and abuses of power throughout US history to better highlight how/why things are the way they are today. It's essentially all the history you learn in middle-high school, only better, because it's the real the real thing. I saw it recommended on 2+2 and was glad I picked it up.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

1776 is very good. I actually enjoyed McCullough's biography of John Adams even more.

Joseph Ellis's "Founding Brothers" is great. His book about Jefferson, American Sphinx, is on my list to read.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

A general American History that I enjoyed:

Freedom Just Around the Corner : A New American History: 1585-1828 by Walter McDougall was a good read with an interesting perspective.

War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History by Avi Shlaim is, I believe, a well written and balanced account.

A History of Card Games by David Parlett is probably an example of what you said you didn't want: a narrow subject. But hey, this is a poker board and it's a fascinating book! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Anthologies can be an excellent introduction to history so I'll recommend Readings in the Classical Historians by Michael Grant. You will get the flavor of a large number of history writers and a large variety of themes.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer is worthy of reading.

Since I've recommend the follow book a few times in other forums, I'll mention it here also as an excellent read about recent History, and so much more, that becomes more and more relavent every day: Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 , by Barbara W. Tuchman. First-rate read.

-Zeno

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Seutonius, Thucydides, Livy, Julius Ceasar, Plutarch, etc... original sources from Greek and Roman historians.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

paging Rick Nebiolo.

this guy will tell you everything you need to know about historical reading.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

This may not be the broad overview you are looking for, but The Great Influenza amazon is an excellent book. The science is presented in a very understandable way. It gives a nice overview of some of the history of medicine (specifically infectious disease) and how everything changed as a result of the influenza epidemic. The thing you might find most interesting is how local politics, individual choices and most importantly, WW1 impacted a "natural" phenomenon. To me, this is the most interesting thing about history. Too often, it seems like history just happens, moved by forces bigger than one individual. Even the individuals who clearly shape history often become larger than life. The small stories which don't get told are often more interesting (and frequently as important) as the giant events which make it into textbooks.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Not exactly history, but Teddy Roosevelt's autobiography will give you a good flavor for the US post Civil War through 1910 or so.

Yes, I am a hudge Teddy fan boy.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States was good. Zinn's voice highlights all of the injustices and abuses of power throughout US history to better highlight how/why things are the way they are today. It's essentially all the history you learn in middle-high school, only better, because it's the real the real thing. I saw it recommended on 2+2 and was glad I picked it up.

[/ QUOTE ]


I've been reading this for a while now and "insofar" it seems as if Zinn criticizes government abuses, yet dissaproves of any non-socialist policies, which is sort of contradictory.

I will say that he is a very good writer, and if I may, I'll qoute a passage that I liked;

[ QUOTE ]
"And to bind that loyalty with something more powerful even than material advantage, the ruling group found, in the 1760s and 1770s, a wonderfully useful device. That device was the language of liberty and equality, which could unite just enough whites to fight a Revolution against England, without ending either slavery or inequality."

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

I ordered 1776 to start me off. Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming. If anyone has read a good, broadish book about the Roman Empire let me know, I find it fascinating.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

The Passing of the Armies by General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain , commander of the 20th Maine (of little round top fame). Autobio/memoir of one of the brightest, toughest, and introspective officers the Union had. Chamberlain's obit was printed TWICE before the end of the war. He survived and returned to his cherished Maine. This book is the result.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States was good. Zinn's voice highlights all of the injustices and abuses of power throughout US history to better highlight how/why things are the way they are today. It's essentially all the history you learn in middle-high school, only better, because it's the real the real thing. I saw it recommended on 2+2 and was glad I picked it up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is what I was going to say.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer is worthy of reading.

[/ QUOTE ]
A fantastic and insightful book that I finally read to completion a few months ago. I never quite understood how Hitler got into power until I read it. But man, is it heavy going at times.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

'The Killer Angels' by Michael Shaara. It won the Pulitzer for
Fiction in 1975. The book follows the thoughts of several of the commanders at Gettysburg. Based on fact, it is a must read
for anyone interested in history.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Try two of Daniel Boorstin's series

The Discoverers - "Daniel J. Boorstin first describes the liberating concept of time--"the first grand discovery"--and continues through the age of exploration and the advent of the natural and social sciences. The approach is idiosyncratic, with Boorstin lingering over particular figures and accomplishments rather than rushing on to the next set of names and dates."

The Creators - "This is a story," he writes, "of how creators in all the arts have enlarged, embellished, fantasized, and filigreed our experience"

Both are fantastic books that aren't traditional history books. When I read The Creators I had to have a pad of paper with me to write down all the other books I needed to read that I learned about from this book.

And finally a great book that I can't reccomend enough. Richard Rhodes award winning:

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

This should be required reading of anyone seeking to understand the history of the mid-20th century.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
'The Killer Angels' by Michael Shaara. It won the Pulitzer for
Fiction in 1975. The book follows the thoughts of several of the commanders at Gettysburg. Based on fact, it is a must read
for anyone interested in history.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's actually a trilogy (or I bought it as part of a 3-book set) and I agree they are all excellent.

Also what particular area of history are you focused on? I had a Comparative Revolutions class that we read many good books in, as well as, a few on post-Soviet era Eastern Europe but I'm not sure if that's an area you want to know about.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Meh, don't be put off by the 'sequels' (written by the guy's son) and the film adaptations, Jay. They're fine, but you should really read The Killer Angels for its own sake. It really is that good, imo.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Jay - keeping in American History vein, just finished:

The American People in the Great Depression: Freedom from Fear, Part One (The Oxford History of the United States, V. 9)

I'm a stickler for strong prose writing (which is why I can't really read fiction anymore) - and this book delivers. Kennedy's fantastic - elegant, masterful writing. He marries the American perspective with a global one, lucidly synthesizing varying elements (politics, economics, cultural) to give the reader a cohesive, overall understanding of the era. FWIW, this book is also on the "generals" reading list for the history Phd program at Harvard.

-Al

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

I read the three-volume Oxford History of the United States a long time ago, and it was very good.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also what particular area of history are you focused on?

[/ QUOTE ]

I did History at A-level and enjoyed the French and Russian Revolutions, would maybe like to expand on this knowledge. Can't go wrong with the Second World War either. I would like a little knowledge of American history since I little to nothing about it. I'd be more into English history though, so if anyone has some good suggestions of good English history books that would be good.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Christopher Hibbert is a popular historian whose books are easily readable and enjoyable.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Yup I read his book on the French Revolution a while back, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also, nm on WWII stuff, I just installed Call of Duty 2 on my PC!!!11!

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
I ordered 1776 to start me off. Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming. If anyone has read a good, broadish book about the Roman Empire let me know, I find it fascinating.

[/ QUOTE ]

I liked Julian by Gore Vidal a lot. It is considered fiction, but it is very historical. It is late in the Roman Empire (after Constantine), but it is a wonderful book.

In other historical books not involving the Roman Empire, one I enjoyed a lot was Persian Boy by Mary Renault. It is about Alexander the Great.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger

Interesting read. Broad overview of the last century or so, and then find more books on what ever events or eras interest you.

http://www.amazon.com/Diplomacy-Touchsto...5153&sr=8-2

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
would like a little knowledge of American history since I little to nothing about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Read The Autobiography of Malcolm X . It's a gripping read and it it a good primer for 20th century American events.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

OK, I wasn't going to mention this one, but since 'The Killer
Angels' got 2 more thumbs up and somebody said they like old Suetonious...here goes. 'I, Claudius' by Robert Graves is the
fictionalized account of the Claudian emperors as told by the ancient historians and butt knockers Tacitus, Plutarch, and Suetonious. Based on fact, this is a view into the murderous den of snakes that largely founded the world we live in. The BBC TV series is just as good as the book. You can learn as much about Rome reading this delicious piece of fiction as reading all of smelly old Edward Gibbon. Once you
pick it up, there is no putting it down until the last poisoned mushroom.

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
I have been told 'Stalingrad' is an excellent book, and would fit my criteria a lot. Confirm/deny?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beever and it was very good (as was "The Fall of Berlin"). But there are other books with that title that may be just as good or better.

I'm playing a donkament on the other monitor so I won't have time to link but most of Stephen Ambrose's books are very good and relatively easy reads. Here are the ones I've read and liked best:

"Undaunted Courage" - about Lewis and Clark (but mostly Lewis)

"Band of Brothers" - As good as the HBO series is I liked the book a little better. This follows one company from D-Day to the end of the war.

"D Day"

"Citizen Soldiers" (this should be read after D Day)

"The Wild Blue" is just awful. I think this one involved the charges of plagiarism and was written near the end of his life.

------

I'll second the rec for whoever mentioned "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes.

If you are going to read just one book on the Civil War then read "Battle Cry of Freedom" mentioned elsewhere. The "Killer Angles" would be a great second book (along with the whole Shaara father and son historical fiction trilogy). If you have a year or so then of course read the Shelby Foote trilogy. Nothing can top that; each volume is so heavy that one time I fell asleep in bed reading it dropping in on my chin leaving a big bruise!

John Keegan's books on war, wars and warfare are also top reads.

One more. "The Fifties" by David Halberstam. This is the guy who wrote "The Best and the Brightest" on Vietnam but "The Fifties" might be a good cover for that decade.

~ Rick

PS Not pure history but the twenty volume Aubrey/Matrurin series(the film Master and Commander was based on this) by Patrick O'Brien is just great reading and tells a lot about life on the high seas and in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. My gf read the whole thing in about three months! (Edit to say it took me about five months).

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

[ QUOTE ]
paging Rick Nebiolo.

this guy will tell you everything you need to know about historical reading.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL; just read this after making my post below. Anyway, my gaps in historical knowledge span millenniums so don't take the above seriously.

I'd have to vote for Andy Fox as the guy on 2+2 who knows history best (especially biographies). As an aside Andy doesn't seem to be as interested in wars and how they were fought; rather Andy would focus on WHY they were fought and what political forces led up to them.

~ Rick

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

Also looking for Anacardo input here....

Re: Recommend me some good historical reading
 

On the Second World war the best books I have read recently are Richard J. Evans' The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power; both are very readable, and a third volume is due out soon (next year I think?)

On the French Revolution my favourite is Simon Schama's Citizens; Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette is very good, as is Maria Fairweather's Madame de Stael, though neither of these is particularly about the revolution.

Orlando Figes' A People's Tragedy is very good on the Russian Revolution, and his cultural history of Russia is also very readable (Natasha's Dance); John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World is an interesting narrative of the October Revolution.

For 'English' history you could do worse than Simon Schama's three volume A History of Britain, which is an interesting and very enjoyable overview of the last 5000 years.

Also, I am very much enjoying Christopher Tyerman's God's War: A New History of the Crusades.

Not specifically Rome, but try Robin Lane Fox's The Classical World.