Recommend me some good historical reading

[KilgoreTrout]

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.

[diddyeinstein]

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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.

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Yes, this is what I was going to say.

[OrigamiSensei]

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

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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.

[DoubleDealDecker]

'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.

[esad]

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.

[diddyeinstein]

[ 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.

[Kimbell175113]

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.

[Aloysius]

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

[Blarg]

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

[Jay Riall]

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Also what particular area of history are you focused on?

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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.