Recommend me some good historical reading

[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.

[Jay Riall]

[ 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.

[Jeff W]

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

[rothko]

paging Rick Nebiolo.

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

[dylan's alias]

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.

[4_2_it]

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.

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ 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

[ChipWrecked]

Also looking for Anacardo input here....