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If you want some sense of how rural life has changed over the millennia, James Burke's first Connections series on TV covers inventions like the plow and fireplaces. There's a book version of Connections too, but I don't know exactly what it goes into.
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Mar 11, 2013 20:56
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barkingclam posted:I've got a couple of these volumes. They're enjoyable reads and I liked the more colorful parts (the last king being expelled from Rome and Hannibal crossing the Alps come to mind), but I know what you mean: there's only so many times you can read about who was Quaestor each year. If you are down to read the classics, and you are looking for Alexander, then definitely read The Landmark Arrian. I have that and Thucydides, and I'll probably buy every landmark edition because they really are so good. Even without the maps and photographs, the way the footnotes are placed throughout instead of at the end makes for a better reading experience. If they ever do a landmark edition of Livy, it would probably be one of my favorite books. I also forgot to mention Polybius when talking about Rome. His is very interesting and it is pretty much the foundation that Rome scholars rely on, as he was an outsider (a Greek).
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Mar 11, 2013 22:08
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If you're still in the market for stuff on Rome, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History show did a really fun 5 episode sequence on "The Death Throes of the Republic." It's episodes 34-39 in his show website's archives, if I recall correctly. http://dancarlin.com/
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Mar 11, 2013 23:14
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Also Medieval Lives by Terry Jones is a great show that talks about the daily lives of all of the different types of people who lived in Medieval Britain. I love showing it to people to remind them that the people from the past were not bumbling idiots.
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Mar 12, 2013 01:18
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stawk Archer posted:If you are down to read the classics, and you are looking for Alexander, then definitely read The Landmark Arrian. I have that and Thucydides, and I'll probably buy every landmark edition because they really are so good. Even without the maps and photographs, the way the footnotes are placed throughout instead of at the end makes for a better reading experience. If they ever do a landmark edition of Livy, it would probably be one of my favorite books. Yeah, I love my Landmark Hellenika, it's a really great way to read the classics.
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Mar 12, 2013 06:53
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Barlow posted:The classic is Columbia University Professor Eric Foner's "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877." He has a shorter history if you can't stomach all 700 pages, but if you read all of Foote that shouldn't be an issue. Reconstruction history like the war itself is a bit contentious.
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Mar 12, 2013 15:03
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I've had a few good recommendations from this thread before, so I'm looking for something on the Cambodian Genocide. Anybody got any suggestions?
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Mar 22, 2013 15:27
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Stravinsky posted:Also Medieval Lives by Terry Jones is a great show that talks about the daily lives of all of the different types of people who lived in Medieval Britain. I love showing it to people to remind them that the people from the past were not bumbling idiots. I love the one about the peasant where they try to reconstruct how they lived, the size of their house, what they ate etc. It's really interesting and Jones makes it a lot of fun.
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Mar 22, 2013 16:23
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ThePutty posted:I've had a few good recommendations from this thread before, so I'm looking for something on the Cambodian Genocide. Anybody got any suggestions? Alot of the books out there on this are going to be personal accounts as it is pretty recent. Getting Away with Genocide: Cambodia’s Long Struggle Against Khmer Rouge, by Tom Fawthrop and Helen Jarvis does a good job covering it if I remember correctly. There is alot of focus on why it took the UN so long to even acknowledge what was happening which I find to be an important aspect of the event.
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Mar 22, 2013 16:50
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Dreylad posted:I love the one about the peasant where they try to reconstruct how they lived, the size of their house, what they ate etc. It's really interesting and Jones makes it a lot of fun. That's the one where he covers the residents of a town pretending to be lunatics so that they could avoid being apart of the king's highway and thus avoiding higher taxes right? That's a personal favorite.
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Mar 22, 2013 16:51
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This is great: http://www.thelandmarkancienthistories.com/index.htm I had no idea that there actually would be a Landmark Polybius. Definitely on the top of my to-buy list when it comes out. About Plutarch: the Penguin edition was fine to me. Parallel Lives gets right to the heart of the story, and the allegorical nature is a lot easier to digest than Livy, which has a more propagandistic feel to it and isn't as diverse in its implications. For general histories, Eagle Against the Sun is a good starting point for the Pacific War. Speaking of WW2: It isn't a history but a memoir instead. Through the Maelstrom is still the best memoir of a common soldier (low ranking officer, in this case) that I've ever read. It is from the perspective of a Soviet artillery officer who fought in some of the less famous battles, including a description of actually taking part in a human wave assault at Rhzev. You read about these types of attacks in other books, but never is it actually described so vividly as in this book. The majority of the book is about events other than combat, and the author has a very sensitive insight into the war behind the front lines. I've only seen the book criticized as boring, but I don't know how that makes any sense. He was obviously educated and something of a mama's boy, but you also understand his drive to want to be a part of the war effort, and most of all, how the behavior of his friends (and their loss) affected him. I'd recommend the book to everyone, even if the war itself is not your interest.
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Mar 22, 2013 20:45
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This may sound strange, but anyone have any recommendations for books on U.S. history not written by someone who lives in the U.S.? Pretty much all of my history about my grand country is filtered through the views who live there and so I want to see how someone looking from the outside in sees the events that have taken place. P.s. Not about world war redo boogaloo that is 2. Stravinsky fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Mar 23, 2013 |
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Mar 23, 2013 03:03
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stawk Archer posted:This is great: http://www.thelandmarkancienthistories.com/index.htm That reminds me, what's a good edition of Polybius? I know Penguin abridged him a bunch, so is there another edition I should keep my eyes open for?
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Mar 23, 2013 03:10
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barkingclam posted:That reminds me, what's a good edition of Polybius? I know Penguin abridged him a bunch, so is there another edition I should keep my eyes open for? Stay away from the penguin editions of Histories. I really think that they hosed up pretty badly. I have no clue how they went about deciding what to just drop from their edition, because the ripped out whole chunks and even a full on chapter of important passages. What you want is Robin Waterfield's translation of Histories. He does a fantastic job of translating and actually shows alot of Polybius' personality throughout the book. Because early history is so very much a personal account by whoever is writing it, it really makes you understand why he wrote things the way he did. Because dude was cranky as poo poo.
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Mar 23, 2013 03:30
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I am looking for a good or a great biography about Joseph Stalin, but it is not so easy. Every recommendation I have come across has been with reservations.
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Mar 24, 2013 23:56
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Vogler posted:I am looking for a good or a great biography about Joseph Stalin, but it is not so easy. Every recommendation I have come across has been with reservations. I think every book about Stalin has had a few problems with it. Either it was written in the west where he is the most evil monster to ever live, or it was written in the USSR where he is god's gift to mankind. Or post USSR where their is sudden backtracking to the point its hilarious. Just read one, and take into account what those reservations people have stated. What have you been recommended by the way?
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Mar 25, 2013 00:44
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Stravinsky posted:Stay away from the penguin editions of Histories. I really think that they hosed up pretty badly. I have no clue how they went about deciding what to just drop from their edition, because the ripped out whole chunks and even a full on chapter of important passages. I have a good impression of most of them. I'm waiting for the Landmark edition to buy Polybius again. Penguin's Livy by Aubrey de Selincourt is good, even though it's kind of expensive with the way they split it up. Same thing with their Plutarch. I bought the Alexiad and a few Norse sagas from them, but haven't read them yet.
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Mar 25, 2013 05:35
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Don't get me wrong, Penguin can do a pretty good job most of the time. But what they did to Histories is just baffling.
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Mar 25, 2013 07:42
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Stravinsky posted:What have you been recommended by the way? I only remember Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock. I see that it has gotten good ratings on amazon, so I will probably go for that one.
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Mar 25, 2013 13:02
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Stravinsky posted:Don't get me wrong, Penguin can do a pretty good job most of the time. But what they did to Histories is just baffling. Yeah, by and large I stick to Penguins. There's only a couple of ones I'm not interested in (a prose translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses and Polybius come to mind) so my history shelf is almost all Penguin Classics. They've got so much out there that nobody else does, it's hard to fault them unless they do something really strange.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:42
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Making massive inroads with James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" recently and really enjoying it. I read online that it is rather 'definitive' when it comes to the American Civil War. Is this a fair enough assessment? I have a number of eBooks about the ACW on my phone lined up for my flight to the States and my domestic coach/train journeys when I am there, including Shelby Foote's ACW trilogy, but made a start with this one.
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Mar 28, 2013 20:24
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I'm try to track down books on two different topics. The first would be a history of piracy (and if it was more than just European piracy, that would be fantastic) that is informative but avoids romanticizing the subject too much. The second would be on the pre-Islamic Middle East or right about when Islam began to assert its influence in the region.
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Mar 30, 2013 23:43
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Vogler posted:I am looking for a good or a great biography about Joseph Stalin, but it is not so easy. Every recommendation I have come across has been with reservations. Try "Stalin: Revolutionary in an Era of War" by Kevin McDermott.
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Mar 31, 2013 05:20
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Zhaan posted:The second would be on the pre-Islamic Middle East or right about when Islam began to assert its influence in the region. History of the Persian Empire by Olmstead is really good. The Persians by Maria Brosius stands out in my mind as being good. Mesopotamia by Gwendolyn Leick is also something you should take a look at. I do not really know of any non textbook material that would give you a sweeping view of the entire middle east though at that time.
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Mar 31, 2013 05:31
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Stravinsky posted:Also Medieval Lives by Terry Jones is a great show that talks about the daily lives of all of the different types of people who lived in Medieval Britain. I love showing it to people to remind them that the people from the past were not bumbling idiots. The Renaissance in the Fields: Family Memoirs of a Fifteenth-Century Tuscan Peasant is exactly what it says in the title, a translation/abridgement/analysis of a few decades worth of (mainly business-related) entries from a farming family's record book. I couldn't actually bring myself to read much more than the introduction, but it may be of interest.
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Mar 31, 2013 22:05
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Zhaan posted:The first would be a history of piracy (and if it was more than just European piracy, that would be fantastic) that is informative but avoids romanticizing the subject too much. Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates is pretty good for this, and it's the sort of thing you can find in almost any Barnes & Noble. It specifically takes on the romanticized image of the pirate, tracing it to its roots with Robert Louis Stevenson, and then exploding the whole thing. It does focus primarily on European pirates in the Caribbean, but it also talks at some length about the Corsairs of the Mediterranean.
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Mar 31, 2013 22:19
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McCloud24 posted:Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates is pretty good for this, and it's the sort of thing you can find in almost any Barnes & Noble. Came here to post this. Excellent intro. Other good pirate books: Frank Sherry - Raiders and Rebels: The Golden Age of Piracy Richard Sanders - If A Pirate I Must Be: The True Story Of Bartholomew Roberts, King Of The Caribbean Peter Earle - Pirate Wars (takes the anti-romantic view of piracy to its logical extreme, and is a detailed history of attempts to fight and end piracy)
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Apr 1, 2013 02:10
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dokmo posted:Came here to post this. Excellent intro. Other good pirate books: Here, I think you missed one in your recommendations: 
Stravinsky fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Apr 1, 2013 |
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Apr 1, 2013 03:52
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Thanks for all the recommendations. I've tossed a few of those on my list for next paycheck, starting with History of the Persian Empire, I think.
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Apr 1, 2013 06:44
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I am looking for books on China's history prior to the 19th century. I'm not interested in general histories, unless you have read one that is exceptional. There isn't any particular era I'm trying to find information on - there is a scarcity of books on the subject. Anything from very ancient history to the dawn of the modern era. I've never seen a good history on China's role in WW2 either.
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Apr 1, 2013 17:45
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1587, A year of no significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline by Ray Huang is pretty interesting. The focus is on the emperor and the officials of the bureaucracy and all of the politicking and backstabbing that went on at the time. It really helps show that even though the emperors were heads of the state, it didn't mean he could do whatever he wanted and was trapped in obligation. It however gives absolutely no views on what life was like inside of china. I know you prefer to avoid general history, but China A History by John Keay did a real bang up job. It never felt dry nor did it dwell on some uninteresting point for longer than a beat (I can only think of one instance of that but it is mostly a personal disinterest in a certain subject). Plus it covers everything that you were interested in. Out of the two, I would recommend this one the most.
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Apr 1, 2013 18:38
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So, I am pecking at Mao's Great Famine and I am having trouble not wanting to strangle the author. He is coming off as a super smug bourgeoise capitalist who celebrates in the evil Mao's failure in economic planning that killed many people in some far off godless country. I think I made the mistake of reading the preface and now I am colouring the rest of the book by that.
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Apr 1, 2013 18:49
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But isn't that more or less what happened? Mao wasn't exactly a nice person.
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Apr 1, 2013 23:16
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Its more that it seems the author just revels in the fact that a communist economic plan failed and caused tons of people to die. I might just be projecting how everything about socialism and communism has been taught to me (they are all bad godless horrible monsters and not real people). Edit: Going back and rereading the entire thing now and I was just colouring it by its preface. Stravinsky fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Apr 2, 2013 |
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Apr 2, 2013 00:29
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McCloud24 posted:Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates is pretty good for this, and it's the sort of thing you can find in almost any Barnes & Noble. It specifically takes on the romanticized image of the pirate, tracing it to its roots with Robert Louis Stevenson, and then exploding the whole thing. It does focus primarily on European pirates in the Caribbean, but it also talks at some length about the Corsairs of the Mediterranean.
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Apr 2, 2013 23:25
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coyo7e posted:This one's unabridged on audible, FYI. Worth noting, though, that it has some pretty good pictures and maps if you buy a hard copy. Forgot to mention that before.
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Apr 3, 2013 02:16
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I'm looking for a single volume history of WWII. Priority is readability, since it's going to be a pretty lengthy book. I hear good things about Max Hastings' All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945 (apparently also known as Inferno?) and its only  on the Kindle store. I enjoyed Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, and I understand he put out The Second World War last year. I'm likely only going to end up reading one of these. Any opinions? Any other good options?
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Apr 3, 2013 16:49
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Beevor I liked, but for a single volume work I'd think about looking into John Keegan's treatment, which I believe is also simply called The Second World War.
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Apr 3, 2013 16:53
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DerLeo posted:Beevor I liked, but for a single volume work I'd think about looking into John Keegan's treatment, which I believe is also simply called The Second World War. While Keegan's work is excellent (and I recommend reading at somepoint no matter what book you choose), I'd recommend Hasting's/Beevor's books as a first read nowadays since they were written after the Soviet Union collapsed and Hasting's/Beevor's /scholarship in general had a better picture of what was going on on the Eastern Front.
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Apr 3, 2013 20:07
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Can anybody recommend a good general history of New York City for the 19th and 20th centuries? Some focus on immigration and neighborhoods would be great but it's by no means a must.
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Apr 3, 2013 23:28
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