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I just finished 1177 BC, good read and thanks to the folks who recommended it. I thought I'd mention a book set around the same time: Ancient Lives by John Romer. He chronicles a single village of royal tombmakers the valley of the kings from around 1275 bc on, using archaeology and the written records of the scribes who lived there. Really well written with a lot of cool insights into daily life and the stories of individual scribes and workmen.
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Feb 13, 2017 21:16
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Can anyone recommend me a good book about the history of Islam? Preferably something that covers everything up until roughly the present day but I'd settle for something that mostly sticks to its first few centuries.
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Feb 15, 2017 23:47
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InequalityGodzilla posted:Can anyone recommend me a good book about the history of Islam? Preferably something that covers everything up until roughly the present day but I'd settle for something that mostly sticks to its first few centuries. Ira Lapidus - A history of Islamic societies (3th edition is the most recent one).
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Feb 16, 2017 08:54
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InequalityGodzilla posted:Can anyone recommend me a good book about the history of Islam? Preferably something that covers everything up until roughly the present day but I'd settle for something that mostly sticks to its first few centuries. If you're interested in a somewhat, cough, revisionist take, In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland.
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Feb 16, 2017 10:51
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Megazver posted:If you're interested in a somewhat, cough, revisionist take, In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland. let's all read a pop history book by some british tv man with no academic qualifications
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Feb 16, 2017 11:00
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As opposed to most of the other books that get posted in this thread?
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Feb 16, 2017 11:26
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9-Volt Assault posted:Ira Lapidus - A history of Islamic societies (3th edition is the most recent one).
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Feb 16, 2017 18:38
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Megazver posted:If you're interested in a somewhat, cough, revisionist take, In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland. Certainly read the Ira Lapidus book recommended above this post instead of this
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Feb 16, 2017 21:03
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Megazver posted:As opposed to most of the other books that get posted in this thread? well yeah, most of them are bad as well
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Feb 17, 2017 00:18
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InequalityGodzilla posted:Can anyone recommend me a good book about the history of Islam? Preferably something that covers everything up until roughly the present day but I'd settle for something that mostly sticks to its first few centuries.
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Feb 18, 2017 00:44
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Balaeniceps posted:Not the best recommendation as I haven't read it myself yet but Destiny Disrupted - A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary gets consistently rave reviews. From what I've read of it I really enjoy the writing style. Especially when he describes both sides in a civil war "to be fighting for truth, justice, and the Islamic way".
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Feb 18, 2017 05:47
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algebra testes posted:From what I've read of it I really enjoy the writing style. Love comic book references in my history books OP (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Feb 18, 2017 07:37
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Recently finished Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson. It was an enjoyable read. Who would have thought that spoon design changes could be an engaging topic?
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Feb 21, 2017 15:36
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Balaeniceps posted:Not the best recommendation as I haven't read it myself yet but Destiny Disrupted - A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary gets consistently rave reviews. algebra testes posted:From what I've read of it I really enjoy the writing style.
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Feb 21, 2017 18:20
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So i am look for a book about the history of natural history or at least natural history during the gilded age. not like forest conversation but like animal conversation, like zoos and natural history museums becoming a trend with the growth of Darwinism, plus the darker aspects like it playing into racial science and "human" zoos and social darwinsim.
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Feb 22, 2017 03:09
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Are there general history books on premodern India/ South Asia and Indochina that people would recommend? I'm realizing I don't even have the broad strokes down for those regions and I'd like to amend that.
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Feb 25, 2017 21:30
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Dapper_Swindler posted:So i am look for a book about the history of natural history or at least natural history during the gilded age. not like forest conversation but like animal conversation, like zoos and natural history museums becoming a trend with the growth of Darwinism, plus the darker aspects like it playing into racial science and "human" zoos and social darwinsim. Some Teddy Roosevelt biography coupled with mein kampf
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Feb 26, 2017 01:12
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Koramei posted:Are there general history books on premodern India/ South Asia and Indochina that people would recommend? I'm realizing I don't even have the broad strokes down for those regions and I'd like to amend that. John Keay's India: A History is what it says. Don't know about SEA though.
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Feb 26, 2017 03:39
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Help my dad wants to read BESTSELLING IMPARTIAL HISTORY BOOK Killing The Rising Sun and all I have to dissuade him from it are a bunch of TIME-LIFE WW2 texts! Sorry if this topic already came up.
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Feb 26, 2017 03:54
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ChickenHeart posted:Help my dad wants to read BESTSELLING IMPARTIAL HISTORY BOOK Killing The Rising Sun and all I have to dissuade him from it are a bunch of TIME-LIFE WW2 texts! Sorry if this topic already came up. Retribution by Max Hastings. It doesn't just focus on the US though. There's also Downfall by Richard Frank which I've heard good things about. I've only read Retribution though so I can't vouch for Downfall.
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Feb 26, 2017 04:14
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Buy him a copy of The Rising Sun and say you confused the title if he calls you out on it. Its kinda old but a pretty good read. Max Hastings is okay, and anything by Hornfischer is gold.
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Feb 26, 2017 04:45
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ChickenHeart posted:Help my dad wants to read BESTSELLING IMPARTIAL HISTORY BOOK Killing The Rising Sun and all I have to dissuade him from it are a bunch of TIME-LIFE WW2 texts! Sorry if this topic already came up. Haha the Killing series just keeps getting worse. I hope he never stops. Killing Patton is still the best though.
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Feb 26, 2017 04:47
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FingersMaloy posted:Haha the Killing series just keeps getting worse. I hope he never stops. Killing Patton is still the best though. Wow I did not realize he was churning out one of those every year. Now that he's moved on from books about individual people (and, with Killing Reagan, also from people who actually died) presumably the sky's the limit and the next one will be something like "Killing Christmas".
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Feb 26, 2017 04:54
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By the way OP buy your dad Race War! by Gerald Horne it will be a fun supplement to Killing Hiroshima
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Feb 26, 2017 04:56
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ChickenHeart posted:Help my dad wants to read BESTSELLING IMPARTIAL HISTORY BOOK Killing The Rising Sun and all I have to dissuade him from it are a bunch of TIME-LIFE WW2 texts! Sorry if this topic already came up. I read it from my local library out of curiosity. It's... not completely terrible, until you get to the discussion of the bombing campaigns against Japan and the atomic bomb. There's lurid celebration of Japanese war crimes and no mention of American war crimes, but all in all I'd say it's no worse than a typical American high school textbook.
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Feb 26, 2017 14:36
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just let your dad read the old man fox news book, who cares
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Feb 26, 2017 18:37
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Cythereal posted:I read it from my local library out of curiosity. It's... not completely terrible, until you get to the discussion of the bombing campaigns against Japan and the atomic bomb. There's lurid celebration of Japanese war crimes and no mention of American war crimes, but all in all I'd say it's no worse than a typical American high school textbook. sounds better then expected sadly. i heard he argues stanton(or another cabinet member) was behind the killing of Lincoln and stalin killed patton because patton was a loud dickhead who jerked off about wanting to push all the way to moscow with the German remnant(which is true but stalin didnt murder him over it)
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Feb 26, 2017 23:23
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Dapper_Swindler posted:So i am look for a book about the history of natural history or at least natural history during the gilded age. not like forest conversation but like animal conversation, like zoos and natural history museums becoming a trend with the growth of Darwinism, plus the darker aspects like it playing into racial science and "human" zoos and social darwinsim. I haven't read it yet so take this as a hopeful rather than knowledgeable recommendation, but The Invention of Nature seems like a place to start.
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Feb 27, 2017 22:46
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For anyone who liked Junger's "Storm of Steel" but was a bit alienated by the cool nature of the narration, I highly recommend this little gem: It's obviously hard to know how much that's different between the original and the English translation, but Barthas gives a vivid description of his experiences, and he isn't afraid to show his disdain for the French high command and the war as a whole. Barthas missed out on the more fluid phases of the war (fall of 1914 and the second half of 1918) so if you want a witnessreport from the Marne, I'm sorry to say that Barthas can't help you with that. But it is, in any case, a very interesting read.
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Feb 27, 2017 23:43
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BigglesSWE posted:For anyone who liked Junger's "Storm of Steel" but was a bit alienated by the cool nature of the narration, I highly recommend this little gem: Appreciate the recommendation. I bought Storm of Steel a few weeks ago, but haven't started it yet. I'll put Poilu in the queue for future purchase.
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Feb 28, 2017 00:49
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I just finished Rubicon and have realized my knowledge of Rome between Caesar and Constantine is really lacking. Any quality recommendations for the Imperial era?
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Mar 5, 2017 21:25
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Subvisual Haze posted:I just finished Rubicon and have realized my knowledge of Rome between Caesar and Constantine is really lacking. Any quality recommendations for the Imperial era? Will Durant's Caesar and Christ covers the Republican and Imperial eras very thoroughly. I'm almost done with Tom Holland's Dynasty but I didn't find it nearly as good as Persian Fire or Rubicon. It's soured me on him a little. Adrian Goldsworthy's Julius Caesar and Augustus biographies are excellent.
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Mar 6, 2017 05:09
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Thanks to the thread for all the great recommendations. I finished Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Cod, A Writer at War, and Shattered Sword. They were all excellent, with Shattered Sword being my favorite. I have been interested in WWII for decades and I learned so much about the war in the Pacific from this one source. Highlights included: -Japan not having a plan after their whirlwind early successes, and how going after the Aleutians didn't help them at Midway. -Tiny details like how US Admirals had private command spaces and could take naps, but Japanese Admirals were crammed into a small room with all their staff where it was harder to make decisions. -The authors dispelling myths about the battle, like it being a miracle or turning the tide of the war. I was surprised by how readable the book was. In my experience, naval historians can get bogged down in tiny details that derail the narrative for casual readers, but in this case they were able to communicate important info about topics such as fire control, Japanese interservice rivalries, and torpedo schematics in an interesting way while keeping the story moving. So now I am looking for more recommendations. Are there other dense history books like Shattered Sword or The Prize that are worth the time? I was considering Caro's The Power Broker.
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Mar 7, 2017 17:25
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The Power Broker is one of my favorite books; especially since I live in the New York City area and am interested in urban planning.
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Mar 8, 2017 03:28
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Hyrax Attack! posted:So now I am looking for more recommendations. Are there other dense history books like Shattered Sword or The Prize that are worth the time? I was considering Caro's The Power Broker. Castles of Steel can be a dense read, but it's everything you could possibly want to know about WW1 at sea. Neptune's Inferno, Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, The Fleet at Flood Tide are by the same author about major naval campaigns of WW2 - Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf with particular attention paid to the Battle Off Samar, and the Marianas Islands respectively. Flood Tide is broader and, in the opinion of many, weaker than the previous two, but they're all worth a read if you're interested.
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Mar 8, 2017 04:18
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Can't go wrong with Nixonland.
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Mar 8, 2017 04:19
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Pretty much anything by Perlstein or Caro is great.
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Mar 8, 2017 06:17
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I recently finished The Reckoning by David Halberstam. It covers everything from the rise and fall of the American auto industry, the primacy of finance over manufacturing, the Edsel, automation, and Henry Ford being a total weirdo. Very timely despite coming out in 86.
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Mar 8, 2017 18:47
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Alikchi posted:Pretty much anything by Perlstein or Caro is great. Thanks for info, I ordered Power Broker and Nixonland.
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Mar 9, 2017 00:58
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Caro's series on LBJ is terrific and eye-opening too.
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Mar 9, 2017 17:36
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