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Thanks all!kalthir posted:Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium is fun. It's (I think) an abridged version of the three-volume series he did on Byzantium, but finding all three volumes might be a bit tricky since they've been out of print for a while. Has anyone read the individual volumes? I'm wondering if they're worth getting or just sticking with the abridged version
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Aug 21, 2017 17:04
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kalthir posted:Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium is fun. It's (I think) an abridged version of the three-volume series he did on Byzantium, but finding all three volumes might be a bit tricky since they've been out of print for a while. Seconding this. Norwich's older books, including his histories of Byzantium, Venice, and Norman Sicily are all very fun and readable. His more recent ones were nothing special.
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Aug 21, 2017 21:57
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I'm trying to remember the name of a microhistory that looks at nazi germany through the lens of a single small town, does anyone know what I'm talking about or is it just something I dreamed up
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Aug 22, 2017 15:06
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Samog posted:I'm trying to remember the name of a microhistory that looks at nazi germany through the lens of a single small town, does anyone know what I'm talking about or is it just something I dreamed up https://www.amazon.de/Nazi-Seizure-Power-Experience-Studies/dp/0531056333 this look right?
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Aug 22, 2017 15:10
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That's it, thanks
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Aug 22, 2017 20:55
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a7m2 posted:Thanks all! *raises hand* Chicago library had them all like 15 years ago when I had heard about them and I (slowly) got through like one a year over three years-ish. Immense amount of detail, but he’s a good writer and I enjoyed them. He’s got some weird gender role issues that pop up in his treatment of Theodora (this also really stood out for me with his Sicily book) but not that terrible to set aside as he’s like fuckin’ 96 or something now. Basically, it’s a lot less bad than, say, Procopius’s issues with the same. If you got the time to invest, there’s not a better read than this trilogy on the topic. I believe I followed it with The Ottoman Centuries to get the full sweep but that book made much less of an impression on me.
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Aug 23, 2017 04:26
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Can anyone recommend any good, up-to-date books on the genetic history of Britain and/or the peopling of the British Isles and ancient Britain more generally? There's a few books out there I've seen that look kind of interesting but are a few years old and I know the prevailing opinion on these topics seems to shift quite regularly .
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Aug 24, 2017 14:59
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Looking for a book generally on the Nazi rocket program and what the brains behind it, like von Braun, ended up doing after the war and how they largely avoided being derided as Nazis. Also looking more specifically at the V2 program and the Nordhausen facility and slave labor camp. Any suggestions along these lines?
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Aug 29, 2017 02:59
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Look Sir Droids posted:Looking for a book generally on the Nazi rocket program and what the brains behind it, like von Braun, ended up doing after the war and how they largely avoided being derided as Nazis. Also looking more specifically at the V2 program and the Nordhausen facility and slave labor camp. Any suggestions along these lines? While focusing on other areas as well, this book covers a lot of what you're looking for If you're also interested in the biological and chemical weapon programs, it's a slam dunk recommendation.
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Aug 29, 2017 23:53
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a7m2 posted:Does anyone have any good recommendations for books on the Byzantine Empire? You can also add Warren Treadgold's History of Byzantine State and Society to the pile.
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Aug 30, 2017 20:30
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Is there a good book detailing the collapse of feudalism in Europe?
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Aug 31, 2017 15:11
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That would imply it ended at some point, comrade.
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Aug 31, 2017 17:56
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Can I get some recommendations for books on the Crusades? I know its a big topic, I'm not sure what I'm looking for beyond that.
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Aug 31, 2017 18:05
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I read Thomas Asbridges book awhile back and quite enjoyed it. https://www.amazon.com/Crusades-Authoritative-History-Holy-Land/dp/0060787295
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Aug 31, 2017 18:54
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Mantis42 posted:I read Thomas Asbridges book awhile back and quite enjoyed it. https://www.amazon.com/Crusades-Authoritative-History-Holy-Land/dp/0060787295 Cool, that is a title I've come across. Speaking of Crusadey stuff - is there anything that deals with the fact and fiction  of groups like the Templars?
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Aug 31, 2017 19:38
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I finally got The War of Wars, and it's nearly as thick as it is wide. The thing's a drat cube.
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Aug 31, 2017 19:59
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COOL CORN posted:I finally got The War of Wars, and it's nearly as thick as it is wide. The thing's a drat cube. Yeah, but worth it. Save for some odd analysis of Napoleon's gender and sexuality, I enjoyed that book quite a bit.
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Aug 31, 2017 20:21
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smr posted:Yeah, but worth it. Save for some odd analysis of Napoleon's gender and sexuality, I enjoyed that book quite a bit. In my head I believe that Napoleon and Alexander were totally a thing
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Aug 31, 2017 21:28
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I'm interested in learning more about Chinese history in the past century or so. This is probably pretty vague but it's because I know so little! Thoroughness is less important than readability for me right now; even better if the scope is narrow enough to be thorough and readable. Thanks in advance!
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Sep 1, 2017 16:30
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giogadi posted:I'm interested in learning more about Chinese history in the past century or so. This is probably pretty vague but it's because I know so little! Thoroughness is less important than readability for me right now; even better if the scope is narrow enough to be thorough and readable. Thanks in advance! I loved China: A History by John Keay, which covers a huge amount of ground not too deeply, but was very smart and readable.
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Sep 1, 2017 16:35
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giogadi posted:I'm interested in learning more about Chinese history in the past century or so. This is probably pretty vague but it's because I know so little! Thoroughness is less important than readability for me right now; even better if the scope is narrow enough to be thorough and readable. Thanks in advance! This will only cover up until Mao, but I really enjoyed Dragon by the Tail: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DRAGON-BY-THE-TAIL-JOHN-PATON-DAVIES-JR-CHINA-/401348638116?hash=item5d723e35a4:g:lr8AAOSwYHxWP7M0 aqu posted:While focusing on other areas as well, this book covers a lot of what you're looking for Thanks! Look Sir Droids fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 17:03
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Spence's In Search of Modern China covers the period of the late Ming (1600s) to the Tiananmen Square protests. If you get into the country's history at all you're going to be reading some Spence sooner or later since he's one of the foremost historians of the country in the West.
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Sep 1, 2017 17:11
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Dukket posted:Cool, that is a title I've come across. any basic history of the templars will dispel the . it's pretty easy to tell the fact from fiction: if it sounds like weird bullshit, it is. anyway dan jones' The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors comes out on 7 September and should be very good; i'm a fan of his other pop history and have recommended him here in the past. just be warned that if you're expecting assassin's creed poo poo you're going to be really disappointed. the templars were just a monastic brotherhood with swords. COOL CORN posted:In my head I believe that Napoleon and Alexander were totally a thing please do not introduce the concept of headcanon to historiography chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 21:16
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Dukket posted:Cool, that is a title I've come across. Are you specifically looking for a book that debunks myths? I've read a couple books about the Crusades and military monastic orders, and they mostly ignore them. I read Piers Paul Read's The Templars, seems like a decade ago. I remember enjoying it. He covers all the post crusade stuff well: their secret buried treasure in Canada, their connections to China, etc. Nah, it's a standard history that mostly just follows the history of the crusades, and I have no idea how it compares to other books on them. There are a couple other orders that are way more interesting in reality, and I recommend The Monks of War by Desmond Seward. He covers different regions where they were active; the Middle East, the Baltic, and Iberia; and talks about the role military monastic orders played in those regions, sometimes they were the dominant political entity, and how they shaped those regions really as some of them formed into nation states.
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Sep 1, 2017 21:52
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FingersMaloy posted:Are you specifically looking for a book that debunks myths? I've read a couple books about the Crusades and military monastic orders, and they mostly ignore them. Yes, I've always assumed most of the illuminati stuff was myth, but money and power can lead to pretty crazy poo poo. Thanks
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Sep 1, 2017 22:00
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Dukket posted:Yes, I've always assumed most of the illuminati stuff was myth, but money and power can lead to pretty crazy poo poo. "most"
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Sep 1, 2017 22:23
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the Templars only have any mystique at all because of the manner in which they were dissolved. the Knights Hospitaller, which were founded at about the same time and which rivaled and at times eclipsed the wealth and power of the Templars, are very much still around and no one could give less of a poo poo about them
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Sep 1, 2017 22:28
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I generally find the secret society (using the term very broadly) stuff to be fascinating.
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Sep 1, 2017 22:48
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it wasn't a secret society, though, it was just a monastic brotherhood, like the dominicans or franciscans. they were literally monks, just with swords
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Sep 1, 2017 22:49
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And it's only a coincidence that Clement V was immolated just a month after Jacques de Molay.
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Sep 1, 2017 22:58
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chernobyl kinsman posted:it wasn't a secret society, though, it was just a monastic brotherhood, like the dominicans or franciscans. they were literally monks, just with swords I know, as I said, using the term REALLY broadly and generically. The myths have all the trappings of a secret society. There have not been too many movies made about Dominican monks rising as zombies, guarding the grail/arc of the covenant for generations , ruling the world from behind the scenes or whatever. They just brew beer, open colleges and do monk stuff. Edit: thanks for the book recs
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Sep 1, 2017 23:06
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Dukket posted:I know, as I said, using the term REALLY broadly and generically. The myths have all the trappings of a secret society. There was a time when the Jesuits were probably more associated with wild conspiracies about the their goal to create a Catholic world empire: sinking the Titanic, waging secret wars, undermining governments.
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Sep 1, 2017 23:36
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What would be a good introduction to Celtic history? All I really know is what I read in Julius Caesar's war commentaries.
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Sep 2, 2017 14:20
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barry cunliffe's The Ancient Celts is good
chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Sep 2, 2017 |
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Sep 2, 2017 16:09
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Edit-- not a detail I want to start Any good books about Alexander of Macedonia? Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Sep 2, 2017 |
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Sep 2, 2017 21:19
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Can anyone recommend a book on Athanasius Kircher?
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Sep 3, 2017 05:15
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Any good books on the history/ideology of social democracy?
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Sep 4, 2017 00:05
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Doctor Teeth posted:Any good books on the history/ideology of social democracy? I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, but "The Great Schism" is a classic look at the splintering of Germany's modern day Social Democrats and what became the German Communist Party. That kind of break of the moderate and hard left was a big part of what made social democratic parties able to work inside government in the countries where they did so.
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Sep 4, 2017 01:19
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Doctor Teeth posted:Any good books on the history/ideology of social democracy? I read it years ago so my memory may be fuzzy, but I remember Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt to be a good examination of the history and ideology of social democracy, particularly how it relates to the crisis of the 2000s. It's not really a classic history but more like a long essay on the subject by a famous historian and leftist intellectual.
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Sep 4, 2017 17:28
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You could do worse than reading Hobsbawm.
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Sep 4, 2017 20:05
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