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I just finished Where do we go from here by Martin Luther King Jr. Has me interested in reading about the horrors of the slave trade. The part from Africa and overseas. The conditions, etc. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. TIA.
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Jun 8, 2015 19:43
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donkey salami posted:I just finished Where do we go from here by Martin Luther King Jr. Has me interested in reading about the horrors of the slave trade. The part from Africa and overseas. The conditions, etc. If you don't mind fiction, Charles Johnson's Middle Passage is an excellent read.
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Jun 8, 2015 20:07
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Thanks! Will give it a look
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Jun 8, 2015 20:26
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donkey salami posted:I just finished Where do we go from here by Martin Luther King Jr. Has me interested in reading about the horrors of the slave trade. The part from Africa and overseas. The conditions, etc. I think Hugh Thomas's The Slave Trade may be the only modern single volume history of the subject pitched at academics and general public. The book is problematic on a couple of levels: the narrative could use a lot of editing as it is very tough to slog through, he doesn't really get into causal factors. But purely on a descriptive level it will be hard to find a book with more detail on do many different aspects of the subject.
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Jun 8, 2015 20:31
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Thanks for the tip. I saw that one and read the amazon reviews. I was little worried cause I am coming at the topic pretty ignorant and people were saying hard to grasp cause like you said the book needs a good editor. Thanks for the tip!
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Jun 8, 2015 21:23
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check out The Known World. Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer
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Jun 8, 2015 21:55
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Thanks! This one looks like covers something I hadn't even considered
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Jun 8, 2015 22:01
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Hey so I just finished the Gulag Archipelago (and it was incredible) but I feel like I missed a lot of nuance because I don't really know anything about the October Revolution or the early Soviet Union in general. What're some good basic intros? I'd also be super interested in reading more about samizdat (I'm reading Solzhenitsyn's Invisible Allies right now and will probably pick up his The Oak and the Calf next).
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Jun 10, 2015 01:05
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Radio! posted:Hey so I just finished the Gulag Archipelago (and it was incredible) but I feel like I missed a lot of nuance because I don't really know anything about the October Revolution or the early Soviet Union in general. What're some good basic intros? I always post this but, the one and only, A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes is the best history of the revolutions, covering the era from the late 1800's until Lenin's death. Anne Applebaum wrote two amazing books, if you care about the CCCP era, Gulag and Iron Curtain.
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Jun 11, 2015 20:08
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mcustic posted:I always post this but, the one and only, A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes is the best history of the revolutions, covering the era from the late 1800's until Lenin's death. As those are both very right wing sources, I'd also suggest History of the Russian Revolution by Trotsky.
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Jun 11, 2015 20:27
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How's Needful Things? I haven't read a Stephen King book in a while and I realized it sounded entertaining.
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Jun 11, 2015 22:15
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The Vosgian Beast posted:How's Needful Things? So, let's say you have a cool balloon, and you are blowing it up and it's getting bigger and bigger, and it's looking pretty great, and you're already cringing in anticipation of the almighty BLAM that's totally going to come when the quivering balloon finally pops--and then the balloon slips off the nozzle of the helium tank and deflates with a dull, wet flabbering sound that's not even all that impressive as a fart noise. That's basically Needful Things. It's a good book and a fun, even exciting read, right up until the climactic scenes--if you can deal with that, though, do give the book a try. I've always liked it a lot.
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Jun 11, 2015 22:37
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Pork Pie Hat posted:It's worth noting that Les Miserables isn't set during the French Revolution (if you mean the 1789-99 one). Not that that helps with you being put off by the the film/musical of course but you could say that it not being about the time period in question is a good enough reason not to read it right now. Sounds good. I'll add it to the list. Tale of Two Cities is a good catch and Pimpernel too. Stainless Steel Rat! I remember those from way back when. Probably where I got my original love of conman stories. Thanks.
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Jun 11, 2015 22:51
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On the con artists tip: you might want to take a look at Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books. They're a lot darker than the likes of Locke Lamora or Moist von Lipwig -- Ripley is a cold, vicious bastard -- but they're interesting reads.
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Jun 11, 2015 23:09
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Picayune posted:So, let's say you have a cool balloon, and you are blowing it up and it's getting bigger and bigger, and it's looking pretty great, and you're already cringing in anticipation of the almighty BLAM that's totally going to come when the quivering balloon finally pops--and then the balloon slips off the nozzle of the helium tank and deflates with a dull, wet flabbering sound that's not even all that impressive as a fart noise. Oh, so it's a Stephen King book.
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Jun 11, 2015 23:51
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Oh, so it's a Stephen King book. Exactly. I do think it's one of his better ones, though.
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Jun 12, 2015 00:34
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I'm shopping around for audiobooks for my dad. I got him a Michael Crichton three pack a few years ago and he really enjoyed Airframe. He's really into shows like How Stuff Works and the like, so Cricthon's technical tangents are right in his wheelhouse. I was considering getting him a few more from Crichton but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on authors with a similar style that might also be good.
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Jun 15, 2015 01:51
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dirksteadfast posted:I was considering getting him a few more from Crichton but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on authors with a similar style that might also be good. Robin Cook and Fredrick Forsyth.
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Jun 15, 2015 02:11
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dirksteadfast posted:I'm shopping around for audiobooks for my dad. I got him a Michael Crichton three pack a few years ago and he really enjoyed Airframe. He's really into shows like How Stuff Works and the like, so Cricthon's technical tangents are right in his wheelhouse. I was considering getting him a few more from Crichton but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on authors with a similar style that might also be good. Neal Stephenson is the king of technical tangents, with all types of complex concepts across many different fields being obsessively and lovingly detailed and explained in his novels. Cryptonomicon and Reamde are two of his books that have modern, thriller type settings that a Crichton fan would probably enjoy.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:02
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Thanks for the recommendations. I started reading Snow Crash recently (sample only) and didn't catch that style at all, but then it's hard to gleam that from a limited number of pages.
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Jun 15, 2015 05:29
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I met Steph Cha in an event at my local library and now I'm very interested in her book "Follow Her Home" after she described her book as "femminist, Korean-American noir" and how her main inspiration was how she was a huge fan of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe books but couldn't stand his casual sexism. Has anybody read her books?
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Jun 15, 2015 15:38
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I'm interested in nice to read non-fiction informational books about various subjects. While this is a vague description, I mean books like (hopefully I won't get mocked for this) Freakonomics, the Drunkard's Walk, A Brief History Of Time and Godel, Escher, Bach. Basically, anything that isn't too cumbersome too read but gives fun, new and relevant insights into various subject domains.
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Jun 15, 2015 20:38
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Kalenden posted:I'm interested in nice to read non-fiction informational books about various subjects. While this is a vague description, I mean books like (hopefully I won't get mocked for this) Freakonomics, the Drunkard's Walk, A Brief History Of Time and Godel, Escher, Bach. A short history of nearly everything. You're welcome
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Jun 15, 2015 21:22
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Kalenden posted:I'm interested in nice to read non-fiction informational books about various subjects. While this is a vague description, I mean books like (hopefully I won't get mocked for this) Freakonomics, the Drunkard's Walk, A Brief History Of Time and Godel, Escher, Bach. Anything by Mary Roach. If you want a step in the more technical/less humorous direction, pretty much anything by Steven Johnson, and if you want a Brysonesque history of beer drinking in England, read Pete Brown's Man Walks into a Pub. Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day was in Freakonomics, so that's another good one to check out. Oh, and Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation is great, too.
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Jun 15, 2015 21:34
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Kalenden posted:I'm interested in nice to read non-fiction informational books about various subjects. While this is a vague description, I mean books like (hopefully I won't get mocked for this) Freakonomics, the Drunkard's Walk, A Brief History Of Time and Godel, Escher, Bach. You mentioned Godel, Escher, Bach but really all of Douglas Hofstadter's books are like this. Le Ton Beau de Marot may be my favorite. It covers (among many other topics) the meaning and art of translation ... and if that sounds boring, it's only because you haven't read the book yet. It's truly a fascinating subject, especially the manner in which he approaches it and all the byways he goes down. His book of collected essays, Metamagical Themas, is also fantastic and includes penetrating looks into game theory, psychology, and fonts (another topic that sounds very dry until you read more about it).
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Jun 15, 2015 23:27
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Does anyone have any recommendations for some good non-fiction about the mob/mafia? Specifically early 1900's/prohibition era stuff. Thanks book people!
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Jun 16, 2015 15:23
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PleasusChrist posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for some good non-fiction about the mob/mafia? Specifically early 1900's/prohibition era stuff. Mike Dash The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia. A very well written and well researched history of the development of one of the first crime families at the turn of the century. quote:In its skeleton, The First Family is the story of the birth of the Mafia in the United States; in its flesh, the tale documents the rise to power of Giuseppe Morello, a.k.a. "Clutch Hand" because of a birth defect that left his right arm ending in a single finger. Morello, a Sicilian murderer and cattle rustler on the run from the Mafia stronghold of Corleone, landed in the United States in 1892, at a time when the underworld was a free-for-all of various ethnic groups trying to slice themselves a thick slab of the American dream. Within a decade, Morello had put down the roots of a criminal organization that sparked the name of the book, and the tentacles of which endure to this day. dokmo fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Jun 16, 2015 |
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Jun 16, 2015 15:53
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dirksteadfast posted:I'm shopping around for audiobooks for my dad. I got him a Michael Crichton three pack a few years ago and he really enjoyed Airframe. He's really into shows like How Stuff Works and the like, so Cricthon's technical tangents are right in his wheelhouse. I was considering getting him a few more from Crichton but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on authors with a similar style that might also be good. He might like Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson, with the sole caveat that I'm not 100% sure that there's an audiobook version.
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Jun 18, 2015 22:05
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I require a non-ficion history book focusing on the 80s please, and make it grim as possible, arrroooo! 
Klaus88 fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jun 19, 2015 |
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Jun 19, 2015 19:43
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Kalenden posted:I'm interested in nice to read non-fiction informational books about various subjects. While this is a vague description, I mean books like (hopefully I won't get mocked for this) Freakonomics, the Drunkard's Walk, A Brief History Of Time and Godel, Escher, Bach. This is usually called "Pop Sci" or something of the sort. Have you tried Brian Greene's books?
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Jun 19, 2015 19:52
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Klaus88 posted:I require a non-ficion history book focusing on the 80s please, and make it grim as possible, arrroooo! Randy Shilts' And the Band Played On is a history of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Grim enough for you?
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Jun 19, 2015 20:22
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Selachian posted:Randy Shilts' And the Band Played On is a history of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Grim enough for you? Not quite, got anything on Iran-Contra?
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Jun 19, 2015 22:42
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Klaus88 posted:Not quite, got anything on Iran-Contra? Funny, yesterday I tried to post Malcolm Byrne's Iran-Contra: Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power, but the page kept timing out.
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Jun 20, 2015 11:59
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Klaus88 posted:Not quite, got anything on Iran-Contra? You could try Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion by Gary Webb. It's very good.
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Jun 20, 2015 15:28
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Any recommendations for historical fiction similar in style to Sven Hassel's war books?
Borneo Jimmy fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 21, 2015 23:58
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I need a audiobook that shows the high weirdness of the temprence movement in America
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Jun 21, 2015 23:59
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http://www.audible.com/pd/History/Last-Call-Audiobook/B005QDO0KW/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1434939674&sr=1-1 Last Call is a great history of prohibition
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Jun 22, 2015 03:21
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My friends and I were having a group discussion, and we started talking about "the unexplained". One of my friends talked about quantum physics, and how dimensions and whatnot can explain why we perceive ghosts, supernatural occurances, etc. Are there any good books on quantum physics or theories similar that are written for someone who isn't familiar with anything in this vein?
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Jun 25, 2015 04:14
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Franchescanado posted:My friends and I were having a group discussion, and we started talking about "the unexplained". One of my friends talked about quantum physics, and how dimensions and whatnot can explain why we perceive ghosts, supernatural occurances, etc. Are there any good books on quantum physics or theories similar that are written for someone who isn't familiar with anything in this vein? Your friend was full of poo poo. If you actually want to read about real quantum physics, maybe try How to Teach Quantum Physics to your Dog by Chad Orzel. Pretty decent layman's primer, although the dog aspect gets a bit tedious. http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Teach-Quantum-Physics-Your/dp/1851687793
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Jun 25, 2015 04:42
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Franchescanado posted:My friends and I were having a group discussion, and we started talking about "the unexplained". One of my friends talked about quantum physics, and how dimensions and whatnot can explain why we perceive ghosts, supernatural occurances, etc. Are there any good books on quantum physics or theories similar that are written for someone who isn't familiar with anything in this vein? Yeah I don't think your friend has a proper grasp on the subject. You could try The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, and A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
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Jun 25, 2015 09:58
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