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Lee Harvey Oswald posted:I'm looking for a World War I book that focuses on the political/cultural aspects of the war. It seems like most basic overviews spend a disproportionate amount of time on the battles and military startegies. You want Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory. It examines the British experience of the war and it's impact on culture and literature. Its really, really good. I also just picked up Rites of Spring by Modris Eksteins which examines the war and its relationship with modernism.
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Dec 1, 2012 16:38
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Drone posted:I haven't read it (though I own it), but Europe: A History by Norman Davies is probably the most comprehensive thing out there. Aside from that, you'd be better off picking something more specific that interests you and reading just about that. I can confirm that Europe owns. It corrects a lot of the overemphasis on Western Europe prevalent in earlier histories (in English). I kinda want to re-read it now, but I'm pretty sure my copy would disintegrate if I tried; books that size are not meant to be softcovers.
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Jan 6, 2013 20:11
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ChetReckless posted:What's a good book to read on the French Revolution? Age of Revolution by Eric Hobsbawm, Citizens by Simon Schama, The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle.
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Feb 9, 2013 05:06
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coyo7e posted:I'm fond of The Great Cat Massacre, which I found in a toss-out bin outside a used bookstore. That looks cool; thanks for the recommendation, I'd never heard of it.
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Feb 9, 2013 05:10
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Davincie posted:I read 2 history books this vacation. The first was about the Basque people and it's called The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation by Mark Kurlansky. While it generally is good the author does have a (not very surprising, considering his other work) tendency to get derailed and start discussing food in the middle of chapters. There's also a bunch of introductions to people that go nowhere but overall it was an enjoyable and easy read. I'm enjoying Bolivar by Marie Arana, but I know nothing about South American history, so take that with a grain of salt.
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Sep 4, 2013 02:36
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Yeah there's a bunch of stuff on WWI published recently to coincide with the centenary. My favorite book about WWI is The Great War and Modern Memory by Fussell, but its more about the cultural reverberations of the war in a specifically British context. Guns of August is great, especially if you want an account of the march to war. The topic of who is to blame for the war is fraught, and there are many books with many different arguments. I enjoyed The Pity of War by Niall Ferguson, even if he is an rear end in a top hat.
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Apr 12, 2014 00:10
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A Dapper Walrus posted:Any recommendations on the Civil Rights Movement that cover all of the bases, i.e. MLK, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, etc.? My knowledge on the subject is limited to the sanitized version that a lot of Americans learn in high school and I want to get a better grasp on it. I would also be interested. So far, I've read Taylor Branch's 3 part biography of MLK, and I thought it was excellent. I'm reading some of Baldwin's essays and will probably pick up Malcolm X's autobiography next, but not sure about a good survey of the whole movement.
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Feb 6, 2017 01:38
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Foner just reviewed it as well as the new Grant bio in the latest TLS, worth a look. I have them both, but working through What Hath God Wrought first (covering 1812 to 1848).
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Feb 7, 2018 19:09
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Looking for recommendations for books on Teddy Roosevelt or MLK Jr. if they have quality audiobooks it would be appreciated. Taylor Branch's three volume biography of King is fantastic (start with Parting the Waters). Looks like there is an audiobook version as well.
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May 21, 2018 19:58
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I believe Phillippe Oriol's book on Dreyfus is the most up to date, but I don't think it's been translated to English. I've shamefully only read accounts in biographies of Proust and Zola, but they were helpful. I think Frederick Brown's For the Soul of France is supposed to be good, but I haven't read it yet, so I can't confirm.
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Jan 5, 2019 21:23
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I've heard good things about Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America by Richard White. I just finished his book on the gilded age in general and really enjoyed it.
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Feb 6, 2019 19:40
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America specific, but There is Power in a Union by Dray was good.
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Aug 27, 2020 00:36
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This sounds silly, but agadmator on youtube is great for chess history. I also have Bobby Fischer's 60 Games and Mikhail Tal's Life and Games, and they are great, but you need a board in front of you to follow along.
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Nov 20, 2020 05:53
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CV Wedgwood's book on the 30 years war is really good. Its probably out of date in some respects, but it was a really great read.
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Jan 29, 2021 01:13
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They just declassified the archives, so hopefully we get a full account in the nearish future.
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Aug 7, 2021 02:13
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They are so unbelievably good.
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Jun 25, 2022 18:31
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Yeah they're both great, but Foner is for sure the better choice for Reconstruction, but both well worth reading.
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Aug 19, 2022 23:10
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Yes. It's a good book, as are the rest of the series (although the 20th century volume is probably too close to the material). Obviously it's a Marxist history and has some blind spots, but I really enjoy Hobsbawm.
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Oct 17, 2022 20:49
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Reiterpallasch posted:about 90% of them are probably just cribbing from david chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon so, well, you may as well go to the source Yeah, its really good. Also the Age of Napoleon is a good podcast, but not really what you asked for.
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Jul 14, 2023 06:28
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Hirohito and the making of modern Japan was good, although I'm no expert.
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Mar 28, 2024 02:31
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