The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Amazon is having some cyber monday deals in Kindle books, and there's some interesting stuff is in the history section such as Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for $3 that I bought along with some other books by that author, but there's other interesting stuff such as We Were Soldiers Once...And Young for $2. Worth a look.

I recently finished David McCullough's 1776, it was good, and surprising how much dumb luck Washington had and how he was a bit of a bungler at military matters in that year.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2012 18:14

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 12:02

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

The Amazon ebook deal of the day is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown for $2.99, and it is moving and poignant and altogether excellent and well worth more than $3 so go buy it.

# ¿ May 24, 2013 15:41

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

screaden posted:

What are some good books about the american "wild west"? I'm in australia so most of my exposure to that kind of thing has been through popular media, so I don't fully understand it and it's significance. I'd like to know more about the catalyst for the expansion and discovery as well as what life was actually like out there and how communities were built and sustained throughout that period

Author Dee Brown has many good nonfiction books on the American West, the closest to what you'd want is probably Wondrous Times on the Frontier, or maybe The American West (haven't read that one) for a general history, but his most important work is Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee about the destruction of American Indian tribes from their point of view, from extensive research by primary source materials such as transcripts from meetings between tribal leaders and government officials. There's a lot of romanticism about the American West and this book really shows a sad and disturbing look at the tragedy of it from those who paid the price of westward expansion, from a viewpoint you don't often get elsewhere. It's not a distant and objective history book, you won't read much about violence on settlers or between tribes, but it's important to read to get a more complete picture of the history of the American West.

A few months ago I read Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne. It covers about a 100-year history of the Comanches from the 1800s, focusing on Quanah Parker and his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, whose life the book/film The Searchers was loosely based on. It can get very graphic with the violence between the Comanches and settlers, but it's an interesting history from around the beginning of recorded contact with the tribe to their displacement to a reservation. One complaint was that the focus on Quanah and Cynthia Ann sometimes feels like you aren't getting the bigger picture, but that limitation is probably from a limitation of source material from the era.

# ¿ May 14, 2014 19:32

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

I've been reading Beyond the Blue Horizon by Brian Fagan, about humanity's earliest seafarers, and it waffles between being fascinating and tedious (mainly from repeated supposition and theories about different early ocean-going societies that lack detail) but I appreciate Fagan getting poetic:

quote:

As the darkness lightens and the stars vanish, the weathered navigator leans over, eyes shut, feeling the movement of the waves through his swinging testicles.

Fagan intertwines personal sailing experiences into the book and I wonder if that's where he got his inspiration.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2014 04:28

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Raskolnikov2089 posted:

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

NPR had good things to say about the above. Haven't tried it yet.

I read this myself and thought it was very good, though it does have significant sections about other spies and movers in the region; but I think that helped give it a wide view of the bigger picture. The author doesn't devolve into hero worship but doesn't dismiss at all Lawrence's extraordinary character and accomplishments.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2014 03:08

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

MonsieurChoc posted:

It's an amazing read, I can say that much. As a non-believer and a non-historian I can't vouch for those aspects, but I could not put down the book until I'd finished it.

Changing subjects, any good books on Native American history? I might have asked before and simply forgot. I'm watching Ken Burn's The West and it's making me super sad but also super interested. I'm definitely picking up Geronimo's autobiography, but I'm wondering about if there's any other good books.

You want to read Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, it's essential.

quote:

First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee generated shockwaves with its frank and heartbreaking depiction of the systematic annihilation of American Indian tribes across the western frontier. In this nonfiction account, Dee Brown focuses on the betrayals, battles, and massacres suffered by American Indians between 1860 and 1890. He tells of the many tribes and their renowned chiefs�from Geronimo to Red Cloud, Sitting Bull to Crazy Horse�who struggled to combat the destruction of their people and culture.

Forcefully written and meticulously researched, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee inspired a generation to take a second look at how the West was won.

One of his research sources are the own words of tribal leaders, taken from US government transcripts of meetings between the tribal leaders and government officials. It's a disturbing, depressing read of the various tribes' destruction from their own viewpoint. There's a lot of romanticism about the American West and this book really shows a sad and disturbing look at the tragedy of it from those who paid the price of westward expansion, from a viewpoint you don't often get elsewhere. It's not a distant and objective history book, you won't read much about violence on settlers or between tribes, but it's important to read to get a more complete picture of the history of the American West.

Another one I thought was good was Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne

quote:

S. C. Gwynne�s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

It covers about a 100-year history of the Comanches from the 1800s, focusing on Quanah Parker and his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, whose life the book/film The Searchers was loosely based on. It can get very graphic with the violence between the Comanches and settlers, but it's an interesting history from around the beginning of recorded contact with the tribe to their displacement to a reservation. One complaint was that the focus on Quanah and Cynthia Ann sometimes feels like you aren't getting the bigger picture, but that limitation is probably from a limitation of source material from the era.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2015 04:24

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Any suggestions for the BotM poll? Right now I'm leaning towards The Black Count because it was pretty awesome

It'd probably help that it's $2 right on on Amazon US ebook, though for who knows how long at that price: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Count-Revolution-Betrayal-Biography-ebook/dp/B007OLYPA4

# ¿ Oct 28, 2015 01:30

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Enfys posted:

I'm looking to read some naval history - things like naval exploration of the world, shipping/trade industries, different empire's navies, or how a history of ships/sailing I guess. I don't really know much about it at all but am becoming fascinated with the topic.

Six Frigates by Ian Toll about the founding and early days of the US Navy is excellent, highly recommended.http://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/039333032X

Something about more general shipboard life, though it only covers the British Navy in the 1700s pre- Seven Year's War is The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy by NAM Rodger http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-World-Anatomy-Georgian-Navy/dp/0393314693 . You can look at the table of contents in Amazon's preview and see if that's something you'd like to learn about.

Another good book is Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, who as a young student with eyesight problems thought a total change of scenery would help his ailment, and signed on a merchant ship from Boston to California and back. It was published in 1840, and he wrote this memoir based on the diary he kept during his voyage starting in 1834. It's very readable, even with all the nautical jargon, and best of all there's a free ebook version http://www.amazon.com/Years-Before-Mast-Richard-Henry-ebook/dp/B0082XP72S

# ¿ Jan 4, 2016 20:00

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Empress Brosephine posted:

Isn't that fiction though

The Revenant's Hugh Glass was a real guy who was really mauled by a bear and left for dead, really! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass

And anyone wanting to know about the American frontier should have Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown on their to-read list.

Stuff I wrote earlier in the thread:

PlushCow posted:

You want to read Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, it's essential.

quote:
First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee generated shockwaves with its frank and heartbreaking depiction of the systematic annihilation of American Indian tribes across the western frontier. In this nonfiction account, Dee Brown focuses on the betrayals, battles, and massacres suffered by American Indians between 1860 and 1890. He tells of the many tribes and their renowned chiefs�from Geronimo to Red Cloud, Sitting Bull to Crazy Horse�who struggled to combat the destruction of their people and culture.

Forcefully written and meticulously researched, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee inspired a generation to take a second look at how the West was won.

One of his research sources are the own words of tribal leaders, taken from US government transcripts of meetings between the tribal leaders and government officials. It's a disturbing, depressing read of the various tribes' destruction from their own viewpoint. There's a lot of romanticism about the American West and this book really shows a sad and disturbing look at the tragedy of it from those who paid the price of westward expansion, from a viewpoint you don't often get elsewhere. It's not a distant and objective history book, you won't read much about violence on settlers or between tribes, but it's important to read to get a more complete picture of the history of the American West.

Another one I thought was good was Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne

quote:
S. C. Gwynne�s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.
It covers about a 100-year history of the Comanches from the 1800s, focusing on Quanah Parker and his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, whose life the book/film The Searchers was loosely based on. It can get very graphic with the violence between the Comanches and settlers, but it's an interesting history from around the beginning of recorded contact with the tribe to their displacement to a reservation. One complaint was that the focus on Quanah and Cynthia Ann sometimes feels like you aren't getting the bigger picture, but that limitation is probably from a limitation of source material from the era.

PlushCow fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Nov 7, 2016

# ¿ Nov 7, 2016 06:03

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Matchstick posted:

Have a look at:

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Philbrick). A shipwreck and survival history that inspired Moby Dick with an interesting summary of the Massachusetts whale oil industry. Philbrick has a few other boat-based books that I have not read.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Lansing). The ultimate in tits-up expeditions.

Return of the Obra Din. Interesting detective PC game about a thoroughly gone-wrong ship voyage.

I'd second In the Heart of the Sea; it was pretty horrifying to read what the crew went through after their ship sunk. The movie based off the book didn't do it justice, sadly.

I'd recommend checking out Island of the Lost by Joan Druett:

quote:

It is 1864, and Captain Thomas Musgrave�s schooner, the Grafton, has just wrecked on Auckland Island, a forbidding piece of land 285 miles south of New Zealand. Battered by year-round freezing rain and constant winds, it is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.

Incredibly, at the same time on the opposite end of the island, another ship runs aground during a storm. Separated by only twenty miles and the island�s treacherous, impassable cliffs, the crews of the Grafton and the Invercauld face the same fate. And yet where the Invercauld�s crew turns inward on itself, fighting, starving, and even turning to cannibalism, Musgrave�s crew bands together to build a cabin and a forge�and eventually, to find a way to escape.

Using the survivors� journals and historical records, award-winning maritime historian Joan Druett brings to life this extraordinary untold story about leadership and the fine line between order and chaos.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2020 20:46

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

Hammerstein posted:

I gifted myself the huge, illustrated version of McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom and wanted to *humblebrag* some pics here:

Compared to the paperback of Tooze (still sad I can't find a hardcover version of that one)

All kinds of paintings, posters and proclamations from the era

John Brown

Honest Abe, pre-beard

That�s a good looking book.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2021 22:04

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 12:02

PlushCow: Oct 19, 2005; The cow eats the grass

StrixNebulosa posted:

I blame this entirely on reading Master and Commander: what are the best books on Horatio Nelson and his career? I currently have (as companions to reading A-M) Herman's To Rule the Waves and Lavery's Nelson's Navy on order, and I own the Napoleon biography.

Which is to say I'd also like recs for overview books for the Napoleonic wars as well!

You might also be interested in the book Cochrane: The Real Master and Commander, by David Cordingly; Cochrane's exploits were a huge influence on the Aubrey/Maturin novels.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2023 22:28

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The History Book Thread! looks like I need to set up space for a Nazi shelf