Recommend a good History book?

[Dave Tubamate]

Amusing history of the 1810-1815 Napoleonic campaign.

This particular beautiful Folio Society Edition cost me a pretty penny - limited edition. Don't you just love expensive books even if you can't afford them.

Not sure I'd spend that sort of money on a SRD tome though!

[Dave Tubamate]

A little one sided but the man was there - right there!

[Menolly]

A little one sided but the man was there - right there!

True, but then the old history debate begins...

Did he write an historical work, or about recent current events (for his time)?

:::sorry, Paul's history degree sometimes even affects my thinking:::

[Avatar]

I'm as happy with a used paperback as some fancy limited edition. The words inside are the same.

--A

[Lord Mhoram]

Probably the finest intellectual history book available - although very theoretical and literary at times, so avoid if you aren't into that kind of thing. It was highly controversial, so it has to be read critically.

[Tjol]

Well, I'd definately reccomend the account I'm almost finished with on the Pelloponesian War (by Donald Keegan). The war captures very well all the various factors that can come into play, not simply in warfare, but in politics and international relations as well. Now that I've been exposed to it, I find it to be as important a thing to be knowledgeable of as I have found discovering more detailed information about my country's founding, and all the factors that played into what it became.

edit:After that, I'd reccomend The Story of World War II. It covers the war more thoroughly than I feel my high school education did.

p.s. I'm going to read Team of Rivals next, which is about Lincoln's Presidency....

but after that, can anyone reccomend a pretty thorough book on either the Crusades period or the Hundred Years War period of European History? I find tactics intrigueing... but what really makes a good book on war history in my opinion, is a thorough account of the social, political, and technological context that affect outcomes of battles, and that are affected by the outcome of battles. It is my impression that the greatest social changes tend to either bring about war, or get brought about by war, and I'm always curious about why certian social changes have been adopted over the years of mankind's existence.

[Lord Mhoram]

Tjol,

I would recommend The Crusades by Zoé Oldenbourg.

[A Gunslinger]

The Civil War: A Narrative (3 Volume Set) (Hardcover)
by Shelby Foote

Book Description
The Civil War: A Narrative (Hardcover, 3 Vol. Gift Set)

A stunning literary and historical achievement, the three volumes of Shelby Foote’s THE CIVIL WAR vividly bring to life the four years of torment and strife that altered American life forever. Presented in a handsome boxed set, these three beautifully bound hardcovers are an essential addition to every American history collection.

Taking the reader from the drama of Jefferson Davis’s resignation from the United States Senate and Abraham Lincoln’s arrival in the nation’s capital to Davis’s final flight and capture and Lincoln’s tragic death, Foote covers his subject with astonishing depth and scope. Every battle, every general, and every statesman has its place in this monumental narrative, told in lively prose that captures the sights, smells, and sounds of the conflict. Never before have the great battles and personalities of the Civil War been so excitingly presented, and never before has the story been told so completely.

With a novelist’s gift for narrative and a historian’s commitment to research, Shelby Foote’s epic retelling is the definitive account of the Civil War, a trilogy that has earned a place of honor on the bookshelves of all Americans.

[Damelon]

but after that, can anyone reccomend a pretty thorough book on either the Crusades period or the Hundred Years War period of European History? I find tactics intrigueing... but what really makes a good book on war history in my opinion, is a thorough account of the social, political, and technological context that affect outcomes of battles, and that are affected by the outcome of battles. It is my impression that the greatest social changes tend to either bring about war, or get brought about by war, and I'm always curious about why certian social changes have been adopted over the years of mankind's existence.

Most of what I know of the period of the Crusades comes from Will Durant's The Story of Civilization. There is an interesting book out there, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, which uses the Arab chroniclers as it's source.

Be careful reading it on a plane though. An F.B.I. agent, of Arab descent, got into trouble with it on a flight a few years ago. It seems the flight crew thought he was a terrorist.

I've never come across a good book on the Hundred Years War. Most books tend to overestimate the importance of the English victories, but Edward III and the Black Prince bankrupted England in the process of winning their battles. If they focus on the French at all, it's on Joan of Arc. For instance, Du Guesclin was an interesting figure, but I've never read a good book about him.

[taraswizard]

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

[lucimay]

TARAS!!!!!

[Montresor]

Probably the finest intellectual history book available - although very theoretical and literary at times, so avoid if you aren't into that kind of thing. It was highly controversial, so it has to be read critically.

An excellent book, though it has some problems, most seriously the fact that Said commits his own Occidentalism in crafting the European perspective on the Middle-East.

As much as I love Orientalism, I think Umberto Eco's more simplistic characterisation of the phenomenon as Exoticism is more useful for the historian. It took me some vasscilating, but that's the line I eventually chose for my thesis, anyway.

[Montresor]

I've never come across a good book on the Hundred Years War. Most books tend to overestimate the importance of the English victories, but Edward III and the Black Prince bankrupted England in the process of winning their battles. If they focus on the French at all, it's on Joan of Arc. For instance, Du Guesclin was an interesting figure, but I've never read a good book about him.

That's because they're written by Anglophile, Francophobes, or military weapons fetishists. Even though the cannon in French hands did to the English what the longbow had done to them, most historians tend to glorify the longbow for fairly puerile reasons. Consequently, the post Joan period receives very little attention in the history books outside of France. This is one of the most poorly studied periods of military history, as very few observers can divorce their own conceptions of what was and wasn't a State from how the people actually thought and felt.

I'd recommend Jean Froissart as a good primary source from a French perspective. To read almost anything else you'd think the 100 years war consisted of Crecy, Agincourt, and Joan of Arc; and there were only two combatants - England and France.

[deer of the dawn]

Guns, Germs and Steel.

YES!! Awesome big-picture perspective.

Also, History Begins at Sumer is a classic (and available as a free pdf); pretty short, easy reading but also a fascinating overview told as a story.

I loved A Distant Mirror, a popular history book a couple decades back about the 14th century.

I guess I'm more into reading about daily life and culture than battles.

[Linna Heartbooger]

I guess I'm more into reading about daily life and culture than battles.

I'm totally on the same page w/ deer on this... what's a good place here on the Watch to talk about daily life and culture... even if it's present-day, rather than historical? (I could see certain things fitting into the Close, but not all of where I want to go...)

(i.e. "I just read 'Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother,'" and want to chatter about it. I expect I will probably pepper the Watch with quotes from it, regardless... )

[Avatar]

Historical in here, philosophical in the Clos, and social in the 'Tank.

--A

[Iolanthe]

I've never come across a good book on the Hundred Years War. Most books tend to overestimate the importance of the English victories, but Edward III and the Black Prince bankrupted England in the process of winning their battles. If they focus on the French at all, it's on Joan of Arc. For instance, Du Guesclin was an interesting figure, but I've never read a good book about him.

I'd recommend Jean Froissart as a good primary source from a French perspective. To read almost anything else you'd think the 100 years war consisted of Crecy, Agincourt, and Joan of Arc; and there were only two combatants - England and France.

I'd go with that. I read Froissart last year - it came in as a 2nd hand and I "borrowed" it. I'm a John of Gaunt fan!

I picked up four very good books at the Oxfam BS - by an American Thomas B Costain, The Pageant of England series. Very easy to read, and a good intro to medieval England, but not always quite correct. They begin with Matilda & Stephen and finish with Richard III.

On which subject, if you are still convinced at Shakespeare's/Polydore Vergil's/More's image of Richard III I recommend another book by an American - Richard III by Paul Murray Kendall, published in 1955.

[Avatar]

Ah, books from British charity shops...the true bane of any traveller.

I've returned home sans clothes on occasion, to make room for the books. (Last time out, (some years back now), I ended up shipping two big boxes home rather than abandon any. )


--A

[Iolanthe]

I love second hand bookshops! But my bookshelves are full, so I have to say goodbye to a book if I get a new one. Therefore I supply the Oxfam BS as well as buy from it. Lately I have borrowed from friends with similar interests, so I can never remember the titles. The last one was, The Red Queen, by Philippa Gregory, about Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII). Faction.

[Avatar]

I love second hand bookshops! But my bookshelves are full, so I have to say goodbye to a book if I get a new one.

That is the most twisted logic I have ever heard. Get more bookshelves. Or, (as I fear I may need to do soon) a bigger house.

The only way I get rid of a book is if I have a duplicate, or if somebody I lend it to doesn't give it back. I still have almost every book I've ever owned. Including children's books. Like my not quite complete set of Mr Men books.

(Yes, I may have a problem in this regard.)

--A