Kevin's Watch

Damelon wrote:Good book, Av. I've got it lying around somewhere in the house.

Yeah, I'm enjoying it, (started it before but never really persevered). Written in 1964 though, so I find a number of attitudes rather..."quaint."

But I do think he made a big contribution to giving this period the attention it deserves in terms of its relevance to the development of the region.

--A

I just finished Al Gore's Assault on Reason and have moved onto Ellis' excellent (so far) Founding Brothers.

Seems like appropriate material for Thanksgiving .

My interests primarily lie in the ancient and classical eras, however. I'm hoping to get Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar for Christmas--- anyone here read that one yet? Thumbs up or down?

'The Archaeology of Britain: An Introduction from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Industrial Revolution' edited by Ian Ralston and John Hunter.

Damelon...nice avatar. I finally saw Seven Samurai last month, it's amazing how ahead of it's time the cinematography, framing, etc for that movie was.

Holsety... yes, Pernoud's time is spent debunking the title 'Dark Ages' by pointing to different records and developments taking place in France before the 14th century.

I'm now most of the way through 'A Short History of Byzantium' which is basically an abridgement of a three book set on the topic. It's been educational in at least a couple of ways. First, I now have some understanding of how and where the eastern orthodox church came into being, and what portions of theology divided Rome and Constantinople. Second, it's been interesting to see the paradox of having power and pursuing power. As different aspirers to Constantinople's throne come to power by assassination or politics, rather than by heredity or credible association with the throne, they actually win a throne that they themselves have weakened. In effect, you can share power, but as soon as you aim to take it for yourself, you've insured that you will in fact never have that power. Only two usurpers that I've seen have actually acheived their ends, and that was because they were displacing a ruler of little power, and they themselves were invested in making rulership more powerful. Most times though, it's one powerful person taking down another powerful person, to the disadvantage of both persons.

I'm going to be starting 'A Distant Mirror- The Calamitous 14th Century' as soon as I finish a Pratchett book I'm reading to break up the non fiction.

I just finished reading Anthony Beever's The Fall of Berlin 1945.

What an absolutely brutal battle on both sides. The ruthless behind the lines terror of the Nazis and the vengeful Soviets when they passed through an area. The surreal life of the inhabitants of the bunker. It's an interesting read.

I've been mulling over getting The Hitler Book, the book prepared by the Soviets for Stalin; written after the war from the accounts of survivors close to Hitler.

"The truth about 27. March" ... Read it a couple of time actually. That book is about how did England push Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the WW2.... Yugoslavia has lost so much in that war and adopted to communism .

'Thermopylae' by Paul Cartledge. Very good on the actual Greek vs Persian scenario, even better on the way in which this encounter has been used (and possibly abused) by various historical figures.

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution,
1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff....
I love the public library.

Its a long story but interesting.

The Roman Revolution by Ronald Syme. Stunning. Damelon, if you see this, I bet this book would be right up your alley.

Just picked up a copy of Skull Wars by David Hurst Thomas. I started it and finally have the chance to read it through. Pair this with the Mismeasure of Man by Gould and you have a fantastic look at how dangerous pseudoscience has been to the world.

Lord Mhoram wrote:The Roman Revolution by Ronald Syme. Stunning. Damelon, if you see this, I bet this book would be right up your alley.

I'll have to check that one out. Thanks, LM.

I have been reading and still am ,Harper,s Pictorial History of the Civil War Contempary accounts and Illustrations from the magazine of the time, its about 850 pages long so its abit intense but I,ve read alot of it section by section plus its full of factual infromation about the amercian civil war.

Brasidas, Thermopylae was a good book. I mentioned it in 300 in History thread.

Earthwalker, Glorious Cause was good too, I like all Shaara's books. My wife even got into that one (trust me, that's an amazing event).

I just started 'The Coldest Winter', by David Halberstam. About Korean War. Big one.

EDIT: oops, wrong book for Earthwalker.

Was never really a fan of Syme. Prosopography can be quite limited.

Umberto Eco's Serendipities.

It's not exactly a history book, though it deals with historical issues. For anyone who makes the mistake of judging the past with their hindsight, I'd recommend reading the essays Eco presents in here.

Other than that, I'm always reading a ton of historical material for my work.

I've got that. Years since I read it though. Like his writing in general though, and enjoyed it at the time.

--A

The Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield by Ackerman.

Avatar wrote: I've got that. Years since I read it though. Like his writing in general though, and enjoyed it at the time.

--A

Yeah, it's great. The chapter on Marco Polo to Liebnitz was especially good.

I just finished The Guns of August. I'm now reading Armageddon by Max Hastings and The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam.