Gen.Mannerheim
Grand Moff
Nobody cares about Halsall, the guy's a hack! Probably has a stupid blog that nobody reads too where he rants about random stuff...
CFC's Top Recommended Historical Works
- Thread starter Antilogic
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Nobody cares about Halsall, the guy's a hack! Probably has a stupid blog that nobody reads too where he rants about random stuff...
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Espedair Street by Iain Banks. It is, like all of Banks' work, very good,
Pangur Bán
Deconstructed
There are lots of books I could recommend, but I'll give a mention to S. C. Rowell, Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345 (Cambridge, 1994), if for no other reason than the Lithuanian realm (and the pagan aristocratic clansmen who ran it) being one of the most interesting 'states' to exist and flourish in medieval Europe.
Phrossack
Armored Fish and Armored Men
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Pangur Bán;13096199 said:
What the- I was just about to recommend that book when I noticed this post!
I had no idea anyone else had actually read it! Crazy coincidence.But yeah, there is a serious lack of information on the pre-Christian Grand Duchy, and this is one of the few books on it in English.
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
I would recommend for the list:
Alexander to Actium - Peter Green
When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler - David Glantz
A History of Russia - Nicholas Riasanovsky
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1776 - Robert Middlekauff
The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy - Adam Tooze
People who prefer longer, more in-depth versions may prefer the double-package of Stumbling Colossus and Colossus Reborn over When Titans Clashed, but the latter provides a good overview of the topic in reasonable detail.
I've not read A People's Tragedy, as I was initially repelled by its loaded title, but I've since come to understand that it's a rather well-admired book. I've still not read it, though, but I have read Mawdsley's book (I actually met him the other day, albeit in passing. He was going down the staircase as I was going up it) and I loved it. I'm citing it in brief part for my dissertation, actually.
However, I will recommend A History of Russia by Nicholas Riasanovsky, as I indicated above. A good, long survey of Russian history from the Kievan Rus' up to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I think Carlyle's The French Revolution is more enjoyable, but Michelet's History of the French Revolution is better.
Alexander to Actium - Peter Green
When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler - David Glantz
A History of Russia - Nicholas Riasanovsky
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1776 - Robert Middlekauff
The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy - Adam Tooze
People who prefer longer, more in-depth versions may prefer the double-package of Stumbling Colossus and Colossus Reborn over When Titans Clashed, but the latter provides a good overview of the topic in reasonable detail.
I've not read A People's Tragedy, as I was initially repelled by its loaded title, but I've since come to understand that it's a rather well-admired book. I've still not read it, though, but I have read Mawdsley's book (I actually met him the other day, albeit in passing. He was going down the staircase as I was going up it) and I loved it. I'm citing it in brief part for my dissertation, actually.
However, I will recommend A History of Russia by Nicholas Riasanovsky, as I indicated above. A good, long survey of Russian history from the Kievan Rus' up to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I think Carlyle's The French Revolution is more enjoyable, but Michelet's History of the French Revolution is better.
History_Buff
Deity
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Does anyone know how up to date the new editions of A History of Russia are? I have a really old copy of the second edition from 1975 which I enjoyed, and I'm musing over getting the latest edition to supplement it.
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
Mine, which I think is edition 6 or 7 (blue jacket), I believe comes up to the beginning of Gorbachev. He ends by questioning whether Soviet society can even be described as totalitarian or dictatorial any more*. It's a strange sensation one gets by reading it, like a book about The Old Order which ends on a hopeful note in 1913 or something.
*This is actually a recurring theme in Soviet Studies. I have books from the late 30s, which were obviously primarily composed during the 1936-37 period, which declare the USSR to be the Second Great Democracy or some such thing (because of the 1936 Constitution and elections), supposedly joining the ranks of the United States. And again with Khrushchev, there are questions about whether collective rule should be called a dictatorship, and with hopeful notes about his reforms which at the time seemed to be undoing nomenklatura and establishing a viable legal framework and civil society. It is only retrospective histories which impose a uniform character on the subject and ignore nuance.
*This is actually a recurring theme in Soviet Studies. I have books from the late 30s, which were obviously primarily composed during the 1936-37 period, which declare the USSR to be the Second Great Democracy or some such thing (because of the 1936 Constitution and elections), supposedly joining the ranks of the United States. And again with Khrushchev, there are questions about whether collective rule should be called a dictatorship, and with hopeful notes about his reforms which at the time seemed to be undoing nomenklatura and establishing a viable legal framework and civil society. It is only retrospective histories which impose a uniform character on the subject and ignore nuance.
Art is more interesting than you perhaps give it credit for: the art that a society produces reflects the way that it thinks, and in many cases helps to construct its view of the world. To give a (relatively) modern example, if you want to understand the 1960s, you could do worse than listening to a collection of its music.
schlaufuchs
Break My Heart
I wouldn't skip the stuff about art - to me it's one of the most interesting parts of society. But if it doesn't interest you, don't read it. Nobody's administering a test about the material after the reading. Especially as you own the book and can simply come back to the material if you ever become more interested in the subject.
No, I'm just asking if it involves the main topic of the book to an extent that I would find it useful. Flying Pig put it correctly, but if it's just some ramblings on sculptures or whatever then I'm not interested.
I do not own the book. I did an ILL at my local library and it doesn't allow for renewal, so I have two weeks to finish and review it.
Well, even 'ramblings about sculptures' means looking at how people expressed themselves and the culture which surrounded people. That probably had more bearing on life for a lot more people than battles fought hundreds of miles away or the succession of new kings who were just like the old ones.
Pangur Bán
Deconstructed
What the- I was just about to recommend that book when I noticed this post!
But yeah, there is a serious lack of information on the pre-Christian Grand Duchy, and this is one of the few books on it in English.
Yep. If you haven't done much history, then chances are you'll be looking to the Romans, Vikings and that odd little disagreement between Hitler and Stalin. If you've done a lot of history then this book will be more interesting. State-sponsored warrior religious cult with a grand temple at Vilnius? Sacrifices of fully-armed German knights to the Baltic gods? Pagan kings with German Franciscans and Russian monks issuing charters in their name in German, Latin and Russian, while trying to get the Byzantine Empire to give them a metropolitan? Rulers converting back and forth between paganism, Orthodoxy and Catholicism depending on political opportunity and eventually ruling the biggest territory in Europe west of the Horde? That's pretty interesting if you think medieval Europe is about feudalism, courtly love and slavish religious conformity.
ParkCungHee
Deity
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I'll go ahead and recommend Ordinary Men. I'm sure a few others here will agree it's worthwhile reading.
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
The art sections don't have much in the way of political information, if that's what you're asking. You won't "miss part of the story" or anything. But I also echo the sentiments of others about the art sections.
Yeah, it's only one of the most important books of history written in the last fifty years.
EDIT: You know, I'm okay with this being my 31,000th post. Browning's awesome. If you haven't read his book before, make sure you get the version with the new epilogue, the "reply to Daniel Goldhagen".
Come on, what did I necro this thread for?
Last time I checked in, Strachan had temporarily shelved the second volume due to a) the ridiculous amount of research that has been published on the subject, which is still mounting and b) the ongoing demands of his teaching work. Since then, he's also been named to the committee that the government formed to try to work out how to commemorate the centennial of the war, so that too is undoubtedly a drain on his time.
I think that he would have to have a leave of absence, at this point, to make much progress on it.
My source for all this is a colleague of Strachan's with whom I've corresponded via email for unrelated reasons, but I haven't talked to him since like a year ago so
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