History_Buff
Deity
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2001
- Messages
- 6,529
That's not true, I'm sure at least Plotinus knows a bunch of them too.
That's not true, I'm sure at least Plotinus knows a bunch of them too.
Pangur Bán;13103295 said: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.
Huh. I have no memory of the warrior cult in Vilnius, what was that about? Pagan Lithuania's fascinating, and I'm always on the lookout for more books about it. It's a shame a lot of the state archives were destroyed in a fire in the 16th century.
Pangur Bán;13107661 said:Rowell basically argues that Lithuanian warriors evolved their own national cult to mirror that of the 'crusading' Germans whose aggression united them and to become a focal point of Gediminas' 'state'.
Antilogic wanted some sort of nomination-election system. These are the recommendations I found on page 3, did I miss any?
Espedair Street by Iain Banks
S. C. Rowell, Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345 (Cambridge, 1994)
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
The French Revolution -- Carlyle
History of the French Revolution --Michelet
Ordinary Men -- Browning
I never hear anything about India on these threads.
That's because:
a) None of us regulars specialize in Indian history
and
b) Much like with Russian history there's not a whooooole lot of current academic English-language material being put out.
George Dangerfield, The Strange Death of Liberal England
This book is 80 years old now and it's still a classic. Due to its age and proximity to the events it describes I wouldn't recommend it on its own, but the book is still must-read material for anybody interested in early 20th Century British Political History or anybody studying World War I and its causes.
John Davies, A History of Wales
Perhaps the best comprehensive history of Wales available today.
And yet, a Russian history has been recommended on this very page.
And yet, a Russian history has been recommended on this very page.
Are we doing 'primary' sources in this list? I mean, I'd recommend Herodotus to anyone interested in Greek history on the same grounds, but wouldn't really trust anything he says.
Without being funny, how much is that saying?