History Books!

Agent327 · Nov 20, 2015

Thought there was a thread on this topic, but apparently there wasn't.

Here's one for starters:

Eric Rauchway, The Moneymakers.

NYT Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/b...1120&nl=bookreview&nlid=61820453&ref=headline

The gold standard may seem a dry economic issue, but Rauchway casts the debate over it as an epic struggle with grave social and political consequences. The supporters of gold were big-business plutocrats; the proponents of a new monetary model were political progressives sensitive to the needs of farmers and workers.

And how did they solve the 1929 economic crisis?

dutchfire · Nov 20, 2015

Thought there was a thread on this topic, but apparently there wasn't.

This? http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=300606

Agent327 · Nov 21, 2015

Must be old, as it didn't show in the World History forum as an active thread when I checked.

Glassfan · Nov 23, 2015

There've been many threads on this. But sadly, contributions on the History forums have declined since Dachs, Traitorfish and others went off the air.

Antilogic · Nov 23, 2015

I remember that thread, I should go back and clean it up when I get some free time around the holidays.

Agent327 · Nov 24, 2015

Glassfan said:
There've been many threads on this. But sadly, contributions on the History forums have declined since Dachs, Traitorfish and others went off the air.

Sad news indeed. So should I put a number on this thread? Or are CFC-ers simply not reading any history books?

Flying Pig · Nov 24, 2015

Antilogic said:
I remember that thread, I should go back and clean it up when I get some free time around the holidays.

We really need to re-do the top recommendations thread: quite a few good books came out of it that never actually made it into the master post. Unfortunately we're at a low point for historians at the moment.

I picked up Norman Davies' Vanished Kingdoms, about European countries that no longer exist, a few days ago. Several I had never heard of before (can anybody else say that they know anything about Alt Clud, Sabaudia or Rosenau?) so should be interesting.

Antilogic · Nov 24, 2015

Flying Pig said:
We really need to re-do the top recommendations thread: quite a few good books came out of it that never actually made it into the master post. Unfortunately we're at a low point for historians at the moment.

I picked up Norman Davies' Vanished Kingdoms, about European countries that no longer exist, a few days ago. Several I had never heard of before (can anybody else say that they know anything about Alt Clud, Sabaudia or Rosenau?) so should be interesting.

I was planning to keep the second post updated, but I remember I had a lot of thesis work to do that year and my online activity was really sporadic.

New Year's Resolution, that will be fixed up. I think I'll have some time in the first week of December, if not then I have vacay time over Christmas to do it.

Gary Childress · Nov 28, 2015

A neighbor has put Will Durant's 11 Volume Story of Civilization up for sale on our neighborhood website. This sort of prompted me to think about reading something on history as my history is rusty from High School. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good history book or volume of books that comprehensively covers World history both relatively objectively and accurately? I was reading of Durant's set that there are some errors in it.

Thanks.

plarq · Nov 28, 2015

The Empire of the Steppes by René Grousset

In one word, "Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Agent327 · Nov 29, 2015

Gary Childress said:
A neighbor has put Will Durant's 11 Volume Story of Civilization up for sale on our neighborhood website. This sort of prompted me to think about reading something on history as my history is rusty from High School. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good history book or volume of books that comprehensively covers World history both relatively objectively and accurately? I was reading of Durant's set that there are some errors in it.

Actually, most history books contain errors. (Books that do not contain errors are very rare.) Sometimes they are addressed by errata, sometimes reviewers pick them out. I think an 11 volume book covering entire world history should be rather good, even though it may be dated. At university we had a single volume textbook (Palmer/Colton, a History Of The Modern World), the deficiencies of which were pre-modern history and eurocentrism.

In short, if Durant's on sale, I'd go for it, and check the bibliography and reviews for further (updated) reading.

schlaufuchs · Nov 29, 2015

Gary Childress said:
A neighbor has put Will Durant's 11 Volume Story of Civilization up for sale on our neighborhood website. This sort of prompted me to think about reading something on history as my history is rusty from High School. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good history book or volume of books that comprehensively covers World history both relatively objectively and accurately? I was reading of Durant's set that there are some errors in it.

Thanks.

For the most part I would absolutely not recommend a broad book on general World History. Any attempt at writing such a history is going to, by nature, be either insufficient or factually incorrect (or at the very least historiographically dated). But on the subject of broad ranging histories:

I haven't read it in over a decade, but I remember Norman Davies' Europe: A History to be decent (albeit a bit Polandcentric);

there's the classic WH recommendation: Findlay and O'Rourke's Power and Plenty, which is a history of trade and market interactions between world regions from 1000-present (although Masada and Azale now disapprove of this text)

Charles Mann's 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is the go-to Pre-Colombian American history text

I go back and forth on whether or not I like Jared Diamond Guns, Germs, and Steel but it's not terrible in the grand scheme of large-scale intraregional histories. Even if the writing is a bit dry.

Beyond that the things I'm going to recommend you are either going to be: broad time-range but regional geographically; narrow time range but broad geographically; or narrow on both counts.

Agent327 · Nov 30, 2015

Owen Glyndwr said:
For the most part I would absolutely not recommend a broad book on general World History. Any attempt at writing such a history is going to, by nature, be either insufficient or factually incorrect (or at the very least historiographically dated).

I was aware of that. I don't think any historian today would even attempt it, because of the vastness of the subject. But historians have in the past, and this makes it interesting from a historiographic point of view alone. (For instance, what was taught on history when I was in primary school became outdated within 25 years -if not less. But I wouldn't have wanted to have missed it.)

schlaufuchs · Nov 30, 2015

Agent327 said:
I was aware of that. I don't think any historian today would even attempt it, because of the vastness of the subject. But historians have in the past, and this makes it interesting from a historiographic point of view alone. (For instance, what was taught on history when I was in primary school became outdated within 25 years -if not less. But I wouldn't have wanted to have missed it.)

For an academic or someone who is experienced and interested in studying history at an advanced level I would absolutely agree. But Gary is looking for a quick means at getting back up to speed in the wide world of history ("This sort of prompted me to think about reading something on history as my history is rusty from High School. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good history book or volume of books that comprehensively covers World history both relatively objectively and accurately?")

So I don't really think sending him down such a historiography-oriented path would really be very advisable.

Gary Childress · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks for the recommendations, Owen and Agent. I suppose I could check up on a college text book or else maybe find several books; each covering sections of world history and with a good reputation in its particular area.

schlaufuchs · Dec 1, 2015

Gary Childress said:
Thanks for the recommendations, Owen and Agent. I suppose I could check up on a college text book or else maybe find several books; each covering sections of world history and with a good reputation in its particular area.

Anything published by Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, or Berkeley University presses are worth checking out. Beyond that it depends on the era (for example U of Toronto and Medieval European subjects). Try to prioritize books published within the last 10-15 years. If there's any particular era you're looking for let me know and I'll see if I can recommend anything.

Hygro · Dec 1, 2015

Agent327 said:
And how did they solve the 1929 economic crisis?

Getting off gold, cutting interest rates, recapitalizing the banks. Then they took on the recession. Booya

Agent327 · Dec 2, 2015

Yes, that's in the review, thanks. That's why it was a rhetorical question.

Gary Childress said:
Thanks for the recommendations, Owen and Agent. I suppose I could check up on a college text book or else maybe find several books; each covering sections of world history and with a good reputation in its particular area.

That would be a good start. Good reading!

Flying Pig · Dec 2, 2015

Owen Glyndwr said:
Anything published by Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, or Berkeley University presses are worth checking out. Beyond that it depends on the era (for example U of Toronto and Medieval European subjects). Try to prioritize books published within the last 10-15 years. If there's any particular era you're looking for let me know and I'll see if I can recommend anything.

I'm not sure that academic books make the best introductions. They're often quite inaccessible, not just in the sense of using long words but also in addressing issues that you only really want to know once you have a bit more of the basics in place. Personally, I look out for books on the everyday market which have won prizes (the Wolfson Prize hasn't let me down so far) or received very good reviews. Penguin seem to be quite good at picking up scholarly but introductory-level titles.

That said, I echo the idea of avoiding Great Big History of the World-type books: unless you're looking for the absolute vaguest outlines, there's simply too much material to get into anything book-length without seriously mangling it. Even then, they're likely to become 'A History of the World as Seen from London/Washington' in practice, and not actually give you what you're looking for.

Gary Childress · Dec 2, 2015

Owen Glyndwr said:
Anything published by Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, or Berkeley University presses are worth checking out. Beyond that it depends on the era (for example U of Toronto and Medieval European subjects). Try to prioritize books published within the last 10-15 years. If there's any particular era you're looking for let me know and I'll see if I can recommend anything.

Thanks! Do you have any recommendations for a book on human prehistory? I'm thinking of starting from the beginning and working my way forward in time. I was eyeing this book but I'm a little equivocal on whether or not to buy it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132274086/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

There are newer editions out (14th) but the newer editions are VERY pricey.

History Books!

Observer

Deity

Observer

Mostly harmless

--

Observer

Utrinque Paratus

--

Student for and of life

Crazy forever

Observer

Break My Heart

Observer

Break My Heart

Student for and of life

Break My Heart

soundcloud.com/hygro/

Observer

Utrinque Paratus

Student for and of life

Similar threads