Historical Book Recomendation Thread

[Ajidica]

Looking for stuff on the Outremer, specifically ideology, society, and maybe some daily life.

Bit late to this, but Christopher Tyerman's God's War is enough of a doorstop that you should be able to find what you are looking for in there, at find some good further reading material.

 

[Imaus]

Should we try to make a catalogue of suggested books? A .xml file, perhaps?

 

[Ajidica]

I'm putting together a Christmas list with books on it, does anyone have any to recommend? Preferably US or UK domestic policies in the Cold War, such as the post-war consensus or the Great Society; but anything interesting would be appreciated.

Also, has anyone read Worlds of Arthur by Guy Halsall? If yes, thoughts on it?

 

[Hrothbern]

I'm putting together a Christmas list with books on it, does anyone have any to recommend? Preferably US or UK domestic policies in the Cold War, such as the post-war consensus or the Great Society; but anything interesting would be appreciated.

Also, has anyone read Worlds of Arthur by Guy Halsall? If yes, thoughts on it?

Did the cold war ever end ?

I think not. At least never imo in the geopolitical situation of Europe and the Middle East. The sharp edges were gone for a while, but never the geopolitical positions.
I guess you do not read books in German. Otherwise "Rußland im Zangengriff" (Putins empire between Nato, China and Islam) and "Der Weg in den neuen Kalten Krieg" (The road to the new cold war) would be insightful.

Here in English a small article on Peter Scholl-Latour, on his book "The Curse of the Evil Deed"
https://www.zeit-fragen.ch/en/ausga...r-scholl-latour-der-fluch-der-boesen-tat.html
And here wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scholl-Latour

In the continuation of his book Peter Scholl-Latour describes in depth the confusion of ethnic, religious and ideological conflicts of the peoples between the Levant and the Gulf. At the same time he emphasises the century-long political and military interventions of the West which are responsible, to his mind, that these people cannot live in peace and respect with each other. Peter Scholl-Latour was familiar with the Orient for decades. Only recently he travelled there. His last book is like a legacy. It sharpens the view on reality and blows away the fog of disinformation and manipulation of western power politics.

I guess he is not well known in Anglosaxon literature (language can be a real barrier), but well worth knowing. Besides his brave and unusual personal life, he was very well informed with lots of inside info from high level, especially on Indo-China and also on the realation between the cold war and the Middle East. He had, as chief for a while of German TV broadcasting, a big influence on the German foreign political thinking including effecting a sceptical position of Germany to the foreign policies of the US and the UK.

 

[Traitorfish]

Are there any good books about the early Republic of China from a non-military perspective? The only one I've found so far is Frank Dikötter's The Age of Openness, and the author's reputation as the reigning demonologist of Mao makes me a bit wary.

 

[Dachs]

Also, has anyone read Worlds of Arthur by Guy Halsall? If yes, thoughts on it?

Yes. I own it.

I enjoyed it. It was written for a more general audience, so there aren't any footnotes, but it's not terribly difficult to follow his sources. The writing contains a fair bit of Halsall's sardonic wit and moves along reasonably well. He covers historiography, archaeology, and the state of the sources without getting too bogged down in sometimes-incomprehensible detail. The only part of the book that was kind of hard to follow was the bit about dates in Nennius' Historia Brittonum, but it's hard for me to see how he could have made it any easier. Fun book.

The main problem I recall some of its reviewers (a couple-three letter writers and Amazon purchasers) having is that they didn't understand the concept of "historiography", so when Halsall introduced the old school perspective on sixth-century Britain at the beginning, then the revisionist take from the seventies, and finally the current state of the field, these idiots claimed he was being contradictory. In reality, the major flaw I remember in the book was that he used a Doobie Brothers song lyric as a chapter quotation.

Are there any good books about the early Republic of China from a non-military perspective? The only one I've found so far is Frank Dikötter's The Age of Openness, and the author's reputation as the reigning demonologist of Mao makes me a bit wary.

I'd be interested in finding those, too, because much of what I have read also comes from a military perspective.

 

[Ajidica]

Are there any good books about the early Republic of China from a non-military perspective? The only one I've found so far is Frank Dikötter's The Age of Openness, and the author's reputation as the reigning demonologist of Mao makes me a bit wary.

Adam Tooze The Deluge, if I remember correctly, has a surprisingly large amount on the economic and diplomatic affairs of the Republic of China as it relates to the United States and the Entente during WW1. If anything the book might lead you to some other sources.

 

[JohannaK]

I read In Search of Modern China some time ago. It had a braoder approach, but it also covers from the Late Qing to Communist China, so it doesnt cover the period in great depth.

 

[Dachs]

Yes, that is a good textbook and a fine starting place for somebody not familiar with the period.

 

[Takhisis]

I'm putting together a Christmas list with books on it, does anyone have any to recommend? Preferably US or UK domestic policies in the Cold War, such as the post-war consensus or the Great Society; but anything interesting would be appreciated.

I've just been re-reading H.G. Wells' Pocket History of the World (ed. 1941). It's not exactly what you're asking for, but you get an interesting insight in how the future actors of the then-impending cold war were seen at the time (including an Englishman's views on the already possible end of the British Empire, right before the US and the Soviets entered the war, and a call for something to replace and improve on the League of Nations). I think it's not as good a read as Ernst Gombrich's Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser but it's still worth it.

 

[Truthy]

Anyone have recommendations for books about the Eastern Front of WW2 in general? Specifically something that's up to date with the historical consensus and provides a good overview of tactics and strategy? Economics-y angles are good too.

I see some books like "When Titans Clashed" get recommended a lot. But that's from 1995. I imagine quite a lot of new info has come out since then as historians have had time to comb through Soviet records. However, I see a revised edition was released in 2015. So perhaps it's still a solid single-volume read?

 

[Ajidica]

Economics-y angles are good too.

Can't really help on the Eastern Front as far military stuff goes, but The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze, specifically Part 3, has some very good stuff on the Nazi economy and is very approachable.

 

[Truthy]

I actually own Wages of Destruction and read a fair amount of it a few years ago, but didn't finish (or even get to Barbarossa) because I was reading it over a break in college and ran out of time before the semester started. In fact, iirc I bought it on advice from people in this thread. But thanks for pointing that out. I get that for such a massive, sweeping event as the Eastern Front, you can only ask for so much from a single volume and I can use Wages to cover a lot of the economics-side. At least from Germany's POV.

 

[Agent327]

Anyone have recommendations for books about the Eastern Front of WW2 in general? Specifically something that's up to date with the historical consensus and provides a good overview of tactics and strategy? Economics-y angles are good too.

I see some books like "When Titans Clashed" get recommended a lot. But that's from 1995. I imagine quite a lot of new info has come out since then as historians have had time to comb through Soviet records. However, I see a revised edition was released in 2015. So perhaps it's still a solid single-volume read?

That should definitely include some insights gained from Soviet archives (access to which has since again been restricted).

 

[Hamilton321]

some history books you should read:
Russia Against Napoleon: the True Story of the Campaigns of war and Peace by Dominic Lieven
March 1917: on the Brink of war and Revolution by Will Englund
Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills
Book of the Ancient Romans by Dorothy Mills
Book of the Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills
Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You About the Greatest, Most Terrible War in History by James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: the Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

Edit: The Civil War State by State by Chester G. Hearn is also good

 

[Gelion]

I'm strangely watching a 90's series called "Sharpe" set in the Napoleonic Iberian campaign. Besides the novels, are there any good recommendations on the general history of the conflict? Wikipedia has a lot of references.

 

[Lexicus]

I'm strangely watching a 90's series called "Sharpe" set in the Napoleonic Iberian campaign. Besides the novels, are there any good recommendations on the general history of the conflict? Wikipedia has a lot of references.

Chandler's Campaigns of Napoleon is a classic but IIRC only deals with the initial invasion of Spain since that was the only part of the Iberian campaign directed personally by Napoleon.

 

[innonimatu]

I'm strangely watching a 90's series called "Sharpe" set in the Napoleonic Iberian campaign. Besides the novels, are there any good recommendations on the general history of the conflict? Wikipedia has a lot of references.

I too wish I knew of one. There's lots of literature about it, more that enough to get lost in it. Most old and from a british perspective, which comes across as quite... skewed. The social aspects of the war and their impact on logistics is one area that I wish were better covered. Many of the french defeats were due to their inability to live mostly off the land as they were used to in the wars around France and central Europe.

Imo the economic damage and the social transformations caused by the war in the Peninsula were greater that the impact of the whole French Revolution on France itself. Spain was thoroughly wrecked for the next century and Portugal for half a century, there was no easy return to stability afterwards.

 

[Gelion]

Chandler's Campaigns of Napoleon is a classic but IIRC only deals with the initial invasion of Spain since that was the only part of the Iberian campaign directed personally by Napoleon.

Thank you for the reference, still an interesting part to catch.

I too wish I knew of one. There's lots of literature about it, more that enough to get lost in it. Most old and from a british perspective, which comes across as quite... skewed. The social aspects of the war and their impact on logistics is one area that I wish were better covered. Many of the french defeats were due to their inability to live mostly off the land as they were used to in the wars around France and central Europe.

Imo the economic damage and the social transformations caused by the war in the Peninsula were greater that the impact of the whole French Revolution on France itself. Spain was thoroughly wrecked for the next century and Portugal for half a century, there was no easy return to stability afterwards.

It is truly staggering to find out how much a certain event that you know nothing about played an important role for an entire region. To me the Spanish Campaign was a secondary theatre in the Napoleonic Wars, but I now understand more how it changed it and how much is defined by it.

I'd only add that, while the French Revolution and invasion were important for taking Spain out of the great nations games for a while it, to me, was only a natural continuation of the decline of the Spanish Empire and the revolutions perpetuated by European agents in Latin America. It was a decisive blow, but not the reason why Spain was knocked out for a while. I cannot say the same about Portugal though...

 

[Hamilton321]

It is truly staggering to find out how much a certain event that you know nothing about played an important role for an entire region. To me the Spanish Campaign was a secondary theatre in the Napoleonic Wars, but I now understand more how it changed it and how much is defined by it.

Yeah, the Peninsular Campaign was both a massive drain on the resources and reputation of Napoleon's Empire. From 1808 to 1814 significant resources had to be devoted to Spain while Napoleon could not come personally to take command for most of the campaign because of the tenuous situation in Central Europe. Repeated frustrations in Spain also helped to break the veneer of French invincibility and encourage Napoleon's enemies to re-enter the war and launch aggressive campaigns against Napoleon's Empire. From the beginning of the Spanish campaign to the fall of Paris France would never know peace, it would always have an active land war.