innonimatu
the resident Cassandra
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Whatever someone wanting a good history book about this does, don't risk trying to get one by a spanish author. Most of the recent works seem to have been written by members of the Opus Dei, the older ones by francoists. Both have a vested interest is whitewashing the inquisition as much as possible. Me, I've given up on spanish historians, it's too hard to figure out their allegiances. Perhaps Arwon can point out some reliable ones.
MilesGregarius
Half-baked Renegade
I just picked up Inquisition: The Regin of Fear by Toby Green (ISBN 978-0-330-44335-7). I can't give much of a review as I haven't read it, yet. It's gotten solid reviews from most of the British papers, though.
There are a few out there. The best overall account, in my opinion, is Dignas and Winter, Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity. James Howard-Johnston, Parvaneh Pourshariati, and Walter Kaegi, taken together, paint an excellent picture of the last war (the famous one
), although I have found that for a blow-by-blow of the actual campaigning it can be helpful to keep Treadgold's general history of the Byzantine state and society on hand.
Phrossack
Armored Fish and Armored Men
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There are a few out there. The best overall account, in my opinion, is Dignas and Winter, Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity. James Howard-Johnston, Parvaneh Pourshariati, and Walter Kaegi, taken together, paint an excellent picture of the last war (the famous one
You, sir, are a fantastically well-read gentleman.
Nah, I'm just interested in the right things.
Phrossack
Armored Fish and Armored Men
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Nah, I'm just interested in the right things.
Indeed. So am I, but I'm too lazy to bother reading most good books.
Whiskey_Lord
Deity
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Can anyone recommend some books on the British economy from ~1750-1800 AD?
sophie
Break My Heart
If you don't mind outdated stuff, you could always try Deane's The Industrial Revolution. There's also always Power and Plenty by Findlay and O'Rourke, which should be required reading for juuuuust about anyone interested in history after 1000.
Eh, there's a whole bunch of Oxford and Cambridge stuff that's usually very good - often with divergent perspectives on What Actually Happened across chapters. The stand-out is The Cambridge Economic History of Europe (Britland) which is readable, being divided into nice discrete (different authors) chapters, with ossim up-to-date references, a fairly good histiographical discussion thread running through-out and all in a fairly slim 500 pages. I would avoid single author works, simply because of the number of different views - and the need to be exposed to them - and the generally economic part of most economic Histories. The Cambridge also happens to have Findlay and, I believe, O'Rourke as editors and major contributors, which is a Good Thing.
soul_warrior
Termite!
Defying Hitler: A Memoir [Paperback]
a very well written "diary", from a civilian, ordinary point of view.
how the "common" people handled this period, the mind set, attitudes, etc.
short-ish, and i have been powering through it....
riveting read!
It starts slow by analyzing German politics and society after the First World War, the book becomes gripping with the personal narrative about his Jewish friends and girlfriend, the changes in his Berlin society and neighborhood, and the grotesque "training camp" which he and other aspiring lawyers were forced to attend before being allowed to take their qualifying exam.
a very well written "diary", from a civilian, ordinary point of view.
how the "common" people handled this period, the mind set, attitudes, etc.
short-ish, and i have been powering through it....
riveting read!
It starts slow by analyzing German politics and society after the First World War, the book becomes gripping with the personal narrative about his Jewish friends and girlfriend, the changes in his Berlin society and neighborhood, and the grotesque "training camp" which he and other aspiring lawyers were forced to attend before being allowed to take their qualifying exam.
Hew Strachan wrote a fairly short overview of the war. It's pretty vanilla, and it's notably not grossly wrong, which is more than anyone can say for things written by John Keegan.
He's in the process of compiling a massive three-volume work on the whole thing, too, if you want to look into that. The first part, which covers 1914 in Europe, as well as the entirety of the war outside Europe, and the mechanics of industrial and financial mobilization, is complete.
Günther Hölbl wrote a good one-volume work (it's been translated) but that might be tough to find. Most works on Ptolemaic Egypt specifically (at least, the ones that aren't garbage focusing on Kleopatra VII) are pretty highbrow and tough to find. You could try looking through Peter Green's Alexander to Actium, which covers the entirety of the Hellenistic period, to get to the Ptolemaic bits. That should be fairly widely available.ac106 said:
Phrossack
Armored Fish and Armored Men
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He certainly does write to be enjoyable.
Is that good, or are you suggesting he took creative liberties? I'm totally ignorant of classical history, so I wouldn't know.
I think he took creative liberties with his talk about Athenian "terrorism" and Zoroastrian holy war, stretching already-thin evidence (some of which is almost wholly fictional anyway). He's a writer who primarily works in fiction, writing a book for a popular audience and framing things in terms of the post-9/11 world.
Most of the facts, at least, are right. And it's as good a place to start as any.
Most of the facts, at least, are right. And it's as good a place to start as any.
Virote_Considon
The Great Dictator
I also enjoyed the book. Alright if you need to quickly brush over something. As Dachs said, the facts themselves are more or less in order.
Does anyone have any opinions on "The Spartans" by Paul Cartledge? One of my personal favourites, though it's been a long time since I've so much as skimmed it.
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