Seconded. Runciman is also great, but less up-to-date.
From a strict page-count perspective, it's probably above-average unless you count multi-volume tomes as one book. My definition of a long book is anything greater than 600 pages. However, if it is well-written and holds the my interest, I can easily read over a hundred in a sitting.
Besides The Crimean War, I'm soliciting suggestions for favorites of European and American history to read. I am coming down the finish line in Iron Kingdom, have another couple on deck, but then I gotta find some more.
Arriaga II
Warlord
Any controversy Toland has as a historian comes from his works on Japan and WWII. He wrote a history of Japan in WWII in the 1970s, the first major Western historian to do so from the Japanese perspective, and it got a lot of praise. But some argue he swallowed up the Japanese revisionism and rationalizations a little too much. I haven't read it in several years so I can't really say how true that critique is.
Later in his career, Toland also swallowed the FDR/Pearl Harbor conspiracies hook, line and sinker. So that's a strike against him.
I don't know anything about his Hitler biography though.
carmen510
Deity
Again asking about authors, rather than a real recommendation.
Would you recommend Richard J. Evans' books, particularly his trilogy on the Third Reich? In addition, what are your thoughts on the book Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan & Richard Holbrooke?
Would you recommend Richard J. Evans' books, particularly his trilogy on the Third Reich? In addition, what are your thoughts on the book Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan & Richard Holbrooke?
Kinda pro-Entente. Bog-standard, except from a literary standpoint (literarily it's pretty good). Doesn't break any ground.
Ajidica
High Quality Person
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Both. I'd like something that isn't 'pop-history' but is still enjoyable and a good piece of literature. (Something similar to Norwich's Byzantium series but with a bit more analysis that is in line with modern scholarship (a criticism I remember you have of Norwich).)
I daresay 99% of the world population (or more) is opposed to the concept of a "thousand-year Reich" but apparently Nazi politicians and soldiers very much acted with it in mind. Does that make it real?
Schroeder does not deny that people acted as though the concept of a balance of power existed. Indeed, that is the centerpiece of his thesis on the transformation of European politics - the balance of power was taken to its apotheosis in Napoleon, the rest of Europe's statesmen recoiled in horror, and they developed a new system that worked much better. Because the fact of the matter is that the idea of the "balance of power", although it obviously does exist, does not work: its result is pure entropy. It creates conflicts where they need not exist and uses one conflict against another - and the result can hardly be anything but greater conflict and greater enmity.
1889
Mayor of H-Marker Lake
I'm trying to make my daughters grow up just like me so I'm trying to make them develop an interest in history. I've started reading Gombrich's A Little History of the World to my 8 year old and I think we are both enjoying quite a bit. Any other suggestions on history books for 8-10 year olds would be much appreciated.
Uh... that's a little tough. As a general theme, though, I would stick with more narrative-style histories. When she gets a little older (or now if she is mature for her age), I recommend literally anything by David McCullough--the words just flow off the page, especially if you are there to help clarify when he uses language she might not understand. You might want to start with his shorter books like Mornings on Horseback (about Teddy Roosevelt), The Johnstown Flood (about a broken dam in Pennsylvania), 1776 (about the first year of the American Revolution, mostly focused on George Washington) or Path Between the Seas (about the Panama Canal) before jumping into something like John Adams or Truman.
I read a few good ones in high school that might work if she reads at an advanced level and you are reading together: you might want to try something like Isaac's Storm (about the hurricane that hit Galveston around 1900) or The Right Stuff (about the US space program and the astronauts)--both are fast-paced, with dialogue, etc. but are accurate on their history. If you don't mind skipping over the parts about the oldest profession, Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day is a fun read--it's written like a travel guidebook, but for Rome at the height of its power. So it has basic Latin phrases to help you buy bread and ask around, life in the day of a commoner type text. Finally, depending on if her interests trend towards the martial, Osprey books are short, focused, and often have plenty of illustrations.
aelf
Ashen One
Maybe you should read some books on childhood education too?
My response to this would be wayyy funnier if I could find the Always Sunny clip where Mac and Charlie talk about jamming their opinions down kids' throats on Youtube...
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