Historical Book Recomendation Thread

[CivCube]

Well, when I first started reading about Assyria, I read a book called "The Might That Was Assyria" by H.W.F. Saggs. It was extremely informative. But it's also a bit dense. I literally never finished it. I got through the more or less political history, the early settlements, their time under the rule of others, their rise to power, administration of their empire, and their fall, but there was a whole second half of the book devoted to every day life, their social norms and interactions, etc. I never even got to that part.

I'm sure there's a more accessible book than that one, but I'm not sure it's possible to find a better source overall.

ETA: Saggs has a book called "Civilization Before Greece and Rome" that I got for free somewhere and never had a chance to read. I suspect it'll be more useful as a broad picture of Mesopotamia as a whole.

Thanks. I found one he wrote on the Babylonians on Amazon. Looking forward to reading it.

 

[Leoreth]

I'm looking for a good book on the Congress of Vienna. Any recommendations?

 

[Phrossack]

Any good books on the Taiping Rebellion? Dachs seems to have some knowledge of it, so I'm sure they're out there.

 

[Azale]

Any good books on the Taiping Rebellion? Dachs seems to have some knowledge of it, so I'm sure they're out there.

The best one I've heard about is fairly expensive: The Taiping Revolutionary Movement

The best I have read is by Jonathan Spence, always a good bet on English-language Chinese history: God's Chinese Son

Spence's book focuses heavily on the origins of the movement and Hong Xiuquan himself, but does carry itself through the course of the rebellion to its end.

 

[History_Buff]

Any good books on the Taiping Rebellion? Dachs seems to have some knowledge of it, so I'm sure they're out there.

I saw one in my local bookstore not too long ago called Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. It looked sweet and I bought it, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

 

[Dachs]

Autumn is sort of designed to dovetail with God's Chinese Son. It doesn't focus much on the origins of the Taiping movement, or even its initial establishment in the Chang Jiang basin. Instead, it uses several PoV characters to analyze the reaction to the Taiping by the Qing, the British, the Americans, and so on, and for looking at the Heavenly Kingdom itself it focuses on the story of Hong Rengan, not Hong Xiuquan.

 

[Phrossack]

Well, that's bad news. I'm not ready to spend a hundred dollars on a book I'll read once or twice, and the other books don't seem too good.

 

[Joecoolyo]

That's why you rent

 

[Dachs]

I thought they were pretty enjoyable and informative, actually.

And you can just get The Taiping Revolutionary Movement through, like, interlibrary loan or something.

 

[Phrossack]

I thought they were pretty enjoyable and informative, actually.

And you can just get The Taiping Revolutionary Movement through, like, interlibrary loan or something.

Oh yeah. Good idea, I'll have to try it.

 

[mayor]

I have to write an essay for a class (Global History) in the theme 'military revolution and state-building' or what the influence military revolutons (revolutions within the military as in new weapons, bigger armies as opposed to against the government) had of state-building. With as basic principle war=taxes=state (or state=taxes=war)

My specific subject will be concerning the question what the influence of the Swiss mercenary system was on the state building of Switzerland.
I do have found some literature concercing this subject, but most are only indirect linked with this subject. Because of that I am not yet secure in the knowledge that I posses enough accurate/specific information/sources to write a quality essay. Therefor my question: do any of you have tips concerning literature on this subject?

Ps. I currently don't have my list of literature at hand so I'll post that later .

 

[ace99]

Just do Janissaries and call it a day brah.

 

[Dachs]

Yeah, I don't believe that the Swiss in this period are well served in the English (or Dutch?) literature. You picked a pretty grody topic.

Part of the problem is the nettlesome connection between the employment of large-scale Swiss forces by other states and the development of the Confederation and its institutions. Even if you found literature temporally suited to the topic, I doubt it would actually cover a development akin to the classical formulation of the Military Revolution.

 

[mayor]

German literature would be allright too

But yeah, I'm afraid you're right. In the end I might find that I should keep this topic for when I'm a slightly more advanced historian I'm not giving up though, I chose this particular subject because I expected it to pose a challenge..

 

[Saxony]

Any recomendations on books regarding ancient flags and the history of flags and/or heraldics?

 

[Phrossack]

Anything good out there in English on a history of Brittany? Especially from the beginning years to the 17th/19th centuries.

 

[Phrossack]

Or better yet, something on the Swiss Confederacy, Charles the Bold, and the Burgundian Wars?

 

[Phrossack]

I hate to triple-post, but what ever happened to this thread?

 

[History_Buff]

Don't know. But I just bought 1491, China Marches West, Battlecry of Freedom and Strachan's First World War, so it's working.

Now to find time to read them...

 

[Antilogic]

I hate to triple-post, but what ever happened to this thread?

The book threads have a habit of falling off the front page, I think because it takes a long time to read books, there is some lag between a recommendation and acquiring the book much less reading it. Not to mention the level of conversation varies widely from hard-hitting analysis to banal tavern stuff.

Don't know. But I just bought 1491, China Marches West, Battlecry of Freedom and Strachan's First World War, so it's working.

Now to find time to read them...

Good choices, good sir.