ParkCungHee
Deity
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Anyone know a good history of the Norse, especially one that puts them in a larger European/Global context?
History_Buff
Deity
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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.
Good choices, good sir.
I was trying to find Alexander to Actium, Byzantine State and Society, and Transformation of European Politics at the same time, but no good. Then I'd have the full set of CFC WH books.
Petiscator
King
Hey guys! First time on this section of the forums. Nice thread.
So, two questions:
1. Does anybody know about a good Australian history book? It doesn't have to be too specific. My history teacher was looking for something about Australia, and here in Brazil I've never seen anything about the history of Oceania, so... Well, he is a great friend of mine and I wish I could help. Any recommendations?
2. What do you guys know/think about "Romanovs: Europe's Most Obsessive Dynasty", by Oliver Thomson? I fancy a lot learning about Russian history, so I was thinking to get this book as a birthday gift (yes, to myself). Any good or bad opinions?
Thanks for your time!
So, two questions:
1. Does anybody know about a good Australian history book? It doesn't have to be too specific. My history teacher was looking for something about Australia, and here in Brazil I've never seen anything about the history of Oceania, so... Well, he is a great friend of mine and I wish I could help. Any recommendations?
2. What do you guys know/think about "Romanovs: Europe's Most Obsessive Dynasty", by Oliver Thomson? I fancy a lot learning about Russian history, so I was thinking to get this book as a birthday gift (yes, to myself). Any good or bad opinions?
Thanks for your time!
sophie
Break My Heart
2. What do you guys know/think about "Romanovs: Europe's Most Obsessive Dynasty", by Oliver Thomson? I fancy a lot learning about Russian history, so I was thinking to get this book as a birthday gift (yes, to myself). Any good or bad opinions?
Thanks for your time!
Haven't read the book but: He's written several other books on Early Modern Monarchies (The Bourbons and the Stuarts in addition to the Romanovs). I haven't found any sort of biography on him. He doesn't seem to be an academic because nothing is showing up on google, or if he is, he isn't a particularly prominent one. The wide diversity of topics makes me uneasy. It's not common to find a guy who is an expert in the Bourbons (meaning he reads French, possibly Italian, possibly Spanish/German) and the Romanovs (meaning he reads at least Russian, and possible some other Eastern European languages).
The title also sounds very pop-historyish. The tagline is certainly something that would catch the eye of a casual reader. The title isn't necessarily in the hands of the author, so he could be an academic at the mercy of a publisher, but it's not a mainstream academic publisher, and his biography doesn't mention any academic connections.
So my guess would be non-academic pop-history, so be careful and take his writing with a grain of salt.
Petiscator
King
Hey, thanks for the tip! Do you know about any other books on the subject? I've also seen "Last days of the Romanovs", but I wished to learn about it all, and I'm expecting this book to be mostly about Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution... So that's why I was interested in Thomson's book, as it explains about most of the Czars (I think it starts with Ivan IV) and goes all the way to Nicholas II, with maps and photos. Also, I read that each chapter is about a czar, so I liked that too.
Wrymouth3
Emperor
Hey listen, I don't recommend anything by Mr. Thomson. He is the Phillipa Gregory of Russian history, except instead of Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard being some Christ-like heroine, it's Alexandra Romonova or Anna Mons. Your best bet is Riasanovsky for big general overviews. He's an old-school political and military focused historian, and a little behind on current scholarship on Russian history. He still is considered one of the best though.
Petiscator
King
It seems like Thomson doesn't have a good reputation. I'll trust you guys
. Also, I've found this: http://www.amazon.com/A-History-Russia-Combined-Volume/dp/0195153944 . Looks great! Almost the same price and 3x the amount of pages, I looked inside at Amazon and the summary was quite appealing. Perhaps this was what I was looking for. Also, very good reviews on their website. Thanks a lot! Oh, and does any of you know any books about Australian history?
sophie
Break My Heart
It seems like Thomson doesn't have a good reputation. I'll trust you guys
Oh, and does any of you know any books about Australian history?
Yeah, I had to read that for a Russian History class a few years back. It's probably the best English-language broad survey history of Russia you're going to find on the market today.
Wrymouth3
Emperor
It seems like Thomson doesn't have a good reputation. I'll trust you guys
Oh, and does any of you know any books about Australian history?
You've made an excellent choice, Masada or Lord Baal can tell you some good books on Australian history.
The Cambridge History of Australia. You'd would just need to read the first part of book volumes which weighs in at about 700 pages (about half the total length). New Zealand is a little easier because you can just pick up Michael King's fantastic Penguin Press work. The New Oxford History of New Zealand is also really good.
Petiscator
King
Hey, thanks! The Cambridge one seems like exactly what he's looking for. Also, good to have some recommendations on New Zealand! Thanks a lot, Masada, Wrymouth and Owen!
History_Buff
Deity
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- 6,529
It seems like Thomson doesn't have a good reputation. I'll trust you guys
Indeed, Riasanovsky is great. Actually have it sitting beside me right now coincidentally. My copy is my Mom's old Second Edition though, so it stops in 1969. One of these days I need to pick up a more recent edition.
Wrymouth3
Emperor
Hey, thanks! The Cambridge one seems like exactly what he's looking for. Also, good to have some recommendations on New Zealand! Thanks a lot, Masada, Wrymouth and Owen!
No problem, please ask any more questions you may have.
Petiscator
King
Hey, thanks again, everybody. So, another question: has anybody heard of the book "Carthage must be destroyed"? I'm quite interested in Carthage too, and it seems like I can get this book in a few weeks here where I live. So, I came accross something strange: in the book store I'm searching it, there are two versions: one is from Penguin UK publisher and the other one is from Penguin USA publisher. My worries lye on the fact that the UK one is half the price of the USA one. I'm not sure what to think. Perhaps anyone knows any details about this?
I don't know why the UK version of the book would be selling for less. Perhaps it's also an earlier edition? Or maybe it was mislabeled? Not sure.
Carthage Must Be Destroyed is a good book, though. It's pretty solid, one of the best pop-history type books I've read.
Carthage Must Be Destroyed is a good book, though. It's pretty solid, one of the best pop-history type books I've read.
Petiscator
King
It seems like they're both from 2011. The USA one has less specifications on the book than the UK version. I don't see any major difference... One of them is $48 and the other one is $23 (this is after converting from R$112 and R$55, respectively). I'm not willing to pay $48 for this, while I might pay $23, as I'm selling some older stuff I have and might get an extra cash... I'm just worried about the big price on the USA edition. I wonder what's the big difference... for anyone interested, here are the websites:
http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/s...nitem=22359608&sid=89352019415728691915730374
http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/s...nitem=22168950&sid=89352019415728691915730374
They're both brazilian websites, so if anyone sees this and the translator isn't helping, please feel free to ask me. I've found it on amazon for a lower price, but I don't really know how it works. Sorry for bothering you guys again, and thanks for your time
http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/s...nitem=22359608&sid=89352019415728691915730374
http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/s...nitem=22168950&sid=89352019415728691915730374
They're both brazilian websites, so if anyone sees this and the translator isn't helping, please feel free to ask me. I've found it on amazon for a lower price, but I don't really know how it works. Sorry for bothering you guys again, and thanks for your time
History_Buff
Deity
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2001
- Messages
- 6,529
Own it, read it, really enjoyed it.
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