Post and discussion about any type of history book.
>Mark Twain by Ron Chernow>Before he was Mark Twain, he was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in 1835, the man who would become Americaโs first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Twain went west to the Nevada Territory and accepted a job at a local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humor. It wasnโt long before the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance, writing under a pen name that he would immortalize.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219158332-mark-twain
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>>24534219
In Flanders Fields: Passchendaele 1917 by Leon Wolff
>In this account of the Flanders campaign, Leon Wolff graphically describes the whole terrible from Haig's initial plan; his determination to carry it out despite constant opposition from the Cabinet and the muddle of doubts and disagreement among the military staff; through the early stages of the 'great offensive'; and to the scene of the battle itself - the Flanders fields which will 'forever haunt Western civilization'.
>Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Shลwa of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1494804.Hirohito_and_the_Making_of_Modern_Japan
Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization by Richard Miles
>The devastating struggle to the death between Rome and Carthage was one of the bloodiest dramas of the Ancient World.
>In an epic series of battles, both mighty empires vied for supremacy of the Mediterranean before the Carthaginians finally buckled and their great capital city was razed to the ground, burning for 6 days and nights, its inhabitants slaughtered or enslaved.
>Carthage Must Be Destroyed tells the story of this lost empire - from its origins in Lebanon to its apotheosis as the greatest sea-power of its age - and brings to life legendary figures such as the military genius Hannibal, who almost toppled Roman power, but would ultimately lead to his people to disaster.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/141536270-carthage-must-be-destroyed
looks like you picked a more attentiony op image last time, or something. anyway, i really like this book. i read it years ago and then bought it again from a thrift store cause i'd forgotten i had it. it seemed familiar when i started reading it, but i just assumed i'd read excerpts on wikipedia or something...but then i was like ok i definitely have read this before and then eventually found it on my shelf. it was a hardcover and the 2nd was a paperback copy so that's probably why i didnt recognize it as something i had from the cover.
>>24593197 (OP)What is the best Abraham Lincoln biography? Hopefully one that isn't overt hagiography.
>>24596549There Was Light for his character and early life, Team of Rivals for his leadership qualities and a primer on the Civil War
>>24596549A series not a book but the Concise Lincoln series is several short, topic-centered volumes on specific aspects of Lincoln or issues he dealt with. Its great if you want to know about a particular area of his life.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/80264-concise-lincoln-library
>>24594450I have this book and its well narrated. It does show the interaction carthage/the phoenicians had with the other peoples of the mediterranean
I can't read shit about the ancient world desu it's just so detached from what life is today. I feel like our age begins with world war 1 and everything before that is impossible to relate to.
>Want a good book about Aztec sacrificial practices
>Get a copy of City of Sacrifice because it's one of the highest recommended books on the subject supposedly
>It's absolute, utter dogshit.
*SIGH* into the trash it goes.
>>24597091Maybe read Plato? I find that discussions tend to be more engaging for anybody. Though I canโt really help with it otherwise, I hate modern history because of how partisan and frankly boring it is. Exact opposite problem, itโs too close to today to be meaningful history
>>24597091There are plenty of good books about the ancient world out there. Have you read David Howarth?
Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal
>Henry Morton Stanley, so the tale goes, was a cruel imperialist who connived with King Leopold II of Belgium in horrific crimes against the people of the Congo. He also conducted the most legendary celebrity interview in history, opening with, โDr. Livingstone, I presume?โ But these perceptions are not quite true, as Tim Jeal shows in this biography. With unprecedented access to previously closed Stanley family archives, Jeal reveals the extent to which Stanleyโs public career and intimate life have been misunderstood and undervalued.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1724560.Stanley
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Impossible-Africas-Greatest-Explorer-ebook/dp/B00267SW32
Above the Ground: A True Story of the Troubles in Northern Ireland by Dan Lawton
>the true story of the murder of British prison official Albert Miles by Irish Republican Army assassins and the best efforts of former IRA men and the British government to keep hidden the secrets of their dirty war during the Troubles in Northern Ireland
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214982976-above-the-ground
https://www.amazon.com/Above-Ground-Troubles-Northern-Ireland-ebook/dp/B0D7F8PWJX
>>24593705Anybody got a good book on the history of the monarchy in Japan like pic related, a one volume, or several volumes on the history of the monarchy.
>>24593197 (OP)Shit I just saw this thread. Anyone read picrel before? I just got a copy.
>>24598819Can someone recommend this fella something better? I'm interested too
>>24593197 (OP)Is Picrel a good book on the less covered aspects of the German Government during the third Reich?
Also, do you guys have any reccs for good books about German post war projects in the east, Urban rebuilding of cities, etc?
I'm researching something.
>>24596283I love this book too
>>24593197 (OP)Best biography of Paul Revere or a book that details his ride.
anyone familiar with this? worth adding to the books-to-read list?
>>24599940Shit forgot picrel before going to sleep.
It's time for /history/ to take the anglopill
Peasants vs. capitalistic farmers:
- The peasant "owner" cannot legally sell family land without permission of children
- A peasant must divide land equally between children; there is no real last will and testament
- Peasants marry young, have children young, and use the children for farm work
- Multiple generations live in the same household
- Poor subsistence farmers
Capitalistic farmers:
- A living man has no heirs and can buy and sell land freely
- An Englishman was free to give his children as much or as little as he wanted, meaning they were at risk of being disinherited if they disappointed him, but land must never be divided; it has to go to only one heir
- Englishmen married late and hired labor instead of using their own children for work; this led to a cash economy
- The nuclear family was the norm as far back as records go
- Rich market traders
tl;dr:
> The English have never been peasants as far as records can reliably show, going back as far as ~1250, according to "The Origins of English Individualism"
>>24600958The accounts of foreign views of Englishmen are great as well
From the account of Emmanual Van Meteren, Antwerp merchant
>"The people are not so laborious and industrious as the Netherlanders or French, as they lead for the most part an indolent life...They keep many lazy servants, and also many wild animals for their pleasure, rather than trouble themselves to cultivate the land...The people are bold, courgaeous, ardent and cruel in war, fiery in attack and having little fear of death; they are not vindictive, but very inconstant, vainglorious, light and deceiving, and very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise."From a Venetian Vistor in the 1400s
>Agriculture is not practised in this island beyond what is required for the consumption of the people ; because were they to plough and sow all the land that was capable of cultivation, they might sell a quantity of grain to the surrounding countries. This negligence is, however, atoned for, by an immense profusion of every comestible animal, such as stags, goats, fallow-deer, hares, rabbits, pigs, and an infinity of oxen, which have much larger horns than ours, which proves the mildness of the climate, as horns cannot bear excessive cold ; whence, according to Strabo, in some northern countries, the cattle are without horns. But above all, they have an enormous number of sheep, (6) which yield them quantities of wool of the best quality
>>24600954Well at least it's going to be good for learning a bit about the historeography of the Nazis.
mark sykes was a dumbass lol
and franรงois georges-picot was literally the stereotype of the arrogant frenchman
>>24600958>this led to a cash economy
>>24600958>The English have never been peasants as far as records can reliably showhow is englishman defined here? norman nobility? anglo saxon? celts?
>>24601057Are you retarded? Everyone but you knows what an Englishman is.
>"Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany" by Isabel V. Hull, explores how the Imperial German Army's military culture, characterized by a focus on absolute destruction of the enemy, led to extreme violence and atrocities, including the near-extermination of the Herero people in German Southwest Africa and ultimately, contributed to the devastation of World War I.
"Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931-1945" by Richard Overy reinterprets World War II as the culmination of a century of global imperial expansion, where nations like Germany, Japan, and Italy sought to challenge the existing imperial order. Overy argues that the war's origins lie in the "New Order" states' ambitions for territorial control and resources, mirroring the earlier scramble for colonies. The book expands the traditional timeline, beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and emphasizes the global nature of the conflict, including the Asian theater and the war's impact on the imperial system itself.
>Female author writes a history book about ancient civilization
>Chapter about how women were poorly treated in said ancient civilization
This is exactly why I don't read history books if the author is a woman.
>>24601085why can't you just answer the question though?
>>24601980I mean, so long as it's accurate and everything else is good, who cares about their inclusions of private indulgences and personal flights of fancies?
>>24601405I was always interested in military and political culture, thanks
>>24601980I was reading a history of Quebec and several chapters were devoted to "the role of women" and "the empowerment of women" and it's at that moment how desperate this writer (and perhaps Canadian men in general) was/were for nice guy simp points.
>>24602512So I guess there's nothing wrong them being a 51st state after all.
>>24597091Really? Isnโt it fascinating that the ancients were so similar to us? Petty intrigues, trying to figure out the world with early natural philosophy, the seasonal feasting, the battles about meaning and gods (read some early skeptics and itโs like stepping into atheist debates today). Sure, the casual acceptance of slavery or set social classes can feel alien, but itโs not that far removed from us. Indentured servitude was with us through the agricultural revolution. Industrial society created new horrors of exploitation. In that sense youโre right that it looks more familiar past the world wars. Similar politics, values. But the fundamental humanity doesnโt really change. We do ourselves a disservice playing up the differences.
Go read some roman graffiti and tomb dedications to animals and they feel very similar again. Go look at the artifacts from games, dice, dolls. Even the earliest finds from Sumeria have board games. The flood tablets have the same Noahโs ark story predating israelites that most of the world pretends to believe in still.
Much of the alienation comes from the sources being primarily rich fuck concerns. Like if all that was left of today was Elon Musk tweets about brain chips and Zuck talking VR and people thought thatโs what everyone was concerned with in our era.
>>24601980Iโve found one woman who actually makes the woman focus interesting. She was on that experimental archaeology historical show as well. Different books cover different eras and you get a surprising amount of insight into life from how household chores are set up. What changes (like coal in this case) and oven technology do to reorient society. The first sparks of a textile industry changing everything is something you sort of get in regular history, but the changes between woodcutting to coal for heating and cooking, or washing technologies enabling new types of clothes and hygiene standards is pretty interesting.
If youโre not interested in the book check out the show, it covers both the home and daily work life.
>>24596549Ronald White's A. Lincoln
>>24593197 (OP)Good books on Ancient American Indian culture?
>>24602798The Indian Heritage Of America
>>24593197 (OP)Best modern Roman historian?
>>24602960Adrian Goldsworthy, Anthony Everitt and Peter Heather.
>In the summer of 1914 Europe exploded into a frenzy of mass violence. The war that followed had global repercussions, destroying four empires and costing millions of lives. Even the victorious countries were scarred for a generation, and we still today remain within the conflict's shadow. In this major analysis David Stevenson re-examines the causes, course and impact of this 'war to end war', placing it in the context of its era and exposing its underlying dynamics. His book provides a wide-ranging international history, drawing on insights from the latest research. It offers compelling answers to the key questions about how this terrible struggle unfolded: questions that remain disturbingly relevant for our own time.
>>24601057English society as a whole
Books on modernization, industrialization of states and Stalin's reign?
>>24593197 (OP)Best History of the Byzantine monarchs?
>This book explores Africa's involvement in the Atlantic world from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. It focuses especially on the causes and consequences of the slave trade, in Africa, in Europe, and in the New World. Prior to 1680, Africa's economic and military strength enabled African elites to determine how trade with Europe developed. Thornton examines the dynamics that made slaves so necessary to European colonizers. He explains why African slaves were placed in significant roles. Estate structure and demography affected the capacity of slaves to form a self-sustaining society and behave as cultural actors. This second edition contains a new chapter on eighteenth century developments.
>>24596283in the last thread I posted fifteen reccs and took a personal interest in the thread thriving but now I am gripped by malaise and can't summon the wherwithal
History is good thoughever, read history
>>24603709R.W. Davies ''The Industrialization of the Soviet Union'' is pretty much considered the paramount text in academic circles; it's 7 volumes and it covers a decade (1929 to 1939)
>>24605174Looks pretty decent, thanks
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, WHAT'S THE BEST BOOK ABOUT THE MOTHERFUCKING AZTECS!?! ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO THEIR FUCKING SACRAFICIAL PRACTICES!? I DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT THE FAGGOT MAYA OR THE FAGGOT INCA!!!!
>Exploring the rise and fall of global power from the mid-nineteenth century, this book tracks the long and interrelated trajectories of the most serious challenges facing the world today. Although at first the urgency of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 seemed to take precedence over other global problems such as socioeconomic inequality and climate change, it has ultimately exacerbated these issues and created opportunities to address them boldly and innovatively. A Brief History of Now provides a birdโs-eye view of world hegemony, economic globalization and political regimes as they have evolved and developed over the last two hundred years, providing context and insights into the forces which have shaped the Western world. Presented in an accessible and engaging narrative, the book addresses key contemporary challenges and explores the repercussions of a technological revolution, the potential instability of democracy over the coming years, and the urgent struggle to tackle climate change. With his book, Diego Olstein helps to answer pressing questions about our world today and provides a roadmap for analysing future trajectories.
>>24603791Norwich.
He is also utterly outdated
>>24606014Then what's more up to date?
>>24593197 (OP)Good papal history that goes into the personal ideologies of the separate popes?
>Mustafa Kemal Atatรผrk was virtually unknown until 1919, when he took the lead in thwarting the victorious Allies' plan to partition the Turkish core of the Ottoman Empire. He divided the Allies, defeated the last Sultan, and secured the territory of the Turkish national state, becoming the first president of the new republic in 1923, fast creating his own legend.Andrew Mango's revealing portrait of Atatรผrk throws light on matters of great importance today-resurgent nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and the reality of democracy.
Sparta's Third Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 413-404 BC by Paul Rahe
>When the great war pitting the Athenians against the Peloponnesians first erupted, Pericles told his compatriots that, if they kept up their navy, focused on the conflict at hand, and refrained from wasting their resources on ulterior objects, they would "win through" โ and Thucydides believed him. After Pericles' death, however, to the historianโs dismay, the Athenians pursued risky adventures tangential to their struggle with the Spartans and their allies; and, in Sicily, thanks in large part to domestic strife, they squandered not one, but two great armadas. Then, in the aftermath of that catastrophe, they found themselves bereft of triremes and short of manpower โ as a coalition formed against them including their Lacedaemonians rivals, their longtime allies in the Aegean, and the Great King of Achaemenid Persia.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207589187-sparta-s-third-attic-war
>>24602600>be me>new private in the US Army >First Sergeant (E-8) conducts a room inspection with my section chief (E-6)>1SG sees this book in my room>demands to know if I'm taking college courses>no>1SG says go ask my chief why I'm not enrolled in college>okay>chief smokes the dogshit out of me while 1SG laughs>gotta love the ArmyGood book though.
>>24605438It's fiction but Aztec by Gary Jennings is absolutely brutal and unforgettable. A truly epic novel that will teach you everything about the Aztecs.
>>24607414Any more good grand strategy/history hybrid books?
>>24602798Book of the hopi by frank waters, really doesn't get much better
>>24608114The guy who wrote this teaches at Yale.
i've been looking for some books for a while about napoleon, specifically about his psychology before and after the invasion of russia
it's the strangest thing, the way he behaved before russia is almost like he was a different person when it came to planning and execution of those plans, to the point that he was making amateur mistakes that he literally warned people not to make earlier in his career
what changed in his head? anybody got anything?
>>24608283I strongly recommend his memoirs from his exile.
>>24607793I was eyeballing that recently desu
>>24608511You'll love it.
>>24593197 (OP)>chernowI remember reading his Washington biography and laughing when he basically wrote โthe institution of slavery is a vile, disgusting institution in which Washington unfortunately participated. It was obviously wrong. BUTโฆ Washington was a very *good* slave owner :3โ
Iโm patriotic, but itโs sometimes silly how much we lionize these people.
>>24608532Added to which, it's not some sanitized feel-good account, it's the Aztecs in all their brutality and their glory. Parts of this will make you put the book down in awe and disgust.
>>24608552what do you find wrong with that statement?
>>24608552>his Washington biographyThat book is very much hagiography. Not nearly as good as his books about Hamilton and Grant.
This is the best book I've ever read on the Civil War.
>>24608800The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom is a great appendix to it. Removes around 10% of the main text in favor of photos and captions. Both very well worth reading.
https://www.youtube.com/@PredictiveHistory/videos
>>24608571Wrong? Probably nothing. But it was funny.
Enjoyed the dry description of how the world was up to the section where she seethes at Marx's opium of the masses quote. The last part about modernity just reads like yes the European liberal steady state will continue forever.
>>24609583this is the lady that went on about rural zoroastrians
old grumpy lady named crone hehe
>Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin is a 2010 book by Yale historian Timothy Snyder. It is about mass murders committed before and during World War II in territories controlled by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
>>24593197 (OP)Looking for a list of the best historiography
Any books for the history of botany or something similar? Plants biology or ecology? I enjoyed Alexander von Humboldt selected writings from Everyman's library something like that would be nice.
>>24610800You talking about the science of botany, or environmental history? This is one of the better environmental histories I've read.
>This book explores the links among ecology, disease, and international politics in the context of the Greater Caribbean - the landscapes lying between Surinam and the Chesapeake - in the seventeenth through early twentieth centuries. Ecological changes made these landscapes especially suitable for the vector mosquitoes of yellow fever and malaria, and these diseases wrought systematic havoc among armies and would-be settlers. Because yellow fever confers immunity on survivors of the disease, and because malaria confers resistance, these diseases played partisan roles in the struggles for empire and revolution, attacking some populations more severely than others. In particular, yellow fever and malaria attacked newcomers to the region, which helped keep the Spanish Empire Spanish in the face of predatory rivals in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In the late eighteenth and through the nineteenth century, these diseases helped revolutions to succeed by decimating forces sent out from Europe to prevent them.
>>24611344>In this groundbreaking work, William Cronon gives us an environmental perspective on the history of nineteenth-century America. By exploring the ecological and economic changes that made Chicago America's most dynamic city and the Great West its hinterland, Mr. Cronon opens a new window onto our national past. This is the story of city and country becoming ever more tightly bound in a system so powerful that it reshaped the American landscape and transformed American culture. The world that emerged is our own.
>For most people Bismarck is the man of "blood and iron"; he coined the phrase himself and he lived up to it. But he was much more; he had an itellectual ascendancy over all the politicians of his day, and his superiority was acknowledged not only by his own people, but by all European statesmen.
The unification of Germany, the defeat of Austria, the fall of the Second Empire, the defeat of France, the alliance of the German Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy, the dismemberment of Denmarkโthese are his most obvious achievements; no less important was the transformation in the national consciousness of the German people, for which Bismarck was also responsible. Dr. Eyck has analyzed not only the personality but also the accomplishments of a statesman whose influence on Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century was more far-reaching than that of any other man in his time.
This edition contains minor corrections and a new foreword by the author's son Frank Eyck, also a nineteenth-century historian, evaluating some of the important publications in the field since the book appeared and illuminating his father's attitude to Bismarck.
The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II by Edvard Radzinsky
>Tsar Nicholas II was executed under mysterious circumstances by Russian revolutionaries in 1918. Using diaries, letters, testimonies, and thorough research in the Russian state archives, Radzinsky reconstructs this murder and sketches the life of the last Romanov.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1544176.The_Last_Tsar
4630
md5: d2fc439ded7cbdf919f6644fa8835d89
๐
Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman
>Salzman captures post-cultural revolution China through his adventures as a young American English teacher in China and his shifu-tudi (master-student) relationship with China's foremost martial arts teacher.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/899609.Iron_Silk
I've read Ancient Iraq from Georges Roux and got Assyria from Eckart Frahm. Any other rec to complete those two?
>>24612527Honestly that's a pretty good two for an idea of ancient Mesopotamia. Brotherhood of Kings is my personal favourite, it's about letters in the Ancient Near East, turns out ancient kings are also very petty and passive aggressive to each other. Warriors of Anatolia: A Concise History of the Hittites is also nice, it's a book with short sections explaining one bit each
>>24612755Brotherhood of kings could be nice not sure about the other thank you Anon.
China
md5: 0873524b48b84b4836918d9b031f2a35
๐
>Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the recent economic transformation of the country. Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.
The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin by Jonathan Phillips
>In 1187, Saladin marched triumphantly into Jerusalem, ending decades of struggle against the Christians and reclaiming the holy city for Islam. Four years later he fought off the armies of the Third Crusade, which were commanded by Europeโs leading monarchs. A fierce warrior and savvy diplomat, Saladinโs unparalleled courtesy, justice, generosity, and mercy were revered by both his fellow Muslims and his Christian rivals such as Richard the Lionheart.
>Published Yale University Press
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44174507-the-life-and-legend-of-the-sultan-saladin
>Colonial America: A History to 1763, 4th Edition provides updated and revised coverage of the background, founding, and development of the thirteen English North American colonies.
Fully revised and expanded fourth edition, with updated bibliography
Includes new coverage of the simultaneous development of French, Spanish, and Dutch colonies in North America, and extensively re-written and updated chapters on families and women
Features enhanced coverage of the English colony of Barbados and trans-Atlantic influences on colonial development
Provides a greater focus on the perspectives of Native Americans and their influences in shaping the development of the colonies
>>24593197 (OP)Whittaker Chambers: A Biography by Sam Tanenhaus
>Primarily known as the accuser of Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers was a commanding, complex figure who was center stage during many of the public events of his time, yet remained intensely private. This book covers Chambers' personal life, as well as his emergence as a dominant voice in the postwar ant-Communist movement.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1070642.Whittaker_Chambers
>>24601980>Blocks your path
>>24613915The Crusades, 1095-1204 by Jonathan Phillips
>covers the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, along with greater coverage of the Muslim response to the Crusades from the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 to Saladinโs leadership of the counter-crusade, culminating in his struggle with Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade. It also examines the complex motives of the Italian city states during the conquest of the Levant, as well as relations between the Frankish settlers and the indigenous population, both Eastern Christian and Muslim, in times of war and peace.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18316103-the-crusades-1095-1204
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