History books: recommendations needed

I like to read a lot about Russian history. Check out Robert K. Massie's stuff. He has a bio on Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, and Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov. Nicholas and Alexandra is my favorite one.

He also wrote something called The Romanovs:The Final Chapter. It's about the aftermath of the assassination of the Romanov family, all the imposters who claimed they were the children who really survived(most famously Anastasia), and the conclusive DNA tests eventually done.

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege
A People's Tradgedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924
The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
The Romanovs: Autocrats of all the Russians(deals with 1613-1917 mostly)

You can also get quite a bit of info about life from Russian fiction, particularly the 19th century greats. Tolstoy(bit of a long-winded mother fucker, though), Dostoevsky, Gogol, Chekhov, Etc.
 
American history-there are a lot of great bios out there on the 1870-1945 period.

The T Roosevelt trilogy by Edmund Morris
JD Rockefellar by Ron Chernow

are particularly good.
 
I thought American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America was pretty good.

It's written from a yankee perspective, but it's a worthwhile read.
 
Massie's bio of Peter the Great is awesome.

Frankly, I'd also read War and Peace for a taste of Russia. I quite enjoyed it.
 
For American history, The Social Transformation of American Medicine.
 
I'm currently reading The Revolution Betrayed by Trotsky and am really enjoying it. I'm not sure how dry or academic you wish the literature to be, but it does provide unique insight into Russia's history.
 
on Russian history I can recommend the top classical Russian historians, but I'm unsure if they've all been translated. All give the general overview of Russia's history. There are tons of sources I can provide for detailed historical aspects of Russia's life, stuff like agriculture, cartography, religious specifics, for example. PM if you need a list of works and many authors, European, American and Russian, old and new sources. Most deal with 18th century and Imperial Russia (little on Soviet and ancient Rus stuff). (I took a graduate class on Russian history at a top university and was born and raised in Russia). These are the main "classical" authors.

Karamzin, Sergei Solovyov, Tatishchev, Klyuchevsky, Kostomarov (Russian-Ukrainian).

on Soviet-Afghan War I can recommend "Afgantsy" by Rodric Braithwaite. crazy.


on USA, I can recommend the Oxford History of the United States series. Heavy books of almost 1000 pages each. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by R. Middlekauff is good but very detailed.. if you're not a consistent reader, its easy to mix up the many details, names and dates
 
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TBH................................none are entirely accurate. Earth history has been ego driven thus can't be relied upon to be reliable. I suggest studying time period, overall education level of people accumulated during that time, if they were actually portrayed accurately or if a bit of exaggeration. Most historic figures were not accurately portrayed majority wise, events however I will say 50/50. It's a fun trek seeking out the truth about history. :icon_lol:
 
TBH................................none are entirely accurate. Earth history has been ego driven thus can't be relied upon to be reliable. I suggest studying time period, overall education level of people accumulated during that time, if they were actually portrayed accurately or if a bit of exaggeration. Most historic figures were not accurately portrayed majority wise, events however I will say 50/50. It's a fun trek seeking out the truth about history. :icon_lol:

its called historiography. from what I remember, there are several approaches, but the major ones are basically objectivity exists vs objectivity is bullshit (postmodernist vs modernist if I'm not mistaken). :redface: so the so-called "truth" might be bullshit and non-existent, even if we have the facts/evidence.


Edit: oh yea, the mandatory Giorgio Tsoukalos in every history-related thread :lol:

tumblr_lpz9wf7mPp1qhel3co1_400.jpg
 
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I've got a giant ass college history book on Ukraine (mostly Kievan Rus).

I never read it, but my professor said its one of the best histories of that country in the English language.
 
its called historiography. from what I remember, there are several approaches,

That's correct, and anyone who is genuinely interested in history beyond the confines of popularism will appreciate exploring the different schools such as:

Annales School
Comparative (which is what I have my PhD in)
Post Modernist
Counterfactual
Revisionist
Deconstruction
Marxist
History from below
Micro history
Whig
New Left
Feminist

There are scores more but these remain the most popular/accessible.
 
Why read about history when you could watch The History Channel?
In brief: because reading is faster and allows you access to actual good material.

Also, Burton's post is gold. I'm going to check out a few of those myself.

TBH................................none are entirely accurate. Earth history has been ego driven thus can't be relied upon to be reliable.
Earth history? As opposed to?
 
im no expert on these matters but i read quite a lot of history books, from an english POV some ones i've enjoyed are:

for the medieval period of England and france i would recommend the excellent "A Distant Mirror" by Barbara Tuchman, it covers the 100 years war, the black death, papal schism and much more. Also by Barbara Tuchman "The Guns of August" which covers the the causes of and opening month of ww1 is awesome.

im currently reading "The Norman Conquest" by Marc Morris, very good so far and the Norman invasion is one of, if not the, most important event in English history.

"Lancaster and York" by Alison Weir which is about the Wars of the Roses.

"The Great Game" by Peter Hopkirk which is about the political and strategic shenanigans between the British empire and Russia for control of central asia in the 19th century. This may sound dry but most of it is about British and Russian spies disguising themselves as natives and going on crazy missions in the Himalayas and central asian deserts.

"In Search of the Dark Ages" by Michael Wood, good intro into dark ages Britain covering the main figures from the roman invasion until the normans.

a bit of a leftfield suggestion but if you are interested in the British Empire in the 19th century you might like the "Flashman" novels by George Macdonald Fraser. They are very well researched and you can learn a lot about the famous events and people of the era in a very funny and easy to read manner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flashman_Papers

wow is there any books about Britain you havent read ?
 
Some serious gold in this thread, by the looks of it. Thanks to each and everyone who replied. And I'm still open for advice.

Some of you are far more learned than me, and while I do appreciate recommendations for books that really go in depth about a particular topic (e.g. communism in America during WW2), I am primarily looking for books with a perspective spanning several centuries. There are so many hugely significant events and periods in history of which I am only vaguely aware. I feel like I need to know a bit more width before I can delve deeper in one particular area.

TBH................................none are entirely accurate. Earth history has been ego driven thus can't be relied upon to be reliable. I suggest studying time period, overall education level of people accumulated during that time, if they were actually portrayed accurately or if a bit of exaggeration. Most historic figures were not accurately portrayed majority wise, events however I will say 50/50. It's a fun trek seeking out the truth about history. :icon_lol:
Well, first I need to find out who this Napoleon guy was, who people keep harping on about. Then I'll worry about whether he was really as short as people say he was.

That's correct, and anyone who is genuinely interested in history beyond the confines of popularism will appreciate exploring the different schools such as:
Annales School
Comparative (which is what I have my PhD in)
Post Modernist
Counterfactual
Revisionist
Deconstruction
Marxist
History from below
Micro history
Whig
New Left
Feminist
There are scores more but these remain the most popular/accessible.
As a newly educated history teacher for junior high school, my knowledge of these schools is sorely lacking, and I especially appreciate this post.
 
Some serious gold in this thread, by the looks of it. Thanks to each and everyone who replied. And I'm still open for advice.

Some of you are far more learned than me, and while I do appreciate recommendations for books that really go in depth about a particular topic (e.g. communism in America during WW2), I am primarily looking for books with a perspective spanning several centuries. There are so many hugely significant events and periods in history of which I am only vaguely aware. I feel like I need to know a bit more width before I can delve deeper in one particular area.

If that's the case, there are a handful of books I mentioned that span a few centuries.

Additionally, the books below span several centuries, and grad students often use them to study broadly for their generals / oral examinations. They're neatly broken out thematically (domestic politics, culture, society, economics, international politics, imperialism, etc.) which allows the reader to skip to sections in which you're interested.

You'd appreciate T.C.W. Blanning's stuff:

The Seventeenth Century: Europe 1598-1715

The Eighteenth Century: Europe 1688-1815

The Nineteenth Century: Europe 1789-1914

Europe 1900-1945

The Rise and Fall of the French Revolution

The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern Europe (this is great for pictures you can use for in class slideshows)
 
start with undergrad text books. Check out reading lists from your local university. Will provide a solid overview.
 
I've previously read Howard Zinn's "A people's history of the United States", a somewhat controversial history book that attempts to tell history from the view of "the people". In other words, I'm not necessarily looking for regular schoolbooks, although I am open for those as well. If you can recommend an interesting history book with a particular perspective, I'm all ears.

I just finished "A People's History of the United States".

I had heard of the Ludlow Massacre, but FFS, I was enraged when reading the details.

The Farmer's Alliance, and IWW, were very informative stories, in how we could possibly move forward.

I thought I knew a bit about our labor history, until I started down some of these rabbit holes.

This book also forced me to start reading about Eugene V Debbs(Bernie Sanders is a fan), and let's say I am somewhat militant in my view for a need for worker co-ops today, after reading these two sources.
 
Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning gives great insight into the German mindset during WW2

I highly reccomend it
 
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