Good read?

[frenzyfol]

Hey guys,
I just finished reading Thucydides and Guns, Germs Steal. Both were great reads and I highly recommend them if your interested in history. Can anyone likewise recommend a good book on a similar topic??

[Kinjiru]

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Kennedy:

http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Great-Powers/dp/0679720197

For an interesting take on personal power, I really like:
The Power Broker by Caro - skip the whole growing up section at the start though. It only gets interesting when Robert Moses begins to take on roles in the city

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394720245

[guermantes]

Originally posted by Kinjiru
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Kennedy

Well yes, but it does get a bit tedious with all the statistics all the time (and I'm a political scientist so I am even used to reading non-fiction prose). But of course, it is a good read, just keep in mind it is very much focused on economic and military power and pretty much neglects the softer versions of power that come in the form of ideas and ideology as well as the crucial role of perceptions in political history.

[Brutus66]

You should do a search of the forums for Jared Diamond or Guns Germs and Steel- some good titles mentioned in those discussions.

[VtG]

I've recently enjoyed:

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Soldiers & Ghosts by J.E. Lendon

and am currently reading The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather