Good history books

[Case]

This is a bit OT*, but I was wondering what everyones favorite history books are.


Personallly. I like reading military history, and my favourite 5 history books are:
1. 'Engage the Enemy More Closely' By Corneli Barret (about the Royal Navy in WW2)
2. 'A Bright Shining Lie' by Neil Sheenhan (about the Vietnam War)
3. 'Stalingrad' by Anthony Beevor
4. 'The Pity of War' by Niall Ferguson (an alternative examination of WW1)
5. 'The Civil War: A Narritive' by Shelby Foote (all three volumes, especially volume two)

Honorable mentions:
'Silent Victory' by Clay Blair (about US Submarines in WW2)
'One Day in a Very Long War' by John Ellis (about the 25th of October 1944)
'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' by William S. Shier



* Mods: think of this as discussion of sources for scenarios

[Marquis de Sodaq]

I understand you refer to war topic history books - 'Hard Times' by Studs Terkel is awesome, but is about the 1930's depression. Otherwise...

'Montyn' by Dirk Ayelt Kooiman - a firsthand account of WW2 trench warfare, Baltic sea minesweeping, the bombing of Dresden, etc. Basically, Jan Montyn should have died a hundred times, but lived to tell a harrowing story. Absolutely riveting.

[Case]

Originally posted by Marquis de Sodaq
I understand you refer to war topic history books

Not necessarily. I'm interested in seing what peoples favorite books coving history are (mine just happen to be military history)

[techumseh]

History of the Second World War by Winston Churchill, the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer, The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David Chandler, Japan's Imperial conspiracy, by David Bergamini, Ten Days That Shook the World, by John Reed.

[Scott F]

Between Two Fires by David Clay Large; an excellent account of some of the more notable events in the 1930s

The Hitler Myth by Ian Kershaw; name says it all--it debunks the Hitler Channel view of Nazi Germany quite well

Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis by Ian Kershaw (anything by Kershaw is worth reading); THE definitive Hitler biography (and this is just part two... I haven't read part one)

The Myth of the Great War by John Mosier; an excellent account of WWI... I don't agree with his conclusions at the end, but he has an excellent grasp of tactics in the war and gives a lot of details into battles on the French section of the front... something that is neglected in English language histories of the war.

Dreadnought by Robert K Massie; more about men than ships, it covers the origins of WWI, particularly the falling out between Germany and Britain and the naval arms race that followed

King Leopold's Ghost (author escapes me); an excellent account of the history of colonial exploitation in the Congo from 1885 onward... including the early human rights crusade that brought an end to the atrocities committed by Leopold II's minions in the Congo during his rule of the Congo Free State

A Genius for War by TN Dupuy; a good account of the history of the German General Staff from Napoleon to Hitler

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond; surely you've all heard of this one...

Why the Germans Lose at War (another author I have forgotten); has a nice account of the German general staff from 1918 to 1945, with an eye towards the mistakes and not the triumphs

Delivered from Evil by Robert Leckie; probably the best single volume account of WW2 that I have ever seen. Covers all theaters and events. It's really long, but is well written and very readable. Has short chapter biographies of various personalities in the war that are worth reading by themselves.

The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen; follows the rise of the Nazis in a small German town, from founding of the local party chapter to the Nazis gaining control of the entire town. Based on a real town, real people, and a real story. It's probably best to understand the Nazi rise on a small level in order to truly understand how it happened... and what followed happened on a larger scale

[our_man]

Stalingrad by Beevor was an an awesome book, it really conveyed a sense of what having been there must have been like.

Another favourite is Peter Hopkirk's "The Great Game", about the secrect war between the British and Russians for control of central Asia.

There was one I read on WW1 which I couldn't put down, deeply engrossing, but I can't remember it's name! I think it was written by a fellow called John Keegan. Anyone know what it's called?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by our_man
Another favourite is Peter Hopkirk's "The Great Game", about the secrect war between the British and Russians for control of central Asia.

There was one I read on WW1 which I couldn't put down, deeply engrossing, but I can't remember it's name! I think it was written by a fellow called John Keegan. Anyone know what it's called?

"The First World War" by John Keegan, no wonder the name escaped you It is excellent however.

Hopkirk is excellent too, very relevant now, and (to get on topic) an excellent accompaniment to Michael Daumen's scenario the Great Game.

LOTM

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Scott F
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond; surely you've all heard of this one...

An essential book for Civ players - read this and you will get a new appreciation for the game. An on topic note - I used this as a principle source for the new tech description file for Seeds of Greatness now available on Paul Cullivans website.

Another essential Civ book is Paul Kennedys Rise and fall of the Great Powers.

LOTM

[lord of the mark]

Foote is very good on the American Civil War, I also enjoyed James McPherson's one volume history of that conflict, "battlecry of freedom" which addressed social, economic, and political history as well as military.


Shirer is fascinating read on WW2, a passionate committed reporter (recently reading his memoirs) but his what-ifs are somewhat stretched, not recommended as your sole source on WW2. I have read and liked Overy "why the allies won", his more recent book on Neville Chamberlain seems to be a revisionist apology for NC, as persuasively argued as the case could be, but I think still has holes, and i would love to see a serious reply. Nial Ferguson on WW2 seems to be a more extreme case of "tory revisionism" - his latest a bitter assault on FDR and how the New Dealers ran the war. Would like to see a more up to date history of WW2, thats closer to Shirers ideological perspective.


Howard Sacher on history of Israel I highly recommend.

On topic - End of the Bronze Age by Richard Drews, excellent work, partial inspiration for scenario of the same name.


LOTM

[Marquis de Sodaq]

Okay, if war is not the limiting factor for this thread...

"Secret of the Incas" by D. Sullivan: DS has figured out how myths really should be read, as history, not as cute stories. He started with a leap of faith that his hunch was correct, and pieced together an amazing reconstruction of Incan cosmology. He discovered that they were extremely advanced astronomers, and figured out how to translate their oral tradition into modern concepts. Wonderful book. Sadly, the ivory tower views this as a castle built on sand. Archaeoastronomers could learn a lot from this book. Since then I've read several 'respected' books on ancient astronomy, and all seem like child's play in comparison - a real case of not seeing the forest for all the trees.

In a vein similar to "Guns, Germs, and Steel," the book "Plagues and Peoples" (by ?) discusses how disease was a major factor in numerous historical turning points.

A particularly painful book to read, but one that should be read, is Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

[Case]

John Keegan's book on WW2 is also very good.

[Goingonit]

I personally like Stephen Ambrose's D-Day and Citizen Soldiers, both about World War 2. John Keegan has also written some excellent ones.

[Stefan Härtel]

Of all the books I have (recent count 120+ in the history section), it's hard to find my favorites. But the ones I enjoyed reading most are S. Fischer-Fabian's biography on Alexander the Great, as it is written very lively, and analyzes antiquity and the problems of our modern views on it. "Das Antike Persien" by Josef Wiesehöfer, It is truly well-written, and can get you to feel into the world of the Persians. "Tschingis Chan, der Sturm aus Asien" by Michael Prawdin, it's just the wonderful writing of the 20s and 30s, the best book on the Mongols I could get my hands on, simply wonderful reading. "Histories" by Herodotus , it's great fun, and "Hannibal" by Pedro Barceló, which is also very realistic, and impressive, of seeing how the author got so much information out of so scarce sources.
This doesen't mean I indeed like those better than others though.

[klesh]

From the Field Marshal's Library...

Scott, King Leopold's Ghost is written by Adam Hochschild. Excellent book indeed. Read it as a part of a 'Global Society' class in my Sociology department at University.


Russia at War 1941-1945 by Alexander Werth is up on my list. A 1600 page scoarcher about the German Soviet conflict. Great depth to it. Author was in SU during the conflict.

I am in the process of finishing Stalingrad by Beevor as well. Great for my scenario.

Other noteables are Barbarossa by Alan Clark. Much shorter and more concise then R.A.W., but a good read nonetheless.

Here is a Great one: The History of World War Two by Lt. Col. Eddy Bauer. This isn't a novel style book. It is almost a textboox. It is larger 9"x12", and has lots of BW and colour pictures. It covers the whole war and has great depth to the info. My copy is from 1966 and was given to me by a WWII vet who recently died. He was so enthralled to see a younger person interested in the actions of his generation.

Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald Spector is a good look at the Pacific Theatre. A 600 page paperback, it has lots of good info, but it also has a decided lack of maps and charts and stuff. I love those damn things.

I have always enjoyed reading Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs by Albert Speer. This one as to read with a grain of salt (as, I guess with everything) but it does give a lot of personal explanations as to why one would follow such a regime etc.

And lastly I will tell y'all about the 2 PanzerTruppen series, which are compiled and edited by Thomas Lentz. I have the late war, volume 2 ('43-'45). This is great information about tactics, organization and deployment of German Armour in the tale end of the War. Since they were no longer on the offensive, and since the had all new weapons with which to fight, many changes were made in the theory of the panzertruppen, in order to maintain it's effectiveness.

I hope you guys can enjoy some of those readings as much as I did.

-FMk.

[Mercator]

The Mongols and Russia by George Vernadsky, its part of a trilogy dedicated to Russian history. Because of the immense influence of the Mongols, this volume is almost entirely dedicated to the Mongols. And I can tell you, this is the best book about the Mongols I ever read! It´s a book from 1953 though. I only found it by chance in the university library.

Storm from the East: From Genghis Khan to Khubilai Khan by Robert Marshall. Another nice book about the Mongols. I only read a Dutch version of it...