Recommend and discuss books on history and international relations!

[Ecthy]

Seeker, elaborate? Any leaning on the author's side? I'm a bit picky about this these days.

[molly bloom]

Barbara Tuchman's 'The March of Folly'- on how you can always rely on politicians and the military to rescue defeat from the jaws of victory is always relevant- as is her 'A Distant Mirror'- the melancholy parallels between the 14th Century and the 20th Century never seemed so vivid.

I'd also recommend 'Trade and Dominion' by J. H. Parry, about the overseas European empires in the 18th Century, the cultural gulfs between them and between them and their trading partners.

Reading the accounts of meetings between the Europeans and the Chinese is almost like an account of an alien 'first contact' situation.

Reay Tannahill's 'Food in History' is also fascinating for the information it has on how eating habits shaped history- the insatiable European quest for spices and new foodstuffs, and it how it inexorably altered Western European history from the time of the Roman Empire until the expansion of the East India Company and the V.O.C. , and how Europe's gold and silver financed Indian and Chinese empires.

[Seeker]

LOL yes, not politically but personally.

She mentions that her grandfather was on Wilson's cabinet, and it becomes more and more obvious that she basically keeps favouring her relatives and their 'camp'.

Seemed pretty centrist to me in being between the 'vast economic forces that shape history' and 'great personalities/serendipity' poles.

[Ecthy]

Economic forces in structural history

Great personality bull****

Thanks for the hint Seeker though, I'll have a go at it at some point

Molly, that Tuchman book was on the recommended list in some contemporary history semianr I took last year. Maybe I should have had a look into it (March of folly).

Food in history reminds me a bit about GGS. That Euro gold and silver part is interesting though. Thanks

[Zulu Elephant]

Mentioned it before but..."The Unconquerable World" by Jonathan Schell

[VetLegion]

Echthy, are you interested in economic history? I have some links to online lectures I can look up.

[Ecthy]

Hmm.... well yeah that'd be interesting. can't guarantee I'll take the time to read them though.

[VetLegion]

No reading, online video lectures.

[Saras]

Cash Nexus by Ferguson. Econ stat heavy, but good.

[Ecthy]

Alright Vet, I might still have a look at them

[VetLegion]

OK, here are the links from my archive:

Kenneth Pomeranz Explores Reasons Why the Industrial Revolution Succeeded in Europe But Failed in East Asia

"The economies of the most advanced regions of East Asia and Europe were surprisingly similar as late as 1750, which suggests we need some rethinking of the traditional stories of industrialization," says Kenneth Pomeranz, chair of the history department at the University of California at Irvine. In a lecture sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Pomeranz explores the reasons why the Industrial Revolution took off in Europe but failed in East Asia.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/vforum/03/kennethPomeranz_lecture/

CES Internet Lecture

The Industrial Revolution and the Great Divergence:
World Economic Growth since 10,000 BC
(3 lectures)

with Gregory Clark (University of California, Davis)

http://www.cesifo-group.de/link/_videolect/lect-clark2002.htm

An Introduction to Global Economy History
(3 lectures)

with Patrick O'Brien

http://www.cesifo-group.de/link/_videolect/lect-obrien2003.htm

October 9, 2002 - Louis Clark Vanuxem Lectures
Jared Diamond, UCLA: "Collapses of Ancient Societies and their Lessons for Today"

http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/

[Ecthy]

Ah, I spot Diamond's name, as expected

I will have a look at those as soon as I can, might be a week though. Thanks

[Bereta_Eder]

echty german thug. you ask a angloamerican gay **** off topic forum and their jenisaries for advice. of course theyr'e going to give you their books.

hell even mein kampf or what's it's called it's better than theirs.
so go find your own books dufus

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Ecthy
"the RAND corporation" soooo reminds me of Dr Strangelove

I would not classify myself as right wing.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by molly bloom
Barbara Tuchman's 'The March of Folly'- on how you can always rely on politicians and the military to rescue defeat from the jaws of victory is always relevant- as is her 'A Distant Mirror'- the melancholy parallels between the 14th Century and the 20th Century never seemed so vivid.

I liked Tuchman's March of folly too, though it became kinda boring and repetitive after a while in the american independance and vietnam parts. After a while I got the impression all those top diplomats and secretaries were utterly incompetent fat bastards! (... though admittedly that was so in Dulles' case )

Of course hindsight proves invaluable in analyzing world events, some of these people were plain evil