Great history books

Discussions worth keeping around later.
Post Reply
Ars Lande
Avisaru
Avisaru
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 7:34 am
Location: Paris

Great history books

Post by Ars Lande »

History book are indispensible to conworlding and in any case most of you must be history fans to take up conworlding as well.

I propose this thread to share the best historical non-fiction (and why not fiction while we're at it) you've read:

Jérôme Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome
History tends to concentrate on the big picture, and to skip on the minutia of daily life. This is especially true of Ancient Rome; this book is an excellent resource on Roman Daily Life; its only fault is that it's often annoyingly preachy.

Sometimes the best way to understand a period is to read fiction set in it. I wouldn't be able to follow the mess that was the late Roman Republic if it weren't for Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series.

I can't recommend highly enough Victor Davis Hanson. I'm not particularly interested in what he wrote of modern warfare, but The Wars of the Ancient Greeks: And the Invention of Western Military Culture gives an excellent picture of what it was like to fight in a Greek phalanx. (For once, the Spartans didn't fight orcs almost naked, with only leather swimsuits).
A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War is pretty good too.

I recently read China: A History by John Keay, which is interesting of being extremely well-written, occasionally funny and in any case a good resource to finally learn to differentiate the numerous monosyllabic dynasties. (The book is at its most interesting up until the Southern Song; after that Keay seems a bit less interested in his subject).
There are, of course, the Judge Dee detective stories. I don't care for the one Gulik wrote himself, but I liked Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (the one he translated) a great deal, if only for the many cultural notes.

User avatar
Warmaster
Lebom
Lebom
Posts: 180
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2002 1:38 pm
Location: Somewhere far beyond your reality (Exeter, England)
Contact:

Re: Great history books

Post by Warmaster »

I've got 3 great 'Historical Atlas' style books which have proven very useful for me.

The Times History of War is a great modern book which goes over the major conflicts of history, including basic technical information and a good grounding on conflicts through time.

Image

The Times Atlas of World History is a little more broad (and my copy is quite an old edition) all the same a similar good grounding in history as the War book. Though the cover, which shows the middle east (and Alexander the greats conquests) is for some reason upside down on my copy - which made me wonder what the heck I was looking at first time I saw it!

Image

Lastly I have The world History of Warfare by Richard Holmes. Slightly less maps than the Times Histories, but a lot more detail in all and a good read. Works on the basis of each innovation of technology and how it effected warfare which is helpful for conworlding.

Image
Don't worry Girls, Explosions fix everything!

He who is also known as Ben

User avatar
Salmoneus
Sanno
Sanno
Posts: 3197
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: One of the dark places of the world

Re: Great history books

Post by Salmoneus »

The one essential history book for me is Europe: A History.

Does exactly what it says, really.

Particularly like its 'capsules' - little page-length tidbits that go off on a wild tangent from a particular moment in time, sometimes giving more details, sometimes linking it to other time-periods. They're very varied - there's one, I think, on the oldest daily municipal bugle-horns, another on amusing last words throughout the centuries, one about Vorkuta, one about cowardice, and so on and so forth (299 in total). The main text goes chronologically through european history, but often dealing with a particular theme for a couple of centuries before backtracking to something else (eg he'll go on about the investiture crisis and the relationship between temporal and spiritual power for a bit, and then go back and talk about whatever else was going on at the same time).
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]

But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!

User avatar
Whimemsz
Avisaru
Avisaru
Posts: 690
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2003 4:56 pm
Location: Gimaamaa onibaaganing

Re: Great history books

Post by Whimemsz »

Yes! I have that book, and I'll just echo that it's pretty great. Obviously it's a tremendously broad topic, but Davies manages to somehow cram a ton in there (the capsules and end-caps on each chapter are the best parts for me, though, just because of the quirkiness and details that he highlights). The greater emphasis on Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, compared to most other histories of "Europe", is also very nice -- it's an honest to God history of Europe, not just of ~"Northwestern Europe plus Germany and a few late references to Russia".

User avatar
Salmoneus
Sanno
Sanno
Posts: 3197
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: One of the dark places of the world

Re: Great history books

Post by Salmoneus »

Whimemsz wrote:Yes! I have that book, and I'll just echo that it's pretty great. Obviously it's a tremendously broad topic, but Davies manages to somehow cram a ton in there (the capsules and end-caps on each chapter are the best parts for me, though, just because of the quirkiness and details that he highlights). The greater emphasis on Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, compared to most other histories of "Europe", is also very nice -- it's an honest to God history of Europe, not just of ~"Northwestern Europe plus Germany and a few late references to Russia".
Although it's been pointed out to me that there's only about three pages that mention Romania in the entire thing.

But apart from that, yes, it does a great job of trying to show the whole of europe, not just of places that immediately interacted with britain.
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]

But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!

User avatar
Izambri
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1556
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2004 4:27 pm
Location: Catalonia

Re: Great history books

Post by Izambri »

Military history (Catalonia)
HERNÀNDEZ, F. Xavier. Història militar de Catalunya. Volum 1: Dels ibers als carolingis. Rafael Dalmau, 2003.
HERNÀNDEZ, F. Xavier. Història militar de Catalunya. Volum 2: Temps de conquesta. Rafael Dalmau, 2003.
HERNÀNDEZ, F. Xavier. Història militar de Catalunya. Volum 3: La defensa de la terra. Rafael Dalmau, 2003.

Minoans. Mycenaeans. Aegean Bronze Age
CASTLEDEN, Rodney. Minoans. Life in Bronze Age Crete. Routledge, 1993. ISBN: 0-415-08833-X.
CASTLEDEN, Rodney. Mycenaeans. Routledge, 2005. ISBN: 0-415-36336-5.
DICKINSON, Oliver. The Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN: 978-0-521-45664-7.
LAFFINEUR, R. (editor). Aegaeum 19. POLEMOS: Le contexte guerrier en Égée à l’Âge du Bronze: Actes de la 7e Rencontre égéenne internationale. Université de Liège, 14-17 avril 1998. Liege University, 1999.
PREZIOSI, Donald; HITCHCOCK, Louise A.. Aegean art and architecture. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN: 978-0-19-284208-4.

Prehistory
MITHEN, Steven. After the Ice. A Global Human History. 20,000–5000 BC. Phoenix House, 2004. ISBN: 978-0-7538-1392-8.
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

User avatar
Izambri
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1556
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2004 4:27 pm
Location: Catalonia

Re: Great history books

Post by Izambri »

ECKSTEIN, Arthur M. Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War and the Rise of Rome. University of California Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-520-25992-8.
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

User avatar
Izambri
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1556
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2004 4:27 pm
Location: Catalonia

Re: Great history books

Post by Izambri »

So has anyone read any of these books?

● Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes. The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991

● Noel Perrin, Giving Up the Gun: Japan’s Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879

● James Hannam, The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution

● Lynn White, Medieval Technology and Social Change

Would you recommend them?
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.

Post Reply