What are some must read history books?

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>>1874434
pic related really helps you understand how ancient people thought. I read the whole thing twice now.

>>1874448
Which group fascinated you?

>>1874448
The cover and title makes it look like conspiracy garbage, is it?

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Bumping for interest

>>1874472
Response to this? I want to know >>1874448

>>1874434
Germany's Aims in the First World War, also translated as Grab for World Power by Fritz Fischer

>>1874472
i Googled it and yes it is daft conspiracy garbage

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>>1874434
wtf I love killing now

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>>1874434

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Let's get the meme out of the way.

>>1877786
Can confirm. Got it as a gift.

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>>1874434

Daily reminder that atheism and Muhammadanism are the only 2 religions that held science back.

>>1874434
Edward Gibbon? At least he's a good storyteller.

>>1874434

herodotus histories

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>>1874434

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>>1874434

>how the Old Testament got more interesting

>>1877786
What is this one about? I had to read 1492 for my college world history class, and the parts we had to read only focused on the Columbian Exchange. There was an entire chapter dedicated to the potato.

>>1877788
All memes aside, why does everyone hate this book?

>>1880000
First off, witnessed.

Second, it's disliked because historians consider that Diamond removes too much human agency from human history. Diamond's core thesis is more or less correct to an extent, but he takes it too far. It also doesn't help that he's nowhere near the first guy to think up geographic determinism, and all the others that preceded him wrote about it better i.e. >>1877762

>>1879993
To put it simply, the book using more recent findings about Native Americans to re-contextualize their various civilizations and cultures in opposition to the older narrative that most are familiar with.

>>1874434
Classical Civilizations: Rome by Russel Geer. I picked it up at a book sale (was written in the 1950s) and its a better rundown on Roman history than any post-60s leftist revisionist garbage I've ever seen.

Anything by Victor David Hansen.

>>1880226
>Anything by Victor Davis Hansen pre 1988
FTFY

>>1880091

Wait a sec. Compare the older narrative to the new narrative real quick?

>>1880721
The older narrative is that native americans were mostly disconnected nomads with low populations that lived simple lives off the land. The new narrative is that they had a much larger impact on the earth they inhabited (think farming and earthworks), had much higher populations, and were much more connected through trade than initially thought. The prevalence of the older narrative is seen as a result of European explorers only witnessing and recording the natives at their absolute worst due to their former positions having been heavily compromised by wide spreading disease well before most colonization began in earnest.

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This one and the author's Thirty Years War book as well.

>>1874434
>Reading landmark
Commit suicide

>>1881075
what wrong with having maps, annotations and photographs to aid the content of the book?

>>1880802
Yeah his book about the 30 years war, Europe's Tragedy is very good.

>>1881145
That's all fine it's the garbage translation

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Absolutely required.

anyone who lacks formal training in history should start with Penguin History of the World.

https://www.amazon.com/Penguin-History-World-Sixth/dp/1846144434

It's really hard to think seriously about history without some outline of the development of human civilization.

>>1874434
Arrian of Nicomedia's "Anabasis of Alexander"

(otherwise known as The Conquests of Alexander the Great)

>>1874434
The Gallic Wars
By Julius Caesar

Literally everyone who is anybody reads this book.

>>1881809
Is it readable? I just find many of the classics to be a bore

>>1881836
Have you tried an audiobook?

>>1881696
literally kys

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my first.

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What does /his/ think of Tom Holland? Need a new book, lots of good looking stuff here.
>>1882099
I liked this one lost my copy though. Read a pretty good novel called The Wake about the Norman invasion, forget the author's name.

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I think The War That Ended Peace is really good. It's all about the events and details that lead up to and caused World War One, not leaving it as just an archduke getting shot.

>>1880000
He doesn't source his info and puts too much emphasis on geographical determinism. Of course it plays a large role in human development..but he downplays other factors such as political and economic systems. They all have an impact of how civilizations come to evolve.

Sup /his/, I'm a nerd that's been into RPGs and whatnot for a while, particularly medieval fantasy, but lately I'm finding myself wanting to develop a better general knowledge of military history (all of a sudden I've started finding historical wargames appealing even though I've never really been into wargaming).

Is there any kind of book you can recommend that goes through the last few thousand years and gives you a sort of 'history of the world in X conflicts' or something like that?

>>1882311

havent read it, but couldnt you just say that political and economic systems also stemmed from the environments people were in?

I'm personally fond of The Crusades Through Muslim Eyes.

It's like reading a fantasy novel where orcs are invading the frontier but none of the lords can manage to stop stabbing each other in the back for the 5 goddamn minutes they need to start dealing with the problem

>>1882153
No, he's a hack shit writer

>>1880802
>
>
>

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>>1874434
Anyone else read this? Pretty good read, and Deutscher does a great job explaining everything.

>>1884329
You COULD say that, but it would be a hypothesis at best if you couldn't provide clear evidence that the institutions of a people are a direct result of the environment they live in, for every environment. It's a line of thinking with so many variables that you couldn't reasonably prove it, or even say that it's a better line of thinking than any alternatives.

I quite like my first-year college history textbook, Patterns of World History. Authors are Stow, von Sivers, and some other name I don't remember. My first-year history professor was even a student to one of the authors. It's the most dense a textbook discussing the entire history of human civilization could be.

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What are the best primary sources?

>>1882099
You should check out Kelly DeVries The Norwegian Invasion of 1066. Pretty dope book. Has a different perspective than most on that year.

>>1875210
Shit book with shit thesis used only as political narrative in the Post-War era. Fischer is a fucking hack.

>>1880000
WITNESSED

With that out of the way, it doesn't hold up to historical criticism. I've gone through this every single time this book is posted so I'll keep it short:

>China had dissident movements and a desire for reform unlike he claims
>Africa had large domesticable animals such as cattle
>the realities of Native Americans differ wildly from his viewpoint which is predicated mostly on mythologization
He's first and foremost an ornithologist who stepped into geography (perhaps wrongly) and tried to reconcile those two into a historical framework and fucked up to the point where few, if anyone, have written a positive academic book review about GGS.

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can someone recommend a comprehensive book on American history? also are there other books about Rome like
>>1880208

>>1886687
>can someone recommend a comprehensive book on American history
Patriot's History and A People's History. Read both, not one or the other. They're pretty much the two main historiographies with wildly different views (Patriot's is conservative, People's is economic determinist/liberal revisionist).

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>>1886693
thanks lots

>>1886712
Пoжaлyйcтa, финляндия

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Think it's safe to argue that Shelby Foote was and is the definitive expert on the Civil War. Plus his voice was auditory candy.

>>1884493
>The Crusades Through Muslim Eyes
I see some audio series on youtube. Is that the same thing?

>>1874434
Stephen Runciman's History of the Crusades.
Barbara Tuchman" Guns of August.
Both works are sound history and wonderfully readable.

>>1881145
>>1881696
In order to save money, I suppose, they used the Crawley translation, which is so old it's now in the public domain. The editor modernized some of the vocabulary, but if you just want to read Thucydides--and you should--get a newer translation.

>>1874434
came by to say Ring of Steel by Alexnder Watson, best WW1 book of all time

>>1886478
>ornithologist
What?

>>1886966
He's a biologist who studies birds. You know, an ornithologist.

>>1881148
30yw was mostly just Germany's tragedy

France had a fucking blast with it

>Nobody mentions The History of the Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire by Gibbon

Weak /his/.

>>1874472 True
>>1874448 fuck off

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My favorite, beautifully written and a must for anyone interested in medieval history.

Patterns in Comparative Religion (Eliade)
The Golden Bough (Frazer)

>>1887561
>gibbon
typical memeing faggot

>>1886822
whats the best translation?

>>1881809
which is better for it oxford or penguin same question for the civil war

What does anyone think of Churchill's book about English history?

>>1881733
Along similar lines, I'm really enjoying Watson's Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention from Fire to Freud

Can someone help me out here. I am an American trying to get more info on WW1 Battles, particularly The Somme/Verdun. I want to know about overall strategy, details of the battle, the lead up, how horrific it was etc. Are there any books that do a good job of this?

I am looking at Amazon right now and see "The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916" by Alistair Horne and " The Somme: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front' by Peter Hart. Are these good starting points?

>>1874434
The Bible.

>>1891144
Which translation?

>>1891201
Which ever one you want they all say the same thing for the most part, I just recommended it as a context read.

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>>1874434
the main history book of the west would be herodotus' histories while that of the east would be qian sima's records of the grand historian

>>1884248
You will need to read many, many books. There is no one to really Kickstart you unless you want to go into a big box book store that is barely surviving and go over to the dinkyass military section.

Look over the books being talked about here.

>>1881809
No way. It's interesting but in no way a mind blower. It's basically all:
>I went here
>moved some legions around
>bribed a couple gauls
>massacred cities

Feudal Society by Marc Bloch

pretty much anything by Marc Bloch, to be quite honest with you famalamaram

>>1877786
Can confirm, fascinating book

>>1888025
I'm wondering this too.

>>1880000
All I know is John Green tried to push his agenda once againg by making some dyke do a vídeo arguing against this book, created a huge shitstorm because the agenda-pushing was too obvious and had to take two videos down from YouTube and apologize via tweeter.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UvaRcDvGPck
>John Green tweeted that they will be removing parts 1 and 2 of this series from the Crash Course channel due to errors:
>https://archive.is/rEIVA

What mindset should one have when reading history texts? I feel I'm not getting the most out of the stuff I'm reading. I appreciate and comprehend the information but it still doesn't go down right.

>>1890745
bumping this one

>>1887995
I like Rex Warner's in the Penguin paperback (ISBN 978-0140440393). Marvin Hammond's is also pretty good (ISBN 978-0192821911).

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>>1874434

Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion

>>1890745
Her Privates We is a great WWI novel. It really hilights soldiers' everyday actions, routines, and social encounters. The characters' names have been changed from who they represent and the author has embellished it a tad but it's still an account of events that actually occurred for the most part.

>>1896482
Highlights*
Fug

>>1895568
>but it still doesn't go down right
What do you mean? Honestly, it's best to read the intro and the conclusion first, maybe skim the whole thing if you feel like it, then read the whole thing through.

>>1896735
Ive trying to ween myself of fiction. I feel I'm not getting the work outside reading the pure facts of the matter being discussed, mind you I am aware that even in the realm of nonfiction, a writer will present the same information differently.

>>1897045
Perhaps try reading multiple monographs about a single subject or even historiographies.

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>>1886737
I have that exact same edition.
Foote is god-tier but his writing is more narrative and literary. He doesn't use foot notes or sources and just lists a bunch of places that he got info from. Not to say that his books are poorly sourced (the man probably forgot more about the War than you or I will ever learn), but they are not really meant for an academic audience.

Pic related is the best single volume academic book on the Civil War. McPhearson skips a lot of the minor skirmishes and his book isn't as comprehensive as Foote's trilogy, but he gives hundreds of sources and has several post-manuscript topical guides to pursue further reading. McPhearson also does a much better job of introducing the reader to the time period and paints a more vivid picture of the events and socio-econo-cultural events leading up to the Civil War itself.

Personally I recommend McPhearson first to anyone interested in learning about the Civil War and Foote as a follow up if they find they like the subject.

>>1897053

see >>1887975

any good books about architecture and city life?

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>>1898400
i have this

Any good books about the Papal States?

>>1887710
Did you read the English version? There's a copy in my university library I am going to pick it up this week.

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Reading this at the moment, it covers a pretty wide spectrum of Brandenburg-Prussian political, social, and religious history.

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

It's the best general history of the Middle East I've ever read, and the chapters on the Crusades are excellent.

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excellent read

>>1894666
Thanks, satan

Anyone know of any comprehensive works on India?

>captcha asked for sandwiches, every one was a burger.

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Three books I've read most recently.

Firstly, I'd like to warn you against reading this one. It's a real fucking slog. The author basically documents everything that everyone was doing during the course of the French revolution. He goes on rediculous tangents all the time. The book is about 900 (big) pages long but it's not until you've read 300 pages that you've even reached 1789.

If an autistic amount of detail is your idea of a good time and you already know a lot about the French revolution them go ahead. If however you would rather retain your sanity, please take my advice and read a more manageable history.

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>>1903436
Pretty entertaining read. It's got some great stuff on the awfulness of the papacy and its history of subterfuge, assassination, etc..

Quick and easy to read, i read it in a week whilst taking a break from the citizens book (which took me six months).

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>>1903449
Interesting book my mate loaned me. The author's thesis is explained in the first chapter and the rest of the book is spent recounting examples of where his theory is true interspersed with shitting on alternative theories (like Jared diamond) of how civilisations grow.

It's fine. Solid 6.

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Seeing as it is 900+ pages long, it's not a "must read" in the sense that you should read this back to back, but rather a "must have", since adding it to your library can't hurt if you need a thorough overview on Prussian history.

>>1877786
+1

Excellent book. Read it a couple years ago, but still remember so much of it. It will really change the way you think about colonialism and pre-contact Americas.

1493 is also good, but maybe not *as* mind-bending. The themes somewhat more familiar, which you may have come across before. But it's a good companion in any case, and I like Mann's style.

>>1879993
1492 is a very different book.

>>1884557
Yes, I am 2/3s through it right now (I've got a different version/cover though).

It's really fucking good. It is written for non-linguists in mind, and it has a handy glossary. But I think you might have to still be a bit of a linguistic nerd to really appreciate it. If you're a monolingual English speaker who has never even really tried to learn another language, it's a probably a waste of time. You might nod along and say 'Oh hmmm, yea, neato' but being aware of linguistics and the language learning process and being able to compare, I think, heightens the experience while reading.

I'm a teacher, and was looking for a book on linguistic 'evolution'/history, and this really hits the spot. I might use some sections in some of my higher-level classes. I also speak another language (German) and became fascinated by the obvious root similarities in the two languages and wanted to read something that might explain *exactly* how linguistic drift plays out.

>>1903470
I have this book as well. The parts shitting on Jared Diamond are great.

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I don't think I've ever had so much fun going through a military history book. It's quite informative too, although there are some gaps due to stuff that he speculates about in absence of Soviet archival material.


Also, make a note: The primary thrust of the book is about the development of Bomber Command as an institution, how it processed information and reacted to change; while it does deal with the strategic bombardment campaign over Germany, it mostly does so in the context of how decisions were being made in England about how to prosecute it. When things are going well and no changes are being made, he skips over entire months with like 2 sentences.

bumping, cos interesting

>>1874434
origins of the war of 1914 by luigi albertini is THE book on the build up to WWI. very, very long and poorly edited but man is it amazing.

Go to your local library or university library. Go to the section you want to learn about. Pick up a few books. Read them for a bit. Don't like them? Put them back. Like them? Great. Bring your phone and search reviews if you're lazy.

>>1874434
Any recommendations relating Joan Of Arc would be great.