Hi everybody,
Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!
We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.
We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or time period, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!
Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch here.
How should I read the book "The Holy Roman Empire" by Peter H. Wilson? I started reading it cover to cover, but I noticed it could be more of a book for consultation than one that should be read through in sequence, following the way it's written. So how should I read it?
I think with Wilson the assumption is you'll read it cover to cover and keep it as a reference, but you're not reading it as an intro. His book on the HRE and the 30 Years War are both door stoppers and not for people who are new to the subject. It's for people who want to get fairly deep in the weeds on the topic and have already read several books on the topic.
I see. I was reading it as the first book I read about the HRE. Can you recommend a good book for a beginner?
This is not my area, sorry. I would ask Wilson and see what he recommends. His works are tough. I read a lot of doorstoppers, but usually about the more modern era and I had to take a pause on his 30 years war book to read some other stuff to get up to speed. You're far from alone in this.
One other thing is maybe check out his bibliography and start out with some papers? https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-peter-h-wilson
Thanks for your recommendation, man. I had never written to an author before, and decided to do so to ask Prof. Wilson himself. He was very kind in replying and gave me a short list of books for a better introduction to the topic.
I write to historians all the time. Overwhelmingly, they're friendly and helpful if you're interested about their work. I do a certain amount of what I call "paper grubbing" where I ask for papers that I can't access through my library and I've never had anyone tell me no. I totally recommend asking them and archivists at libraries that might know a lot. I learn a lot that way.
Hi Everyone! I am currently watching the TV show "Victoria" and find myself spending a lot of time fact-checking what is and isn't accurate. I would love to learn more about her life, and wanted to know if anyone had good recommendations for books about Queen Victoria.
I recently got my hands on an excellent book by an Italian historic, Alessandro Barbero, *9 agouti 378. Il giorno die Barbari*, that describe context and aftermath of the Adrianopole battle. I am interested also to find similar research or book that is focused on the Atilla invasion of Italy in 452 AD and its aftermath (preferably, also the Battle of Nedao). Thank you.
I recently read Thomas Mann's “Listen, Germany” and some of his essays and now I'm looking for more contemporary works against the Nazis. Does anyone know of a good collection I could check out? :D
I'd recommend the diaries of Victor Klemperer. He lived through the war living in Germany.
Thank you, that one sounds perfect.
Not an exact fit, but In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson was a fascinating, from a very close personal view, look into Hitler’s early steps into power in Germany along with looks at a few other prominent Nazi leaders.
I actually have a question: Has anyone read Jews Vs. Rome by Barry Strauss? I'm considering it as a Xmas gift for a family member with an interest in that time and place. However, given the subject matter, I'm wary of anything with a political or cultural axe to grind. Hoping for someone who just sticks to the facts and doesn't insert their own biases into the subject.
We’ve got a reading list for r/medievalhistory in the works if anyone would like to contribute
Idk if anybody is interested, but if you like western American history then I'd recommend The Earth is Weeping by Peter Cozzens. It's about the fighting between the Plains and western Native Americans and the US government, from 1850 to 1890. It is a really good read.
He wrote a trilogy of books about the Indian Wars. The second was about Tecumseh and the Northwest Indian war. I haven’t read the third one yet.
He was just on the Angry Planet podcast for his book on Dead Wood.
I read The Zorg by Siddharth Karr. I had known about the case of the Zong from a footnote in a book on insurance law I had read in grad school and was interested in this case, so I was excited to see a book just on the case itself. Karr explains how the ship ended up misnamed The Zong in the historical record. It turns out the record of the case is pretty limited but I think the author did a good job with the resources he had.
I'm interested in people like Granville Sharp and Benezedt, so this was great for understanding the early abolition movement. It focuses on Sharp's work quite a bit at the end.
The specifics of the case are pretty horrifying and ripe fodder for the NHOC people. But the facts of the case helped teach the early abolitionists how to present the every day horrific tragedy of the slave trade to the British and American public at a key time. Along with the Somerset case, this is where the movement really started to get it's footing.
Karr does a good job explaining the facts of the middle passage, the economics of the situation, and the institutions that England had built up to support and exploit slavery as a business. I think this is probably an easier read than something like Markus Rediker's Slave Ship, and makes a good entry point if you're interested in the topic. The book is fairly short and if you've go some travel time this holiday, it would probably get you through about 4 hours of travel.
Finished one history book and honestly I’d struggle to recommend it. Review copied from my Goodreads.
Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention b y Ben Wilson
3/5 pretty mid to be honest. I've read a lot of history books over the years and for the most part this falls into forgettable. It's hard to describe but it feels like 'airport non-fiction' if that makes sense.
The book covers the growth of cities over the centuries, starting with Uruk and ending with Lagos in the 21st century. Each chapter uses a specific city to cover a trend associated with cities over history, Lubeck for the growth of various independent cities and the Hansa in medieval Europe, London 1660-1800 for the growth of cities being entertainment hubs with theatres and coffee houses (probably the best chapter), Los Angeles after WWII for the growth of suburbs etc.
The reason I'm only giving this a 3/5 is that while I don't disagree with the facts Wilson presents something about the book just didn't click with me. Particularly the last couple of chapters on Los Angeles and Lagos. Maybe because I'm not American and never been to Los Angeles but reading about the development of its suburban sprawl was incredibly boring. Same with the history of Lagos and its informal economy. Personally I enjoyed the London chapter the most because I'm British and I've been there a few times, so maybe it just comes down to I just found reading about cities I've never been to a bit dull.
(This bit is more politics and opinion than history) Also Wilson has a particular viewpoint presented through the book that I'm not entirely sure I agree with and comes across as a bit of a naïve westerner. Specifically that centrally planned cities with clear distinct residential vs retail areas are bad (which seems reasonable enough, I don't disagree), but this view extends to the point of being weirdly pro-slum. He specifically complains about slum clearance because it sucks the soul and dynamism out of the city, and destroys the informal economy. The entire last chapter on Lagos is pretty much him celebrating new arrivals from the countryside being entrepreneurial and doing whatever they want, no licenses or health and safety or anything. Instead he prefers cities to develop DIY organically overtime by locals and new immigrants which to me sounds like an long-term infrastructure nightmare (although being British it might be better than the current system where nothing gets built at all).
Though I'm not familiar with that book, your review does remind me of Seeing Like a State, by James Scott.
The author admits to having an anarchist viewpoint, and while he doesn't really vilify centralized planning, he emphasizes its failures and disadvantages. One that comes to mind is his criticism of such new capitals as Brasilia, which are deliberately located far from the old urban centers, so as to discourage if not prevent protests movements.
Most importantly, Scott also praises the dynamism of informal economies, and of the unorganized urban ecosystem that can flourish with little to no top-heavy planning and administration.
I would be very surprised if that book doesn't mention or reference Scott's work anywhere. It's one of those books that are near-mandatory reading on specific fields, in this case urban planning. Your review really seems like the author is influenced by Scott's work.
Just finishing The Last Kilo: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America by T. J. English and it’s been super interesting. The author did a fantastic job at cultivating sources and getting them to open up about all the actual events that went during the height of the cocaine trade in the 80’s.
I really enjoy books by TJ English. If you have not already, I'd recommend his other works, he's done a few books on Cuban organized crime. He wrote The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld. It follows Jose Battle and his organization and how they started with bolita, which was the numbers racket. It goes into their dealings with the American Mafia, turf battles, and getting into other rackets as well, like dealing cocaine.
Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost it to the Revolution is also good. It goes into Cuba in the 50s, the casinos, and how the American Mafia dominated the Havana scene, and how the Cuban Revolution put an end to it.
TJ English also has good books on the Irish Americqn gangsters, like:
Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
Where the Bodies are Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World that Made Him
If you're interested in reading a bit more about the modern cocaine trade, try out Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cartels - From the Jungles to the Streets by Toby Muse. He's a journalist who has been living in Colombia for years now. He has interviewed many people involved in the cocaine trade in Colombia, like the farmers of coca, smugglers, cartel members, etc. It follows yhe creation of a kilo of cacaine from the gathering of the coca plants, to the processing, to its transport and distribution. It was published in 2020, so still fairly recent.
Thanks so much! I’m about to start Hotel Scarface which he mentioned in The Last Kilo, but will definitely pick up all his other books. He’s a very good author and build out very interesting narratives by really understanding his sources and source material. Reminds me a lot of Bryan Burrough in that respect and I’ve read all his except his newest about gunfighters, but it’s already in my need to read pile.
Here are my two book recommendations:-
-> The book by Caroline Finkel covers a whooping time period of over 600 years starting with the rise of a Turkish tribe within the Seljuk sultanate of Rum in the late 13th century. It is a gripping story of an inconspicuous tribe coming into prominence through efforts of its warrior monarchs like Osman, Orhan and Murad. The author also takes you to the time when a once small principality carved out by Osman I in North Western Anatolia turns into a behemoth under Sultans like Bayezid the thunderbolt, Mehmed the conqueror and Suleiman the magnificent. The story culminates with the end of Ottoman power in the aftermath of the first World war and birth of the republic of Turkey under Kemal Pasha Ataturk.
-> Written by Justin Marozzi, the book revolves around the life of one of the most powerful and fiercest Warrior monarchs of the Medieval times, Amir Timur of Samarkand. The author tells an engaging tale of a boy whose origins are as obscure as anything in the vast Central Asian steppes in the 14th century. The boy went on to become the sovereign of an empire stretching as far West as Central Anatolia and as fast East as Delhi in India. The book shows how Timur defeats and destroys some of the mightiest rulers of the time such as Mongols,Mamluks,Ottomans and Tughlaqs. The book ends with the dream of Timur to defeat the strongest man on Earth, the Ming Emperor of China.