Can anybody out there recommend any good history books? These can be works that focus on either a central period/event/individual, or a more generalized compendium of the entirety of human history.
What's a good book on all of world history, including culture, economics, war, etc.?
I read the Atlas of World History by Patrick O'Brien as a kid, and I'm surprised there's nothing else like it in print. I don't care if it's a big encyclopedia set divided into volumes, each focused on an epoch, a continent, etc. Whatever. I just want something that's more detailed if possible.
Brody Lewis
You're not going to find a good book that covers all that in detail.
It's best to look for books on more specific topics.
Leo Thompson
A really great one I've been reading recently is A History of Private Life, I'm currently working on Volume 1 of 5, Pagan Rome to Byzantium.
OP here. These look pretty great. Will definitely be checking them out. Your recommendation is much appreciated~
Benjamin Edwards
I'm a historyfag and I always feel bad when this thread gets posted because it's too general to recommend anything
It's easier when someone wants more specific recommendations
The list of "really good history books worth recommending" is really fucking long
Jeremiah Ross
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Jackson Gomez
Roots of the Western Tradition Empires of the Sea A History of the World in Six Glasses Cultural Amnesia Better Angels of Our Nature
Guns Germs and Steel is worth a read.
Oh and give Apocalypse the Second World War on Netflix a watch.
Jaxon Thompson
Rise and Fall of 3rd Reich Mao: The Unknown Story Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 Under The Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and The Kim Dynasty
Has anyone read that bio on Joseph Stalin by Kotkin? recommend or no
Cooper Garcia
Doesn't need to be one book. Can be an entire encyclopedia set or multiple recommendations that cover world history from different angles. There's gotta be something good like Patrick O'Brien out there. What do world history classes teach?
i really feel like getting into a good, long (but general) history.
has anyone got any recommendations for a history of britain or a history of the catholic church/papacy/reformation?
Thomas Reed
I need recommendations for European history books, specifically on culture/sociology/ideology/etc. The best book that I've read that I'd like to find something similar to in terms of scope and ambition is pic related, really incredible how Barzun brings together such diverse sources and synthesizes it into such a compelling book.
I'm not particularly interested in just general political/military history, I like writers that are confident enough in their knowledge to not just state facts but draw conclusions from it and show the significance of what they're writing about.
In terms of periods/places I want to know more about here's a general list: Italy from the fall of rome to WW2, particularly the origins of Italy the nation. The Catholic church, the papacy, the reformation. English history from the high middle ages to WW2, particularly the 17th to 19th centuries. the middle ages in general, though I'm not too interested in the middle ages I'd love to find a compelling book on the period. The Holy Roman Empire, general continental european history and the origins of France and Germany, and maybe Spain. The Habsburgs. Also Russia, I know hardly anything about Russian history.
thanks people
Caleb Young
Oh also the enlightenment, age of discovery, and the modern period in general before the 20th century
Christopher Thomas
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Jacob Collins
Any books on why the Holocaust didn't happen?
Mason Howard
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Liam Hughes
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People is a good place to start.
Henry Jenkins
Mind listing some random suggestions? Maybe OP will see one that interests him.
Jack Rogers
i'd prefer something written in the last 200 years
Joshua Wilson
Peter Wilson "Europe's tragedy"
Easton Lewis
Roy Porter. Some of his stuff is medical, but he's a focus on the Enlightenment in general, and a history of London. Italy you can read a lot of the founders (Manzzini and Garibaldi were pretty prolific)
You can also cover a lot of the modern era with Hobsbawm starting with the Age of Revolution, then Age of Capital, then Age of Extremes.
Not sure for the history of the church because I learnt that in Catholic school.
Mason Taylor
The end of the book was disappointing, in that his decadence argument collapses into
>You fuckin kids, get off my lawn!
Anyways, pic related is excellent and has tons of book recommendations within the same context. Also Citizens by Schama is great for you, and if you hear people say its been criticized, its on his thesis that the revolution was inherently violent, as opposed to violence occurring within the revolution.
This is fucking based, as is CV wedgwoods 30 years war
CLR Jame's Black Jacobins
The Holocaust Industry and Evan's Third Reich at War as well as Eichmann in Jerusalem change the holocaust narrative a great deal, although probably not as extreme or ideological as youd like.
Churchill's History of the English Speaking People and Marloborough's Life and Times are excellent and Hume's History of Great Britain (but really just the civil war) are great in that regard.
Evans Third Reich Trilogy was great for the war, and Montefiore's Stailn: In the Court of the Red Tsar was fashioned like a tabloid, but with real occurrences, I thought it was a great read.
Carson Foster
wikipedia desu
Parker Hill
>herodotus >father of lies >start with him >awesome advice
Jace Reyes
the "facts" are problematic but he is a starting point for historiography
Nicholas Miller
Guys im going to Chichen Itza next month. I got Travels in the Yucatan vot 2 and Cenote of Sacrifice, but can anyone recommend me something on the city itself?
Connor Nguyen
do you have a book on east-african post-colonial history?
Justin Butler
Pic Related Dancing in the Glory of Monsters The Devil Came on Horseback Shake Hands with the Devil
Carson Clark
hahaha, lol how bout no! he's the only acient historian that you shouldn't read first hand
Christian Russell
>hahaha, lol how bout no! hahaha, lol how bout no!
Hudson Diaz
>people mad herodotus was right about the missing army >people mad herodotus was right about the skulls gets me errytime
Bentley Watson
Can there really be a good history book that encompasses different nations and eras while going indepth?
Daniel Evans
there's been a run of these about commodities (sugar, coffee, medicine, silk) of late, and histories of ideas often do similar ideas, but generally not focusing on a particular era or area means they chose something else to focus on (e.g. a history of naval warfare, a history of a commodity, a history of dress) around which most of the detail coheres.