Bookclub and Sources Wednesday!

Submitted by AutoModerator t3_10wuvu0 in history

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 timeperiod, 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](https://www.reddit.com/r/history/wiki/recommendedlist)

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Stalins_Moustachio t1_j7p7h3u wrote

Hey everyone, happy Wednesday!

Just wrapped up Caroline Pennock's On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europeand found it to be a fantastic analysis and retelling of account where Native American/First Nations' people went to Europe post-1492. The book is also well-written, with a great flow, and does an excellentjkb of relaying the Native American/First Nations experience and perspective

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elmonoenano t1_j7q4ntp wrote

That's on my list. She did an interview on History Extra Podcast a little bit ago. The website wants me to sign up for premium for a link, but I found it in my podcast app easily.

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Who_dat604 t1_j7pmt2j wrote

Imperial twilight: the opium war and the end of china's last golden age by Stephen Platt A book covering the opium wars, the China trade, and political dealings between China the u.k France and the USA. Starting with attempts by the British to establish a consulate in the imperial city in Beijing and ending with the burning and looting of the summer palace

Autumn in the heavenly kingdom by Stephen Platt A book about the taiping heavenly kingdom and its war with the waning qing dynasty. It makes some comparisons with the US Civil War I.e the quest for the taiping and confederate rebel quest for international recognition and diplomatic relations and trade. It covers the start of the rebellion, foreign mercenaries and the massive, multi front campaign to destroy the taiping

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Stalins_Moustachio t1_j7q0qbu wrote

Recently finished the first book, and I absolutely loved it! Definitely checking out the second one as well. Thanks for the recommendation!

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No-Strength-6805 t1_j7svmvy wrote

I have a question for everyone ,I have always enjoyed biographies as a form of Historical writing ,what is your favorite Biography you have ever read? I'll start my own is "Whittaker Chambers" by Sam Tanenhaus,this biography talks not only of Chambers life ,but especially of the times he lived in.

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elmonoenano t1_j7v46ms wrote

I enjoy the period around the US Civil War, so my favorites are from that period. I really like the Walter Stahr bios. He has a recent one out on Salmon Chase and an older one on Seward, but the one on Stanton is my favorite. I also really liked Allen Guelzo's Redeemer President on Lincoln. I think that's my favorite bio on Lincoln I've read.

Outside of that period I would maybe check out The Fire Is Upon Us by Nick Buccola. It's not quite a biography. It's about the debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley at the Cambridge Union. It gets into both people's lives and is very biographical, but it also has a lot of implications for current politics and the beginning of media driven soundbites that really drive the reasoning of the right.

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Jaded247365 t1_j7t3clt wrote

I suppose this qualifies - I was fascinated by: Enduring Courage: Eddie Rickenbacker and the dawn of the age of aviation - John F. Ross. An amazing life.

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dropbear123 t1_j7ucago wrote

Probably Statesman of Europe: A Life of Sir Edward Grey by T.G. Otte which is about the British Foreign Secretary in the years before the First World War (and up to 1916). Pretty long, something like 700 pages of main writing. It had a lot on his personal life, the inner workings of the Liberal party as well as his foriegn policy and decision making.

Runners up are The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshall, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge and Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie (all of his biographies are very good)

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No-Strength-6805 t1_j7uwgug wrote

Have you heard anything on a biography of Ernest Bevin union leader,Labour's activest and later Foreign Minister only thing I've found is 3 vol. Biography by Alan Bullock from 60s or 70s?

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dropbear123 t1_j7v145h wrote

No I haven't. The only other thing I could find is Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill by Andrew Adonis which I haven't read. The author is a Labour politician/lord with strong views about certain areas of foreign policy so isn't really writing from a position of neutrality.

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ennuiandarson t1_j7qs1bh wrote

Hello! First time poster — I’m looking for resources about Hungarian and Romanian relations and politics between the 1960s and 2000. A LOT happened — Nicolas Ceausescu, the fall of the iron curtain, the rise of capitalism, massive inflation, to even begin the list —that we don’t learn a lot about in America, and the search is daunting.

I’m making a podcast, and I’m trying to get the lay of the land. Also, if anyone here is a scholar or researcher that would like to be interviewed for the podcast at some point, please let me know.

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elmonoenano t1_j7rdyl2 wrote

I wonder if you could get Andre Codrescu to talk about it. He's a writer and does some experimental and surrealist writing, but he used to be a contributor on NPR and has written a lot about Ceausecu.

It wouldn't be exactly historically pertinent, but he could tell you about opposition and arts there. He had a podcast called Walls and Curtains that was kind of on that topic.

https://www.codrescu.com/

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dropbear123 t1_j7qstte wrote

Finished Cry Havoc:: The Arms Race and the Second World War 1931-41 by Joe Maiolo (review copied from Goodreads)

4>.25/5

>The book starts with the First Five Year Plan in the Soviet Union in 1928 and ends with the USA's entry into WWII. Covers a wide range of topics including economics, political divides (left vs right in the 1930s France for example), factional disputes and arguements between different military services (the Japanese army vs navy but also things the British navy and airforce competing for funding etc), the logic of the various political leaders and the reasons for their decisions etc. There is also a lot on how business leaders responded to rearmament (a mix of positivity due to the extra business with fears over the level of state intervention and control) and how democratic leaders tried to rearm without causing their countries to fall into being totalitarian states. The book is more positive about the prewar democracies than in the traditional 'appeasement' viewpoint, with a lot of focus on how they effectively rearmed. For example when the book comes to the fall of France the author blames that more on French military leadership and intelligence mistakes than any particular prewar economic or political failures of the Third Republic. There are some chapters on the USSR, Japan and the USA but the bulk of the book is about Britain, France, Germany and Italy. While the book does have lots of statistics (steel production, workforces, aircraft production etc) it doesn't feel like constant non-stop numbers. In terms of the different military areas I'd say the book priotises aviation the most, then naval and finally the land forces (artillery, tanks etc) the least.

>The book is 400 pages of (in the edition I read) rather small writing so it took me longer than I thought I would, but I still enjoyed it. I'd recommend it if you are interested in the politics and leadup to WWII but I would say you would benefit from going in with a basic knowledge of the big events and names. Not a first book on the time period. While it is a complex topic I'd say for comparison this book is a well easier read, in terms of writing and terminology, than The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze.

Now reading Confronting Leviathan: A History of Ideas by David Runciman which is basically summing up the works and ideas (mainly around the state and control) of various important thinkers starting with Hobbes then going onwards from that to more recent ones (I'm nearly halfway through the book and it is up to Marx and Engels). It's based on a podcast called Talking Politics which I've never listened to.

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elmonoenano t1_j7q6gb8 wrote

I read Maria Arana's book, Silver, Sword, and Stone last week. It's not really a history book, but I didn't figure that out until about halfway through. In the epilogue she says it's not a history book and that probably would have worked better in the preface. But it was an interesting read. It tried to trace back problems in Latin America to the conquest by focusing on silver mining and greed, violence (sword), and religion (stone).

It was an interesting book and I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I found her argument very convincing b/c I lean towards the institutionalists' explanation. But it was a good book. She uses interesting people to try and highlight her points. There was some really interesting stuff on the modern impact of mining in South America. B/c of the current state of Venezuela most of the mining there is illegal with huge environmental repercussions. It wasn't very long and covered a lot of territory. It's a decent survey of the topic and would make a good airplane book. I don't think I'd recommend it if you already know something on the topic.

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ImanShumpertplus t1_j7s9kfg wrote

Anybody have any good podcasts like the Rest is History?

Have found plenty of stuff like age of Napoleon and history of rome that is subject specific, but am looking for something that is more broad

Also please nothing that tries to be funny like behind the bastards or the Dollop, they very rarely make me laugh

Thanks I’m advance friends

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ImOnlyHereCauseGME t1_j7u7h8m wrote

I’ve been listening to a podcast called Fall of Civilizations. It’s about large civilizations and goes into why they ultimately failed (obviously) but also gives great insight into how they became “great” too. I enjoy that they try to give a perspective on what it would be like as a citizen of the empires while it’s collapsing as well. Also, maybe not the definition of broad, but Hardcore History by Dan Carlin is probably the greatest history based podcast out there in my opinion. But, he goes very in depth into each topic (like 5+ hours a show) so it might not be what you’re looking for.

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ImanShumpertplus t1_j7ufedu wrote

I love both of those, thanks for the suggestions!

Might have to finally buy some Hardcore History episodes haha

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Stalins_Moustachio t1_j7t672i wrote

Hello my friend! Thanks for sharing. I highly recommend that you check out Ridiculous History, it's fantastic and does a great job balancing between history and entertainment.

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marcusr111 t1_j8lxb1e wrote

BBCs "In Our Time: History", Daniele Bolelli's "History on Fire" he does an excellent job on narrative but a major complaint I've heard is his voice can be a bit hard to understand since he's a native Italian speaker, "Stuff you missed in History class", Malcolm Gladwell's "Revisionist History"

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Sacesss t1_j7tqmz0 wrote

Good morning everyone, do you have any suggestions on books about the medieval knights, chivalry, tourneys and this sort of things? Something that explains well the birth of knighthood, its development and its fall and the functionality of the medieval tourneys, alongside using some anecdotes/facts would be amazing.

Thank you in advance.

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elmonoenano t1_j7v2dzx wrote

Thomas Asbridge has a good one on William Marshal. It's pretty short, it's well written, and has good notes if you find an area you want to learn more about. Marshal is a goods subject b/c he's got a Forest Gumpy quality for that period of England. He was around all the big players, went on crusade, was a popular tourney knight, etc. It's called The Greatest Knight. It's a great place to start for English knights. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23456467-the-greatest-knight

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Sacesss t1_j7yisf5 wrote

Thank you much! I looked it up and it seems exactly what I was looking for, I'll start from that, thanks again.

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Matt_P_IJ t1_j7qegh4 wrote

I have long been interested in the influence of religious movements on the abolitionist movement in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, but I haven't found any good books or sources on my own about this part of the history. I was hoping to find a good list of starter books to explore this topic in more detail, or even biographies on major figures in this vein. Thanks in advance!

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elmonoenano t1_j7qmy3e wrote

I've got a couple of things you might be interested in. There's the Atlantic World of Anthony Benezet. He's kind of the OG of protestant abolitionism in the Americas. It's a collection edited by Marie-Jeane Rossignol and Bertrand Ruymbeke.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31110792-the-atlantic-world-of-anthony-benezet-1713-1784

There was a good interview with Luke Harlow on the New Books network about his book on religion and abolitionism and slavery in Kentucky. He claims Kentucky is great to examine the issues b/c it was a microcosm of everything else going on in the US at the time. https://newbooksnetwork.com/luke-e-harlow-religion-race-and-the-making-of-confederate-kentucky-1830-1880-cambridge-up-2014-4

PBS has an episode of Africans in America on Lemuel Haynes which is also worth checking out. I might also look for stuff on Richard Allen and Absalom Jones.

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WeeklyIntroduction42 t1_j7v6yly wrote

Does anyone know any good books on Catalonia? Specifically 20th century Catalan history

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No-Strength-6805 t1_j8366p0 wrote

Only thing I know is "Homage to Catalonia " George Orwells book on fighting in the Spainish Civil War in the middle to late 1930s.

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Tiny-Bus-3820 t1_j828uxx wrote

Probably my favorite all time biography is actually a trilogy by Edmund Morris its his life of Theodore Roosevelt. Volume I The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. This book covers T.R.’s birth until he ascends to the Presidency. Volume 2 Theodore Rex. A work that recounts his years in the White House. Volume 3 Colonel Roosevelt. The concluding volume covers topics like the 1912 Presidential campaign when Teddy campaigned as a progressive candidate, and his later risky River of Doubt exploration. The final book ends with Roosevelt’s death in 1919. I love the entire trilogy but my favorite book is the first one.

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Larielia t1_j84meph wrote

What are your favourite books about ancient Greece?

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SignKey235 t1_j8f65ni wrote

looking for a post ww2 Russian history. Just trying to understand formation of the USSR and the cold war/invasion of Afghanistan etc.

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9ftswell t1_j84i7x7 wrote

Looking for basically anything relating to the Hanwell, Horton, and Colney Hatch Asylums from around 1874 to 1924, but I’d ideally like videos from inside the asylums (these can stretch to the 1930s/1940s but 1950+ is a bit on the late side). Documentaries specifically about Victorian era asylums are good as well! Films, TV shows, or clips that are based on the asylums during that time period would be excellent as well.

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TheBatAmongUs t1_j8baiss wrote

The Great Triumvirate vs Heirs of The Founders. These 2 books tackle the lives & relationships between them in early to mid 19th century U.S. Senators, Webster, Clay, & Calhoun.I am wondering which of the 2 is overall better or what distinct differences the 2 works have in the 31 year difference between publications.I only have time enough to read one, but wanted to pick up what fellow students of history thought b4 I pick 1 or the other up. I thought Reddit could help.Thank you.

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No-Strength-6805 t1_j8ld0gh wrote

I read "Great Triumvirate " many years ago mostly cause of Acedemic Historian and author Merrill Peterson ,who was famous for his works on Thomas Jefferson .I remember feeling he strived to be fair to all 3 subjects ,though Calhoun because his race beliefs was difficult. Peterson is an excellent author and writes great books. I've also read Brands a historian from University of Texas , though I haven't read this specific book,Triumvirate is from 1987 ,Founders is 2018,personally I favor Triumvirate just enjoyed reading the author easier.

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NonintellectualTulip t1_j8k7kjd wrote

Hey everyone!

I was hoping if anyone knows how to access the Tudeh Constitution. I'm also looking for any primary source documents dated before the 1953 Iran Coup, specifically documents that describe the abundance of oil in Iran or the fears of the spread of communism.

Thank you!

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an_awkwardsquirrel t1_j8krpwd wrote

Looking for Primary Sources on Mary Eliza Mahoney, First Black Nurse in the U.S.

I see that she gave the opening speech at the first convention of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, but it looks like the records from the organization are all at NYPL and have not been digitized and put online at this time. I am a librarian and usually pretty good at finding these kinds of things, but I'm coming up empty and would love to be able to help this student. Thanks in advance for any leads you may have!

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