I've read quite a few books recently, but they are shorter ones as I am trying to clear space

The Shortest History of England by James Hawes (review copied from Goodreads)

>2/5, would not recommend. Will not be keeping.

>Got it new on clearance, if I had paid full price for it I would be very annoyed. I know it is a short pop-history book but it has a lot of flaws. No listed sources or even sources for economic/number graphs for things like for amount of gold paid to the Danes or aircraft production before WWII. The only source I saw was with a graph was about the ethnic makeup of the American colonies vs the makeup of the British army. It also misses out a lot of details, for example it mentions the Mayflower ship and just says the group wanted to be away from royal control, no mention of puritans or religion at all. There are a lot of simple maps and diagrams, the kind that would be on a powerpoint presentation. The main argument of the book is basically the north-south divide and the (often foreign or at least more Europeanised in culture) elites vs the poorer native English, rather than focusing on major events or political policies. The author also argues that English (and broader British) history is basically a power stuggle between London+ the South East vs the rest of England+the other celtic areas. There is a point to it but the author takes it way too far (I don't entirely disagree with him but I wanted more history, less political argument). The medieval bit is just a long rant of oppressive Norman colonisers and the suppression of the English. The more modern stuff is basically another rant about how the north-south divide and the culturally different elites led to Brexit (which the author clearly opposes, but that is politics not history). Years ago I read Hawe's 'Shortest History of Germany' and liked it, but now I'm thinking less of it as his book about my own country was so lacking in detail so what did he get wrong about another country?

True Stories of the Second World War by Paul Dowsell (3/5 stars)

True Stories of the Blitz by Henry Brook (2/5 stars)

True Stories of D-Day by Henry Brook (3/5 stars)

>The 'True Stories' books is a box set. About 150-170 pages each. Aimed at a sort of older child audience I think (this was not clear on the box) - swearing is censored and while it mentions death (I mean they are WWII books) it isn't particularly graphic in terms of descriptions. Overall they were fine. The 'True Stories of the Second World War' was the best as it had the most variety and it also had a short further reading section at the end for each of the stories (like the Bismarck or snipers in Stalingrad).

I'm just about done with Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football, How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment, by Lee Jackson. I've got about 50 pages ago but that is football (I''m not generally interested in sports) plus a short conclusion. (I got it for free, but not as a gift or anything just left behind in a hotel for anyone who wanted it, in case of bias)

>3.75/5 stars. Short at 260 pages. Overall I enjoyed it more than I expected. Entertaining and academic at the same time, covers a good mix of stories as well as policiy and legislation towards the various forms of entertainment, such as music halls, dance halls, gin palaces etc. It sort of front loads the stuff that didn't last as long like music halls, the stuff that had a longer lifespan such as British seaside resorts (which started to decline in the 1960s-70s) or football comes right at the end of the book. Covers a lot of themes such as profitabilty, class, perceptions of morality, reasons for long-term decline, prostitution (prostitutes seem to be a constant presence for the first half of the book) etc. Also I liked that included groups that opposed the various new forms of entertainment for more practical than moral reasons, such as old brewers and pub owners vs the new gin shop owners. I don't consider myself to know a lot about the Victorian era but I found accessible.

>Probably worth a read if interested in the Victorian period or social history in general.

Anyway now a short fiction break as I've got a Discworld and Expanse book to look forward to

Would be interested in a book or podcasts relating to the origins of the Greeks

Here’s a few things I’ve been reading these past few weeks:

Cynthia Niccoletti’s essay on “Transcendent Constitutionalism”. If you’ve heard someone say the Civil War killed states rights this essay will prove them wrong. In fact, throughout Reconstruction moderate Republicans and the Supreme Court worked to halt a slide toward “consolidation” of the Union and tried to preserve federalism and the existing constitutional order as much as possible, minus secession and slavery of course. More generally it explores how Americans understood the war itself, and not just the amendments passed in its wake, as having fundamentally changed American law.

The Civil War of 1812 by Alan Taylor. I’ve come to conclude I don’t like Alan Taylor’s writing style even though I can’t fault his research. I do like how he shows the fissures which the War of 1812 exacerbated and the general fragility of the Union at that time. The divisive politics of it feel painfully relevant today.

Lastly, I’ve been listening to A Country of Vast Designs by Robert Merry. This one’s been on my list for a long time but with my slow reading speed I think the audio version is best. Polk is a such great protagonist. Coming off his defeat for Tennessee governor, he’s the political underdog in a struggle for the Democratic nomination for president. As of this writing, he’s edged out his rivals, secured the nomination, and been elected to office. I hope to get to the Mexican War stuff by tomorrow.

Any good books, in English of course, about the Spanish King Charles III?

What are some good books about ancient Italy? (Other than Rome.)

Anybody know of some good biographies of Simon Bolivar?

Been reading some books on naval history of the 1800's, and the South American revolutions came up a number of times. Piqued my interest. Know little of them, and Bolivar seems like a great place to start.

Any recommendations?

Hi, what books do you recommend about the history of Cyprus (most preferably a single e-book about the whole history, from ancient to current times)? My favorite authors of history books are Antony Beevor, James M. McPherson, Roger Crowley, Alexandra Richie, Neil Oliver, Hugh Kennedy, Neil Hagarty, Norman Davies, so I’d love to read something similar to these.

I checked your Recommended Reading List before asking this question, but I didn’t find what I am looking for - there are some books about Mediterranean, but no one focused on the Cyprus AND available as an e-book.

I have a stack of books to read but I can’t help myself getting more. Does anyone have a good book recommendation for the war of the Triple Alliance where Paraguay lost most of its male population by fighting 3 of its neighbors at once? I’d love to know the thought process of the clearly deranged leader of Paraguay as well as obviously how the war itself played out

I would very much appreciate some book recommendations regarding the revolutions of 1848

Hi everyone!

Can you recommend me a book (ideally, one) on the origin of personal rights and property in the Western world?

From various sources, we can perhaps see the origin of the rights' protection and movement towards libertarianism is starting from the Magna Carta. Then, common people were not only slaves/serfs, like in the Russian Tsardom/Empire, but also villeins with their own land and property, and who were able to pay to become free men by paying to their lord. And when you changed lords, your land and property stay yours. A different mentality of people in service even 800-1000 years ago.

I've been speaking and studying English for 20+ years, and becoming older, I realized that the fundamental basis of Western law - values of rights, respect of personal boundaries, and equality (and, as following, its effect on how people think of themselves and others) - are interesting to me.

Is there perhaps one book that follows these topics of the origin of rights in the established law, Magna Carta, and how this system in law and culture senses developed over 1000 years?

Thanks.

Just finished Leningrad by Anna Reid. It was a great book and she has a easy to read writing style. I especially liked the bit at the end where she detailed what happened to all the people she follows during the account of the siege.

one of my favorite novels is turtles all the way down by john green

Anyone have any recs for books on the coastal Salish people of the Pacific Northwest? Specially ones that examine them as a seafaring people.

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