Bookclub Wednesday!

Submitted by AutoModerator t3_ywrhl5 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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dropbear123 t1_iwmgjtx wrote

I've been reading quite a few WWI books recently - but all on the shorter side and one was only 100 pages . Trying to make a dent in my unread WWI book pile. Reviews copied and pasted

They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Ian Sumner

>4.5/5 rounding down for goodreads.

>Overall very good, definitely worth a read if you are interested in WWI. Focuses a lot more on the personal accounts of soldiers, mainly accounts from the time (diaries, letters) not sources from after the war. There is a decent amount on combat but also on the day to day life in the trenches. There is some stuff about the thinking of the generals, to explain the logic behind the attacks, but this is secondary to the soldier's experiences. Because of the more personal, on the ground focus I thought it was accessible and that you don't need to know much about WWI to read this. It also isn't particularly long at 220 pages and 5 chapters - a chapter for each year which covers the main battles as well as a related broader topic like morale or discipline.

Douglas Haig: Defeat Into Victory by Gordon Corrigan

>3.5/5 rounding down for goodreads. I got it for £1 on a kindle deal and for that I'm happy with it.

>Very short, about 100 pages total. Enjoyable to read. Corrigan takes a VERY pro-Haig point of view, trying to defend Haig against his critics. His main argument is that Haig was a good leader but constrained by factors outside his control as Britain was the junior partner (on land) compared to the French. So the Somme campaign had to be fought to relieve Verdun and Passchendaele had to be fought to buy time for the French army to recover from the mutinies - and in the end these battles did more damage to the Germans than the British anyway. Corrigan also argues against the more personal criticisms of Haig, such as him not leading from close enough to the frontline or him not being interested in technology. I think he argues the case mostly well, although I happened to agree with this point of view before reading this, but he takes it a bit far in the other direction at times.

Just finished now Disputed Earth: Geology and Trench Warfare on the Western Front 1914-18 by Peter Doyle

>Charity shop find. Enjoyment 3/5 stars. Detail and info 4.5/5. Only read if you are very interested in the WWI Western Front. I'm quite into WWI and I still found it a bit of a struggle.

>It isn't that long at 230 pages plus another 50 for notes/sources. There are a lot of photographs, maps, diagrams - some from the time and some more recent and they tend to be pretty high quality (at least in the Uniform edition). There is plenty of info and lots of detail but it is rather dry to read and at times rather hard to read, but I don't know a lot about geology. There is a lot about how the different terrains (clay regions, chalky regions etc) responded to water (drainage, water levels. runoff etc) and how this affected the war, for things like mining, making dugouts and trenches, tanks etc. Even as a WWI nerd it started to get a bit repetitive reading about the different kinds of soil or clay and how wet it was.

I'm now doing a new thing of one kindle book, one physical book at the same time so I'm now reading The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman (Kindle) and I might start July 1914: Countdown to War by Sean McKeekin

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RoboticAttention t1_iwln45j wrote

Can I get a resource recommendation on Henry Ford, Fordism, or Ford Model T?

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No-Strength-6805 t1_iwm1p40 wrote

Wheels for the World:Henry Ford, his company,and a century of progress by Douglas Brinkley Henry Ford and the Jews by Neil Baldwin (Both very well respected historians)

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pulpogigante t1_iwo1hpr wrote

I'm looking for a book on the history of Buddhism. Is there anything like what Diarmaid MacCulloch has written regarding Christianity?

I'm particularly interested in how Buddhism has changed as it has been adopted in new countries/cultures. Ideally it would be written for a lay and secular audience.

Is there such a book?

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ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS t1_iwpblpw wrote

i read damien keown's "buddhism a very short introduction" and i think it fits your needs.

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elmonoenano t1_iwnbc82 wrote

Through a fluke of the universe I kind of ended up with too many things to read at one time but I ended up with the new Meacham Lincoln biography, And There Was Light. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through it and am going to have to put it down for a few weeks to catch up on some of my other reading responsibilities.

I will say that so far as a biography goes it seems like it would be a good first or 2nd Lincoln biography. I'm only a quarter of the way through like I said, but so far it's pretty similar to the the outline laid down by the Herndon biography and hits a lot of the same points about Lincoln seeing the slave market in New Orleans, his dislike of working for his dad, his mom's early loss. It doesn't make as big a point about his father's neglect when he was young as some other books do.

If you wanted a Lincoln biography to kind of get a start on the topic I think it would be a good one. If you needed a gift for a "history dad" or uncle it'd be a good choice. There are better ones out there, but you don't need much knowledge of Lincoln's life or the political situation of the times to read this one.

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No-Strength-6805 t1_iwnvyd0 wrote

I've read several Lincon books, including biographies, if I only read one it would be David Herbert Donald's biography.This culminated a career of study of the American Civil War, including 2 Pulitzer prizes in biography.

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theboldbricks t1_iwnauvn wrote

Currently reading Norah Lofts' Anne Boleyn from the local library. TIL Anne Boleyn had an extra finger on her right hand!

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No-Strength-6805 t1_iwomgof wrote

Have you read Aliason Weirs' "The Lady in the Tower: the fall of Anne Boleyn"

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theboldbricks t1_iwovbfa wrote

I have not, but Alison Weir is on my radar (moreso now). Thank you for the recommendation.

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Fandabydozey t1_iwo81dm wrote

Hi! I want to learn more about the impact of colonialism on 19th and early 20th century China. Ideally the books would explain in depth events like Opium Wars and Boxer Rebellion. Thanks!

Edit: Thank you for the answers!

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No-Strength-6805 t1_iwofnrj wrote

British Historian Diane Preston wrote " Boxer Rebellion " and Stephen Platt "Imperial Twilight:Opium Wars"

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Shorty8533 t1_iworux0 wrote

If you can find it, History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth by Paul Cohen

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elmonoenano t1_iwqoapr wrote

Julia Lovell's eponymous book on the Opium War is a good one to approach the subject. It's reasonable length, covers the whole topic, and has a nice epilogue on the importance of the story in current Chinese politics. She also did a thing for Fivebooks.com about the five best books on the Opium Wars. https://fivebooks.com/best-books/opium-war-julia-lovell/

Stephen Platt's book on the Taiping Civil War, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, is interesting. It's mostly about the US and British response so it would fit in well with your interest in the colonial aspects.

I read a book a few months ago by Helen Zhi called The Last Boat Out of Shanghai about the diaspora community in Shanghai and it had info about the colonization of Shanghai by the western powers and the Japanese. It's a good book but only about half of it deals with the topic your interested in. James Carter has a book called Champion's Day about the Japanese occupation. And Paul French has a kind of a lurid but fun one called City of Devils about the underworld in Shanghai.

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Fandabydozey t1_iwr7lzu wrote

Thank you so much for all these recommendations. I will make sure to check out The Last Boat Out of Shanghai as well. After your comment I read up on the author and she sounds very interesting as well.

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Larielia t1_iwstt2b wrote

What are your favourite books about the ancient Near East?

I'm also looking for books about ancient Asia Minor.

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TheTankiest t1_iwm7zd1 wrote

Are there any resources that detail life in East Berlin during the Cold War? From mundane activities such as children attending school to gangs, civilian perspectives and typical police/military routines.

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Tiny-Bus-3820 t1_iwpf5wf wrote

Although not about East Berlin directly, The Ideal World of Dictatorship: Life and Party Rule in the GDR 1971-1989 by Stefan Wolle offers a topical overview of society, economy and political structures in East Germany during Erich Honecker’s tenure as party leader. Since you show an interest in East Germany, I think you’ll find the book interesting. Also I think its hard to find books about the GDR especially in English. This book has been translated from German to English and is available on Amazon.

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elmonoenano t1_iwqozz8 wrote

Maybe Anna Funder's book, Stasiland? I haven't read it but it looked interesting and I thought I'd pick it up if I ever saw it on the remainder table.

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TheTankiest t1_iwtgsyp wrote

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to make a second comment here, but: any resources on Britain's colonization of India and life during/after the colonization process?

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YoungLefebvre t1_iwxcdjo wrote

Currently reading David Herbert Donald

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No-Strength-6805 t1_ixdr084 wrote

Great American Civil War author tour de force was biography of Lincoln , also great 2 volume biography of Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner ,plus Lincoln Reconsidered

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