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Post by Stonewall Jackson on Jan 13, 2017 22:30:56 GMT
Ok, so I thought of maybe starting a thread where people can post good books that they have read, they can be fictional, non-fictional, etc. This is meant to 1) Give a title and small description, 2) Pretty much a recommendation to the members here on cool books that you liked that could peak someone's interest.
"Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin." This is a good book on not so much actual battles during World War 2, but "killing fields" and atrocities on the civilian population by both Nazi Germany and Russia, which came to be known as the Bloodlands. Timothy Snyder, the author, is very detailed throughout the book and gives tons of primary sources (which can sometimes be brutal). Overall, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend you do.
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Post by Stonewall Jackson on Jan 13, 2017 22:31:57 GMT
Again, it can be any book and formatted similar to the above example (you can be more detailed, obviously).
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Post by Mountbatten on Jan 14, 2017 4:10:28 GMT
I haven't read an interesting book in a long while so anything I have to reccomend would probably be children-teen books.
Pendragon was a good series. 10 books. It's about this guy named Bobby Pendragon and he's unknowingly part of a group called Travelers along with his Uncle. Travelers are able to use special portals called "flumes" to travel between the 10 different territories. There is one traveler per territory usually. Bobby and his uncle are an exception, although Bobby doesn't have a Traveler ring.
The antagonist is named Saint Dane. He's a sort of Traveler turned demon that wants to send every territory into chaos. So he goes and meddles with events like the Hindenburg and even the future. It's an interesting read. A lot of death and a lot of betrayal though as Saint Dane is a shape shifter.
Then there is the series' that everybody has heard of, namely Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings.
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Post by junius on Jan 15, 2017 8:42:57 GMT
Ok, so I thought of maybe starting a thread where people can post good books that they have read, they can be fictional, non-fictional, etc. This is meant to 1) Give a title and small description, 2) Pretty much a recommendation to the members here on cool books that you liked that could peak someone's interest.
"Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin." This is a good book on not so much actual battles during World War 2, but "killing fields" and atrocities on the civilian population by both Nazi Germany and Russia, which came to be known as the Bloodlands. Timothy Snyder, the author, is very detailed throughout the book and gives tons of primary sources (which can sometimes be brutal). Overall, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend you do. I'm currently reading Colonel FN Maude's series on the Napoleonic Wars- Ulm, Jena, and Leipzig. So far, so good. |
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Post by Desophaeus on Jan 15, 2017 18:48:34 GMT
I always recommend the one book related to history over the others when the category is very broad.
"The Rise and Fall of The Great Powers:
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000."
By Paul Kennedy
It's an interesting analysis of world's leading powers for 500 years from 1500 to 2000. It doesn't focus on limited wars that involves only 2 countries. The focus is on the various wars that had a strong impact on the world as a whole.
One of the biggest thing is the relative measure of strength in comparison for the old leading powers and the newly leading powers. Some countries was able to persist in projecting their power onto the globe, while others had only a specific period where they shined brightly then fade into darkness.
I really like this book. I do own quite a collection of many books (when I had to move to a new location of residence, almost half of my boxes were only books even though I have other things like furniture, etc...). But this book is the best history-related book I own.
Be warned... it's not exactly light reading, about 600 pages of dense information. Take your time in reading through the book, you will definitely benefit from this book.
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Post by Hezekiah on Feb 2, 2017 1:35:09 GMT
"The lord of the Isles" by Nigel Tranter, whom recieved an OBE. He is a scotish historian. It follows Somerled, the ruler of a broken kingdom in Scotland. He faces problems to the south in Man, marrage problems, and then Henry of England tties to puppet Malcolm IV (Dumber then Emperor Niro). Good read. Fiction.It is a good page turner.
My personal favorite novel. And it is somewhat historicaly acurate.
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Post by Bismarck Jr on Feb 3, 2017 2:32:16 GMT
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade
(self explanatory)
OR
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King.
My favourite book, about a young prince whos father is murdered and he is framed.
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Post by Suvorov on Feb 5, 2017 9:25:37 GMT
Ok, so I thought of maybe starting a thread where people can post good books that they have read, they can be fictional, non-fictional, etc. This is meant to 1) Give a title and small description, 2) Pretty much a recommendation to the members here on cool books that you liked that could peak someone's interest.
"Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin." This is a good book on not so much actual battles during World War 2, but "killing fields" and atrocities on the civilian population by both Nazi Germany and Russia, which came to be known as the Bloodlands. Timothy Snyder, the author, is very detailed throughout the book and gives tons of primary sources (which can sometimes be brutal). Overall, if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend you do. His other book is, however, a lot worse. It's called "Black Earth" and tries to argue that the Holocaust was "ecological" in the sense that the main aim of the Nazi's was to supply the Germans with food while withholding them from "Untermenschen". He is nevertheless correct in stating that the sovereignty of a nation was linked to the degree the Jewish, homosexual, Sinti and Roma population was exterminated. Poland, for example, was not allowed to be a state, because the Germans argued that Untermenschen were not able to create culture, let alone a whole nation-state. Because Poland was turned into a Nazi controlled Generalgouvernement, the Germans could practically go their own way. In contrast, the Hungarian nation was sovereign under Horthy. Therefore, they were able to resist German calls to hand over their Jewish population. Untill the day the Germans invaded Hungary, the Hungarians could keep their people with "Lebensunwertens Lebens" (life unworthy of life) out of Germany's hands. Just like his previous book, it is out of balance: too much on Eastern Europe and not enough on Western Europe. He constantly misunderstands ideological forces behind the Holocaust and he ends with a warning about possible Chinese or Russian conquests for food, while there is no real links between the Holocaust and today's shortages of food. I would recommend anything by Ian Kershaw, by the way. He has written a biography (2000 pages and 200 pages with footnotes(!)) of Hitler. The single volume edition (still 1000 pages) is the most accesible one. Richard Overy is also a good one. At least read "Why the Allies Won"; it's very thorough yet very readable. With more general books about the Second World War, try to read Antony Beevor's or Max Hastings book on it. Both are appraised for their readability and human accounts of the war. Paul Kennedy's "Engineers of Victory" is also very good and its main focus is similar to that of Richard Overy's. But I do not know whether anyone still is interested in these kinds of books... |
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