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What historical book(s) are you reading right now?

 
 
 
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rousseau

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The hope behind this thread is that it can remain a main-stay of the history forum. Start a new history book? Post about it here.

I have a tendency to read them in chunks, so I'm in the midst of a good number of them right now. They include:

  • The Medieval Centuries
  • The Forest City: An Illustrated history of London, Canada
  • The Historical Figure of Jesus
  • The New Penguin History of the World
  • History of the Scottish People 1560-1830
  • The Birth of Communist China
  • Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics

And the most recent one that I've started looking at is called 'Eldon House Diaries', which is comprised of diaries from three different women in a family who lived in my city in the 19th century.
 
I am finishing a biography of Charlie Parker which is really more of a history of KC jazz during his life. Next is Monuments Men (which was recently made into a movie) about the Allies efforts to recover stolen art by the Nazis.
 
My current historical reading includes:

Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, by David Fraser
Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama, by Jeremi Suri
Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present, by Brendan Simms
 
Don't you mean History books? Historical books would be any books that are old; History books are factual modern books about past times.

I am currently re-reading AJP Taylor's excellent The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918.
 
bilby said:
Don't you mean History books? Historical books would be any books that are old; History books are factual modern books about past times.

I am currently re-reading AJP Taylor's excellent The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918.
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This is the definition google gives me of historical:

of or concerning history; concerning past events.

Interpret as you will.
 
rousseau said:
This is the definition google gives me of historical:

of or concerning history; concerning past events.

Interpret as you will.
Click to expand...

Historical books are old books. Books from history.

Books that changed the world are historic books. Books that made history.

Books about stuff that happened in the past are called history books. Books about history.

The definition of the word 'historical' is not in question.

The definition of the phrase 'historical book' is. Books about chemistry are chemistry books, not chemical books - chemical books would be books made of chemicals; but 'chemical' still means of or concerning chemistry, nonetheless.

It is probably yet another of the things Americans routinely get wrong. :D
 
A new one arrived in the mail today:

'The Ancestor's Tale' by Dawkins. A history of life to the dawn of evolution. It's going to be good.
 
In the past I used to start a reading a book, and in one of the first chapters read about something I wanted to know more about. I'd go and buy a book about that subject and never actually finish reading the first book. Now I have a lot of books I never actually finished reading. Only recently I've gotten disciplined enough to finish reading the books I started reading and I've got plenty of books to choose from :)

My current interests are modern Russia and Dutch catholicism
  • Last man in Russia (read)
  • The man without a face - the unlikely rise of Vladimir Putin (read)
  • Een les uit Pruisen - Nederland en de Kulturkampf, 1870-1880 (reading)
  • Putin and the rise of Russia (to read)
  • Katholieke herleving (to read)
It's still hard not to get distracted by the interesting details. So I've now started watching clips YouTube instead of buying new books to satiate my curiosity. Still, YouTube is no match for books, it's surprisingly hard to find a good video on ultramontanism ... and the cat video's are no match for my hilarious cat books ;)
 
I tend to read serially, other than flipping between fiction and non-fiction. I do have a book (hidden somewhere) on the Roman Empire that I keep meaning to read, but never seem to get to. Currently reading:
Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System, by Barry Eichengreen

Previous read:
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
 
1177 BC by Eric Cline.

Actually I just finished it. The Sea People were not the sole cause of the collapse of the Late Bronze Age Civilization.
 
Do historical novels count? I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's "The Confusion". Very heavy on actual history (Louis XIV vs. William of Orange) with some invented characters' adventures woven through it. Recently finished "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel -- Thomas Cromwell surviving palace intrigue in the court of Henry VIII. Both highly enjoyable education.
 
I have just started A Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II, by Maury Klein, which looks very good so far--I'm just about 60 pages in (out of nearly 800).
 
I just got 'A History of Christianity' by Paul Johnson in the mail. I might actually wait a while and try to finish some books before I start it. A week from tomorrow I'll have 12 straight days off and I'm resolving to do some serious reading during that time, so might be able to polish off one or two of the titles I've started. Tea/Coffee/Beer and the history of the world for 12 days.
 
rousseau said:
I just got 'A History of Christianity' by Paul Johnson in the mail. I might actually wait a while and try to finish some books before I start it.
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I read about the first half of that book years ago, and thought he did a good job balancing the myth-faith divide, with him being a liberal RC. At the time I was mostly interested in the early centuries, maybe I'll have to finish it some day...
 
I'm just finishing Endurance by Frank Arthur Worsley, the story of Shackleton's Antarctic expedition written by the captain of his ship. And today I bought a second hand copy of Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. I'll probably start reading that one tomorrow.
 
Currently, The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Muhammed
 
I'm still working on the Maury Klein book, which is living up to my initial impression, and have started The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society & the Birth of the Modern World, by Edward Dolnick.
 
I am currently reading 'The Battle of Midway' by Craig L. Symonds [OxfordUP TPB]. It has a lot of interesting detail about the thought processes of the main figures and their internal political actions, as well as of course the military strategy and logistics and battles. I am only a 1/4 way through it at the moment.
 
My current historical reading includes Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II, by Joseph Persico, Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party, by Geoffrey Kabaservice, and Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost, by Jonathan Fenby.
 
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