history book recommendation needed

[gaseousclay]

i'm looking to buy a good history book for one of my in-laws for x-mas this year and was wondering if anyone here has any good recommendations. I believe he's in his last year of college and I was told he wants to teach history, although I'm not sure on specific subject matter. are there any popular history books worth looking into? anything new?

 

[Jasonian]

The Unseen Hand: An Introduction to the Conspiratorial View of History
http://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Hand-Ralph-Epperson/dp/0961413506

and no, I'm not kidding. I've found it to be more accurate than any history book I've seen in my academic career.

 

[bythbook]

American History:

many of the Oxford History of the United States - wiki article:
Oxford History of US

also:
The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris

Taylor Branch's series on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the US during that period
Parting the Waters; Pillar of Fire; At Canaan's Edge

Robert Caro's bios of Robert Moses or Lyndon Johnson....


what fun!

 

[The Nid Hog]

How about Eric Hobsbawm, "The Age of Revolution"?

E. P. Thompson's "The Making of the English Working Class" is also a fun read.

"Before European Hegemony: The World System AD 1250-1350" by Janet Abu-Lughod is also an interesting study of globalization before globalization.

 

[SiBurning]

A popular book isn't necessarily the one to get for a budding historian. I'm very much interested in ancient history, so I'm a little biased in my time periods. Since you want a popular book, I leave out anything that has a serious index. It also seems like you want something that might make an interesting presentation aside from the raw history--something that might grab a student's interest--so I've stuck to books that treat a subject in broad ways. There are four books that come to mind that are beautiful in their own way.

The Early History of the Ancient Near East; Hans J Nissen. This does a wonderful job of tying together the varying developments of the city states in Mesopotamia from the archaeology of 9000BC to the sophisticated empires of 2000BC. (Okay, maybe they weren't all that sophisticated until later, and that's why the book ends at that point.) It lays out some interesting and convincing theories of how geography plays an important role, not only in Mesopotamia, but generically. It's not the typical "history is geography" stuff. A very easy, yet interesting read for a history major that remembers at least a little of ancient history. That it covers 7000 years, including the birth of agriculture, writing, and civilization in general, and continues through the rise and fall of successive empires should hint at it's broad variety, and much of its interest.

The Ancient Mariners; Lionel Casson. This essentially covers the Greek and Phoenician period and stays almost completely in the Mediterranean. I think the beauty lies in how such a limited subject is handled in broad and interesting strokes. Since it deals quite a bit with war and piracy, as well as trade, it may be more suitable for... how shall I say it?... someone inclined to enjoy those kinds of adventures. A couple of interesting things are that it explains why we couldn't navigate the oceans until the 17th century, and describes the failed attempts to navigate Africa and build a canal across Egypt.

A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times; D R Hill. The best of the histories of (civil) technology because it places Islam in its proper place as carrier of Roman technology through the European dark age, transmitter of Chinese technology to the west, as well as highlighting the brilliant developments, particularly in irrigation, that came out of the middle east. I believe a book focused mostly on civil engineering needs this emphasis. The other thing it covers in detail is water powered mechanisms, such as clocks, machinery, games, and what might be the first computing machine. (Sorry Ada.) Also, unlike several other histories of technology, this is more than just a bunch of separate chapters. It actually puts all of the developments and setbacks in context so you see the development in a coherent way.

Salt: A World History; Mark Kurlansky. Another topical book, this one centered on Europe. This is the most suitable of the four for a more general, lay audience. A great example of how something as simple and common as salt affects history and empires.

 

[GFlanagan3]

i'm looking to buy a good history book for one of my in-laws for x-mas this year and was wondering if anyone here has any good recommendations. I believe his in his last year of college and I was told he wants to teach history, although I'm not sure on specific subject matter. are there any popular history books worth looking into? anything new?

I am not sure if this is what you are looking for but I just finished and loved "1776" By David McCollugh (I was a History minor in college)

 

[TwelveBravo]

"America: The Last Best Hope Volume I: From the Age of Discovery To a World at War" by William J. Bennett

I greatly enjoyed this book, but then, American History is my thing.

 

[raisindot]

Where to begin? So many choices. But in terms of popular, I might recommended:

"Undaunted Courage," Stephen Ambrose. An excellent history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

"John Adams," David McCullough. A sympathetic portrayal of a man thoroughly slighted by history.

"Nathaniel's Nutmeg," Giles Milton. A great little tale about the spice trade wars of the 17th and 18th century in what is now Indonesia.

"The Bounty," Caroline Alexander. A re-examination of the legendary mutiny that rehabilitates the reputation of Lieutenant (never Captain) Bligh

"Mayflower," Nathaniel Philbrick. The story of the Pilgrims landed, and how they and future invasive Europeans systematically destroyed the Native American culture beginning soon after the first Thanksgiving.

Shelby Foote, "The Civil War." Sometimes in three volumes, sometimes cut into many volumes, it's still the definitive multi-volume military history of the war.

"Cod," Mark Kurlansky. The "Salt" author's history of this succulent fish and how the pursuit of it advanced shipping and trading practices in Europe and the New World

"The Slave Trade," Hugh Thomas. Not an easy read, but the most exhaustive, detailed one-volume history of the African slave trade.

"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea." Charles Seife. A history of the development of the null digit from ancient Greece to modern times.

"A Short History of Nearly Everything." Bill Bryson. A breezy, not-too-detailed history of developments in the fields of biology, geography, physics and astronomy

"The Professor and the Madman." Simon Winchester. A slice from the history of the Oxford English Dictionary focusing on the long-distance relationship between its most famous curator and its most profilic word-researcher.

Jeff in Boston

 

[profsaffel]

I like The Civil War by Bruce Catton and Vikings by Else Roesdahl. Both are 'easier' reads (for an historian) and fun topics. Recommended by a history teacher for a history teacher.

-Prof

 

[airplanedoc]

I just finished "the first tycoon: the epic life of cornealius vanderbilt" tj stiles is the author.

 

[OckhamsBlade]

If hes a history major, hes prob. reading stuff hes sick of and that isn't very fun( I understand, I have a masters in history...), but considering hes a history major hes got an interest in the subject, I'd look into any books by Tony Horwitz. His Confederates in the Attic is about the lasting impacts of the Civil War. He tours around the U.S. and sees what the Civil War means to people. A good book which won some awards. He also wrote, A Voyage Long and Strange, in which he traces the footsteps of the first Explorers in North America. Another great read. Another of his which I haven't read yet is about Capt. Cooks adventures in which he traces his path. The formula is the same for all these but they work because Horwitz mixes humor with solid knowledge and is passionate about the subject. Not your average history books but speak more about what history means to us.

 

[OckhamsBlade]

And didn't Gordon Wood just come out with a new one we are all supposed to read...

 

[The Nid Hog]

If hes a history major, hes prob. reading stuff hes sick of and that isn't very fun( I understand, I have a masters in history...), but considering hes a history major hes got an interest in the subject, I'd look into any books by Tony Horwitz. His Confederates in the Attic is about the lasting impacts of the Civil War. He tours around the U.S. and sees what the Civil War means to people. A good book which won some awards. He also wrote, A Voyage Long and Strange, in which he traces the footsteps of the first Explorers in North America. Another great read. Another of his which I haven't read yet is about Capt. Cooks adventures in which he traces his path. The formula is the same for all these but they work because Horwitz mixes humor with solid knowledge and is passionate about the subject. Not your average history books but speak more about what history means to us.

Confederates in the Attic is quite an interesting book.

 

[soapbox]

I greatly enjoyed "Son of the Morning Star", the history of Custer and the campaign leading up to the Little Bighorn. It's an easy read.

One of my favorite "it's nonfiction, but reads like fiction" books is "Cadillac Desert." I've given away three copies (one unintentionally), but it always holds my attention. It's about water politics in the American West.

In this list of "wow, that's fiction?" is also Wallace Stegner's "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian", a history of the exploration of the American West. It is, in many points, gripping. Also, a beautiful explanation of how water rules and politics ended up the way they are.

 

[chainfire]

HG Wells had an interesting 2 book set about world history. It's out of print but readily available on used on-line stores and ebay.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

An amazing book that changes your view of history entirely is The Pursuit of Power, by William McNeill. It traces the developments of warfare up to the modern era and how those advances interacted with economics at the time. It's absolutely fascinating, especially to someone with a background in history, since you can connect the dots between events in certain periods with what McNeill talks about.

 

[Topgumby]

Sometimes the personal accounts can touch a reader more than the "sweep of history" stuff.

Anyone who reads "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by Eugene Sledge will have an understanding of war that is hard to get from a scholarly overview.

 

[akuri]

bury my heart at wounded knee a history of the american indians and what we did to them from columbus to about the last stand of the souix indians excelent book

 

[knlgskr]

The War that made America, French & Indian War 1754-60, by Anderson; Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall; We Were Soldiers Once & Young by Hal Moore; The River & the Gauntlet by S.L.A. Marshall; Hitler Moves East & Scorched Earth by Paul Carrell; Enemy at the Gates by William Craig; No Knee Shall Bow by Twining

 

[The Nid Hog]

Sometimes the personal accounts can touch a reader more than the "sweep of history" stuff.

Anyone who reads "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by Eugene Sledge will have an understanding of war that is hard to get from a scholarly overview.

Apparently that (and "Helmet for my Pillow) will be the basis for the new Spielberg/HBO series about the Marines in the Pacific

The War that made America, French & Indian War 1754-60, by Anderson; Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall; We Were Soldiers Once & Young by Hal Moore; The River & the Gauntlet by S.L.A. Marshall; Hitler Moves East & Scorched Earth by Paul Carrell; Enemy at the Gates by William Craig; No Knee Shall Bow by Twining

Some excellent military books. Street Without Joy is particularly good, as is Fall's Hell in a Very Small Place.