History book recommendations?

[NineOneSeven]

BROAD question. Got on a WW1 kick tonight, and would like to read more about history.

 

[CA Monk]

Try reading biographies of the “lesser” forefathers: John Jay, Gouvernor Morris. Also Stephen Girard (financial hero of the Ear of 1812). John Jacob Astor (America’s 1st millionaire). Epic yet provincial tales of men experiencing triumph and tribulation against historic backdrops.
Any suggestions for me?

 

[Trueblue25]

BROAD question. Got on a WW1 kick tonight, and would like to read more about history.

Was on a WW1 kick as well and read “The Sleepwalkers” by Christopher Clark. Very solid.

“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” is awesome, though WWII.

Think another interesting topic to look at around the WW1 sphere, and that’s helped me understand modern home grown insurgency a bit better though, is Michael Collins and the birth of the Modern IRA.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Was on a WW1 kick as well and read “The Sleepwalkers” by Christopher Clark. Very solid.

“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” is awesome, though WWII.

Think another interesting topic to look at around the WW1 sphere, and that’s helped me understand modern home grown insurgency a bit better though, is Michael Collins and the birth of the Modern IRA.

I was just going to suggest the Reich books. I have my father's set of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

 

[Cusester]

I've recommended Candice Millard in another thread but gotta do it again. "History of the Republic", about James Garfield, "River of Doubt", Teddy Roosevelt and "Hero of the Empire" about Winston Churchill are all excellent! The Garfield story gets my highest recommendation, whatever that's worth.

 

[Cusester]

One more. Actually 7 more. Colleen McCullough wrote a series of painstakingly researched historical novels based on Roman history from 110bc to 27bc called "Masters of Rome". I'm usually not into nonfiction but all 7 books held my interest.

 

[Briancuse]

1776 is a great read . Rise and fall of the third Reich is really good. It's really long but the Truman biography is really good too.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Appreciate the options!! Wow. Never been a reader but I think I’d like history

 

[CuseLegacy]

Appreciate the options!! Wow. Never been a reader but I think I’d like history

On a something different in history note you may like "The Big Burn" which is the story of Teddy Roosevelt, the largest ever forest fire in US history, the creation of the National Parks and US Forestry Service.

 

[orange79]

I know it's just a tad before WW1 ( ) but McCullough's John Adams biography is fabulous.

 

[NineOneSeven]

On a something different in history note you may like "The Big Burn" which is the story of Teddy Roosevelt, the largest ever forest fire in US history, the creation of the National Parks and US Forestry Service.

Awesome, was just telling a friend I loved TR given his love for wildlife. Had a random conversation yesterday about US presidents. Apparently Woodrow Wilson was very polarizing.

 

[HOFCeluck]

“Guns of August” is a pretty good book on the first month of WW1 when the Germans were killing it and things weren’t so trench-y.

Read Rise and Fall if the Third Reich like ten years ago and love to read it again some time. Pretty comprehensive from Hitlers rise to his end but very long and tedious in parts iirc.

Haven’t read 1776 yet but want to. REALLY want to find a good book on Goveneur Morris. That guy was wild af.

 

[CuseLegacy]

For extremely light historical reading, or really gazing, there are Images of America books. I found them on Amazon. If you want to see the pictorial history of a city or area they seem to have one for everywhere.

 

[MSOrange]

BROAD question. Got on a WW1 kick tonight, and would like to read more about history.

If you ever in the Kansas City area, the World War 1 museum is a must see. They did an excellent job with that. It's really a 2 day museum they have so much to see.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Not a book, but "They Shall Not Grow Old" was history, brought into color, by Peter Jackson. Highly recommend it as a movie. I think you can see it on Amazon Prime. Watch the epilogue on how it was made. I found it fascinating.

 

[sutomcat]

I know it's just a tad before WW1 ( ) but McCullough's John Adams biography is fabulous.

I think you can't go wrong with any of the McCullough books. The ones on the Johnstown flood, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the building of Panama Canal, and the story of the Wright Brothers were personal faves.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Im sure libraries clearly are a great resource but given the situation, just buying off maybe amazon is best?

 

[OttoMets]

I've got nothing on WWI, but a couple nights ago I picked up The Hawk and the Dove (N. Thompson) about Paul Nitze and George Kennan and their policy wrangling as the Cold War got underway. Interesting so far.

A couple more recent books that I'd recommend are The True Flag (Kintzler), about Theodore Roosevelt's imperialism, and The General vs. the President (H.W. Brands), detailing Truman and MacArthur's relationship during the Korean War.

 

[OttoMets]

Im sure libraries clearly are a great resource but given the situation, just buying off maybe amazon is best?

Try these guys instead: Bookshop: Buy books online. Support local bookstores.

Disrupting the disruptor, all while supporting independent booksellers.

 

[HOFCeluck]

The app “Hoopla“ lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your library.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I know it's just a tad before WW1 ( ) but McCullough's John Adams biography is fabulous.

Love that as an audio book. That and 1776. If the revolution was now, we would all be knitting our tea cozies. Our Revolutionary predecessors were amazing people.

 

[pattycuse]

If you want a (periodically dry) book about WW1- Try "The First World War" by John Keegan. British historian. Some of his conclusions are worth debating but it's a good holistic review.

Last history book I read- "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge about the Pacific theater in WW2 from the viewpoint of a Marine. The HBO miniseries "The Pacific" was based in part upon this book. It's gripping - raw view of the horrors the author faced at Okinawa and Peleliu.

 

[HOFCeluck]

If you want a (periodically dry) book about WW1- Try "The First World War" by John Keegan. British historian. Some of his conclusions are worth debating but it's a good holistic review.

I tried to get through it. Made to the Marne.

 

[Trueblue25]

Keegan can be a bit overly biased imo. That’s why I enjoy Carlin’s podcast’s on WW1. Gives a full gripping overview. I never wanted to stop my daily walks because I wanted to hear what was next.

World War 1’s occurrence seems almost unfathomable. The hardest thing about understanding history is that we already know what happened next.

 

[CA Monk]

I know it's just a tad before WW1 ( ) but McCullough's John Adams biography is fabulous.

Truly. So is the Tom Hanks produced 7-part series based on the book, starring Paul Giamatti. Free on Amazon Prime.