If you want an easy read book that glosses over Russian food and a little bit of history I would suggest Anya Von Bremzen's "Mastering the Russian art of Cooking"

It follows russian food with personal anecdotes and history behind the evolution of Russian Cuisine through the 20th century.

If you want a history of alcohol in Russia and Eastern Europe I would suggest Poblehvkin's "A history of Vodka".

For more in depth Russian Food history, I would suggest starting with "gastronomic Reforms under Peter the Great" then Nikolai Gogol's Old World Landowners then Pushkin's Eugene Onegin then Anya Von Bremzen's novel then the film "The peculiarities of Russian Hunt" to round it out.

One of my loves is naval warfare in the age of sail, most specifically the mid 18th century and early 19th century. I spent a few summers on sailboats, and during one particularly boring trip I picked up one of the books in the Aubrey-Marturin series by Patrick O'brien (the movie "Master and Commander" is based on the events of a few of these novels, there are 20 in all). I realize these are fictional books, but their content inspired my love and study of the era after college. I suggest picking up one of these and seeing if you like the setting before going into the scholarly books - they are available on Amazon for as little as $.01.

Now for actual history...

"The Age of the Ship of the Line," by Jonathan Dull, provides a rather detailed history of the English and French navies and their conflicts, which comprise the bulk of the engagements at sea for the era (it also serves to detail the Spanish contribution to the topic, mostly as the victims of the prowess of both navies or in the relative Spanish incompetence during the Napoleonic Wars). The book covers the timeframe of 1650-1815 and overviews the technicalities of naval warfare in the era, in addition to including some thoroughly researched accounts of actual battles - at least enough to keep the attention of the newly indoctrinated.

"Six Frigates," by Ian Toll, is great for an American centric look at naval history during this timeframe. It begins with the birth of the American navy during the American Revolution and explores the political, technical, economic, and philosophical challenges to the birth of America's blue water capabilities - all under the auspice of the laying, outfitting, and use of the first American built frigates.

The latter of the two is probably the best for those interested in a shorter read concerning American history of the subject. By outlining the challenges of a late-comer in the age of fighting sail and empire building it serves to give a well founded world history of the era while maintaining an American spin. In addition, it is a more engaging read for the action oriented.

Here are a few books not in the Book list on Greek Religion.

Greek Religion by Walter Burkert. It is totally outdated with it's grand theories but it is also the last great work covering all aspects of Greek Religion (well mainstream Greek religion). According the Ken Dowden it would be impossible to write a comprehensive work on Ancient Greek Religion today, we just have to be thankful that Burkert did it for us in the 70's. Plus he is more accessible than the other giant of Greek Religion, J.P Vernant.

Today works are more focused and atomistic. But good books include Versnel's Coping with the Gods (which deals with how the internal contradictions of polytheism were mediated by the Greeks) and and Kindt's Rethinking Greek Religion (which deconstructs the orthodoxies of Polis Religion, as well as Burkert's work). Plus pretty much anything by Robert Parker, especially his latest book on Greek Religion as it serves mainly to move his earlier work in line with recent developments in the field.

And honorable mention goes to Dodds' The Greeks and the Irrational because it is simply the most charming book ever to have been written on the topic. And Dodds was a weirdo and a perpetual outsider figure throughout his life, which is reflected in the work. I also think that his work is due a radical reappraisal, especially as individual agency in religion becomes more important in the wake of Classicist starting to read evolutionary psychology.

I study American slavery, and though it is a very complicated area of study with very specific regional and chronological nuances, I think the best book for understanding the broad history is 'generations of captivity' by Ira Berlin. Berlin's text explores changes over time that led to the many distinct nuances of this terrifying institution. If you want to understand seeming contradictions in the history of slavery, like why enslaved people were present at the founding of New York City and were required to take up arms, while free and well to do blacks were denied military service in 1820s South Carolina, or why Kentucky nearly abolished slavery in the early 1800s, but fought for its survival in the civil war, I really can't think of a better text.

I'm by no means an expert but for getting a great introduction on general Roman history and the history of Roman literature I would recommend "The World of Rome" -Peter Jones & Keith Sidwell, along with "The Oxford Anthology of Roman Literature" -Peter Knox and J.C. McKeown.