Hi everyone, In the last year I have taken some International Studies courses, and I think I am switching majors (again) to Economics. That's not really relevant except that during those courses I read The Communist Manifesto, Ellen Woods' Origin of Capitalism, King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Horschsild, The Protestant Ethic by Max Weber, And Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook. In preparation for my Study Abroad program I am reading Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, Steve Biko's I write what I like, and White Supremacy: A comparative Study by George Fredrickson. I haven't really taken school, or reading in general that seriously until I started taking classes at community college. I have realized that my newfound interest in history is competing with my obvious lack of general knowledge of history. I Really enjoy learning about history through the more personal stories, or at least through analytical critique. Both Adam Horchsild and Timothy Brook seem to really care for making the material equally engaging as informative, I would really like to read similar styles in different areas of knowledge. I would really appreciate if someone here could recommend some history books to me, preferably something in the Audible catalogue, as I don't really know what I am looking for. The first thing I need is to brush up on my US history. Ideally something that goes from the french revolution up through the 1900's or so, but I'm sure that someone who knows what they are talking about could give a better suggestion. Really, any suggestion for a good read that is also informative is welcome. I signed up for audible to get through some of these course readings as I really like listening to them while I do chores, do my hobby things, etc.
Thanks in advance. I sort of rambled on a bit.
Have you taken a look at our book list?
The Rape Of Nanking by Iris Chang.
The sidebar has a pretty good list.
Thanks for pointing me to the book list. There's a lot there and is pretty much what I'm looking for. I think I'mgoing to start with "The Glorious Cause," and "From Colony to Superpower." Seems like a good way to get from the revolution to the present with a focus on international relations, which is a subject that interests me the most.
Anyone read those, that can give me some insight as to anything to keep in mind while reading?
You might find (as a lot of the contributors here have) that one or a couple of areas of history turn out to interest you more than others. So I'd be inclined to stick to slightly more mainstream, broader books rather than focussing on specifics.
I'm a bit of a military buff, so will read most things on that topic. Also Italian history, and the Cold War in general.
As you've an interest in IR, my suggestion would be to look at the Cold War in Asia - obviously it involves Russia and the US, but also China and how all three made wide use of proxies against the others (or how the proxies used superpower support for their own ends) - Japan (which is really interesting in itself), Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines etc etc. Mao's China and the Cold War by Chen Jian is a pretty good place to start.
The Force of Destiny by Christopher Duggan is a really good intro to modern Italy.
I love personal accounts of events and have a whole stack of them, mostly people who were involved in WWII. However it's always worth bearing in mind that these are very rarely truly accurate and will be heavily biased. Might make a list of my favourites:
Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks,
First Light by Geoffrey Wellum
Wings on My Sleeve by Eric Brown
Yeager by Chuck Yeager
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Sorry for the number of suggestions! If I hadn't read any of the list and had to pick two, I'd go for Maus and First Light. Anyway, best of luck finding your interest! Do bear in mind it might be something medieval, Roman, or something else not mentioned!