I'm almost done the book "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language." From the way the title is laid out I expected it to be at the intellectual level of "Guns Germs and Steel," but it's actually quite a bit deeper...it's basically a detailed survey of Russian and Eastern European archaeological studies of late neolithic and early bronze age sites. This is probably the most detailed historical book I've ever read; it's basically a compilation of archaeology papers. I'm at the end and the author is starting to make the case that various archaeological cultures correspond to various ancestral language families (having established that the Yamnaya were the speakers of Proto-Indo-European).

Interesting book.

Finished off The Ideology of Slavery quite a bit later than hoped. Turgid nineteenth century prose is an unavoidable hazard for me. Turgid nineteenth century prose trying to demonstrate one's erudition is a worse peril, though equally unavoidable. I thought I'd developed quite a tolerance. I was wrong; I repent and confess my sins. Through my most grievous fault, mine eyes did glaze over, my head did nod, and I did heartily look for anything else I could do rather than read this anthology.

I ought to have taken more seriously the warning in the introductory material even by period standards, the aspiration was telegraph scholarly detachment. The Thomas Dew, Josiah Nott, Thornton Stringfellow, and James Hammond pieces were ok. Overlong even with editing and often redundant, but tolerable to whatever degree the word applies to works with the thesis that slavery is awesome. William Harper and Henry Hughes, especially Hughes, were not.

I hopped over from that to Puleo's The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War. So far it's a lot more fun to read but I'm frustrated. I came in with the impression that this was the modern treatment of the subject. Pretty sure I've got that wrong. For all his master's in history and teaching post, Puleo can't be asked to cough up a citation even for direct quotes. He mentions a documentary history of the affair from 2003 that I'll probably have to track down. I was inclined to take the subtitle as marketing, but from flipping ahead it seems that Puleo genuinely thinks a breakdown in the ability to rationally discuss slavery is the real villain of the story. Whether there was a real failure of reason or not, decades of supposedly calmer and more rational discussion hadn't really solved the problem either.

But I have learned from it that Charles Sumner's mother was named Relief Jacob, which is delightfully Puritan. And my "used" copy was pristine new, very cheap, and signed by the author. So there's that?

EDIT: Fixed italics.

Reading through "How Our Days Became Numbered", which is an intellectual and cultural history of statistical risk in insurance companies during the late 19th and early 20th century. It's pretty fantastic and has made me want to read more history of mathematics/statistics/science works after spending so much time on economic studies (the two are pretty well-related anyways with regards to economic growth and innovation).

I've just begun Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly and it's been incredibly engrossing thus far. The most interesting parts for me haven't been what we've gotten wrong in pop culture depictions of pirates, but rather what we've gotten right. It also reads very easily; I don't have a formal background in history, and I have no trouble following the text. In fact, I have trouble putting it down! I highly recommend it.

As for what I'd like to read, I've been getting very interested in religious syncretism recently. There are two areas I'm most interested in:

1. The interaction between Shinto and Buddhism beginning when Buddhism first arrived in Japan and continuing through to the modern era.
2. Greco-Buddhism which is something that I have only recently heard about. I've already ordered a book that I'm hoping might shed some light (Religions of the Silk Road: Premodern Patterns of Globalization by R. Foltz) but any additional suggestions would be welcome.

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions regarding these two topics, or any other sort of religions syncretism.

Anyone know any good books on British Politics during the interwar period? Just realised its a big hole in my knowledge of British political history.

Working through Hezarfen Hüseyin Efendi's Telhîsü'l-Beyân fî Kavânîn-i Âl-i Osmân, a late seventeenth-century treatise on Ottoman laws and customs. It's been interesting to get a sense of what he knew about the Byzantine past, as the author begins with a brief account of the foundation of Constantinople, the construction of Haghia Sophia, and the origin of other monuments left in the city by the Byzantines. He was, for example, aware that Constantine's mother Helena traveled to Jerusalem to collect Christian relics, and attributes the construction of the Column of Constantine to this act.

A recent convert to and lurker of /r/AskHistorians, I am currently making my way through The Landmark Thucydides while simultaneously watching An Introduction to Ancient Greek History, a lecture series by Yale Professor Donald Kagan, which is published through their Open Course Ware program.

Both are excellent, and I am really pleased by how diverse and nuanced Ancient Greek history and culture was relative to popular conception and typical public school treatment, which served as the basis for my original knowledge of the subject. I'm currently on Book 2 of the text and making my way out of the Dark Ages for the lecture series. Very exciting!

I'm planning on reading The Landmark Herodotus next, and then revisiting both texts by different translators, in particular I'd like to read Steven Lattimore's translation of Thucydides. I'm not sure if Lattimore did a translation of Herodotus' Histories, but I'd love a suggestion for a good translation beside Landmark.

Finally, I'd be most appreciative if anyone can make a recommendation on other primary sources on Ancient Greek history or culture, similar to Herodotus and Thucydides, that are worth a read, including favorable translations.

Thanks in advance!