Thursday Reading and Research is intended as an academic free-for-all, for the discussion of all issues historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:
New developments or discoveries in the field
Recent book releases, old book reviews, reading recommendations, or just talking about what you're reading now
Historiographical discussions, debates, and disputes
Your current research interests or projects
The goings on within the academy
...And so on!
Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion only of matters historical discussion, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
I’m reading all over the world right now. The two books I’m prioritizing right now is The Two Koreas and Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation.
The Two Koreas by Don Oberdorfer is self-professed as a contemporary history, written largely based on the basics of the period on the Korean Peninsula between the 60s and the 90s. It is written by a reporter who had been involved in Korea for all those years. I wanted an introductory or accessible piece to understand the basics of the history of Korea between Japanese occupation to today, and this book so far is very good at doing so. Occasionally, it will go into what I like to call “novel history” or “narrative history”, or something to that effect, where an event is written similar to how a novel may, obscuring objectivity and reading as if the reader is a member of the action until they give the actual facts of the event and look at it objectively. It’s pretty well written and makes for an enjoyable understanding.
Speaking of novel history, Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation seems to be largely treated as it. This book is truly a biography as it seems to be obsessed with following every action Turkey’s founder did in his lifetime, down to personal conversations he’d share with bystanders or friends. I don’t actually have a problem with novel history, and, in fact, I think it is very fitting for Patrick Kinross’s biography. The reader still gets a great sense of what the Young Turk movement was, as well as that of the theoretical Turkish partition and societal changes inside Turkey, but it is very centralized on the figure Kinross was focused on. A somewhat dauntingly-sized book becomes a very, very fast read if it can engage you, and this biography does that.
Two books that arrived at my house today were The Conquest of a Continent by Bruce Lincoln, a highly accessible English-language historian on Russia, and Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, based on - you guessed it! - Richard Nixon.
This weekly event is actually my favorite. I love to learn what other historical pieces people both professional and casual read.
I am looking for a reading recommendation. I'm looking to learn more about the five summits between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev which eventually helped the relations between the US and the USSR and eventually ended the Cold War. I would like to know what was discussed and how the summit progressed.
The possible upcoming US and N.Korea Summit has had me thinking about that famous summit. It just blows my mind that two state enemies could ever agree in either of these situations, and of course it happened during the Cold War.
Thanks ahead of time for any recommendations.
Hey guys, I’m interested in learning more about the Bosnian War and the Fall of Yogoslavia in general. Could anyone suggest a few books to get an in depth understanding of the political, social, military (and perhaps economic) reasons for, events, and aftermath of the crises
With it being a fairly modern event, could anyone recommend some fairly unbiased or least controversial books on the topic
Thanks in advance!