I just read Sniping in France and it shows just how slow WWI really was. I thought WWI was relatively fast paced until I read that memoir.

Also, it shows just how influential one man in a whole army can be.

If you want a book about WWI, I would recommend taking a look at Sniping in France.

I finally finished Norman Friedman's Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology. Overall it was an excellent behemoth of a book. Very technical and indepth. He proposed some interesting arguments, and I disagree with him a bit in his final conclusion.

I was so happy because he had a chapter where he dealt with the Royal Navy's submarine development during the war, and in a later chapter discussed the Allied strategy of using submarines to hunt U-Boats. AND he didn't just dismiss their usage out of hand as I've seen more popular authors do. He gave the US subs a shoutout for that work, and mentioned the Russian submarines in the Baltic in a positive light.

To say I'm thrilled with this book would be an understatement. Got it off of the book-list to boot! Definitely earns its place on there.

I'm looking for a good book on William Tell, ideally covering the story's origins and how it developed through the medieval and modern eras. Please recommend one to me!

Does anyone know if there are any books that deal with the history of the working class and its political organizations on a world scale from the 19th through the 20th centuries and into the Neoliberal period? Or barring something with such a wide scope, a European labor history that deals a lot with the SPD, Kautsky and the break with the Bolsheviks? Also, any books about the decline of unions in the second half of the twentieth century to the present?

I know it's a lot but I'm trying to put together a reading list that will help me get a sense of the trajectory of labor and socialist movements worldwide from their origins to the present day.

Read a couple books recently:

Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956by Anne Applebaum (2013)

The decade after the Second World War saw the Communists establish their authority in six states of Eastern Europe, those behind the so-called Iron Curtain. This book looks at how that came to be.

Despite what the title says, Applebaum mainly looks at East Germany, Hungary, and Poland; while that is not a major concern, the book did sound more encompassing so that was slightly unfortunate. That said it is a good look at the political and social changes that occurred, covering a wide scope that shows how far-reaching the Communist authorities were. Every part of the people's lives were effected, which is detailed by many personal accounts throughout. However it does at times feel like it lacks a thorough analysis, and could have been more in depth and critical. That said it is an easy, quick read, and a good work to use for further information on the topic. Really for anyone who's familiar with the work if Applebaum, it's much the same.

In Stalin's Shadow: Career of Sergo Ordzhonikidze: Career of Sergo Ordzhonikidze by Oleg V. Khlevniuk (1995)

This looks at the career of Sergo Orzhonikidze, who served as the inaugural Commissar of Heavy Industry in the Soviet Union, and a close confident of Stalin, until their falling out and Ordzhonikidze's apparent suicide in early 1937. Khlevniuk was one of the first historians to access the archives in Moscow, and thus provided material here that had never been available before, especially in English. It is thus an invaluable account of the early years of the Soviet Union, as well as Ordzhonikidze himself. However it is light at times on specific details of Ordzhonikidze, and the reading at times is rather dry and dull, which may be an issue of translation. Even so it is an important work, and valuable for anyone interested in the development of the Soviet industrial capacity, which Ordzhonikidze led for the first decade.

A great day to read "1776" by David McCoullough. Well written and provides an appreciation for our forefathers.

Is there a particularly recommended biography of Saint-Just? I've always been fascinated by him but I don't think I've read a single book-length treatment of him. I can read French to a reasonably proficient standard but an English language version would be preferred.

Hi all,

I just saw part of a very interesting lecture on Dutch tv on James Cook's voyages and discoveries. Can anyone recommend me a good read on his adventures? I considered buying the Beaglehole edition of his journals, but thought that may be a bit too dry for a fun holiday book. Or isn't it?

Thanks!

I'm finishing up various readings on WWI and want to progress to the interwar period before tackling the beast that is WWII. I ordered Zara Steiner's The Lights that Failed and The Triumph of the Dark and I hope they'll provide a good overview of the European interwar period. I also plan to read The Coming of the Third Reich by Evans but are there other interwar period books that are strongly recommended? I'm mostly interested in the goings on of Germany, Russia, Italy, and Britain during the period as well as the global economic impact of WWI and the Great Depression.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Does anyone have any recommendations on the fall of Byzantium, or the genesis of the crusades?

I'm not sure if "Central Asia" is a standard term. I'm just going by the definition in Wikipedia, of the 5 Soviet -stans plus Afghanistan, and related nearby areas. Maybe Bactria? Sogdia? Transoxiana?

I've only heard bits about its history, and then only when it impinged on other areas or people. Are there histories for pre-modern times of the area or aspects of it?

The book list appears to have histories that might touch on it, but unfortunately not center on it: The Mongols and Qing Rule in Xinjiang. It links to the legacy list, which appears to have one book outside those areas, Findley's history of the Turks. Am I overlooking something there?