Recently, I read the novel I Was Anastasia, by Ariel Lawhon - fiction, obviously, but one reasonably well bolstered by historical research. I was slightly skeptical, going in, but Lawhon won me over!

The book is written with two alternating narratives - one the story of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov from 1921 to her death in the 1980s, beginning in her old age and jumping steadily further and further back into her past until we get to before she identifies as a Russian princess; the other a conventional narrative from the perspective of Anastasia herself, from the time of her father's abdication to the actual, horrifying moments of her death. In the Anastasia narrative, the tension obviously ramps up and up and up, but the main story is less suspenseful - it's literary. What really comes to life is how uncertain her life was, even among people who believed her or claimed to believe her: I summarized this in a recent answer as "she was passed from supporter to supporter for years", but that hugely glosses over the actual experience of being a pet in someone else's home, being institutionalized because your host is tired of your emotional outbursts, never being sure if you will be able to call any place yours.

I suspect some people who specialize in the history of the early Soviet state might get a bit impatient with the book, because it does elide a number of figures in order to not have an unwieldy cast of characters in the Anastasia chapters. Anastasia also comes off as a "not like other girls" heroine, with her older sisters as ladylike and fearful contrasts ... but she really did fulfill the trope as an actual person to a great extent, being the least pretty and most mischievous sister and closer to her father and brother than her mother and sisters. Overall, though, it's a very powerful read and does a lot to illuminate a historical figure who is generally seen as little more than a delusional impostor. (Just don't forget that it is fiction.)

Can anyone please provide me with recommendations on where I can learn more about the electronics and/or semiconductor industry of the Soviet Union and/or Warsaw Pact member states?

I'm looking for book recommendations on the Desert Fathers!

(With a preference for good writers as well as good historians - I know that's not always possible though, especially getting away from more popular topic areas)

Some friends and I are organizing a free community education class this year. One of the topics we've decided to cover is decolonization. I've already found a few sources I'm probably going to draw from (Frederick Cooper, to start).

But I was wondering if anyone on this amazing and generous subreddit had any recommendations for books or articles that provide 1) good summaries of decolonization in the period leading up to and especially after WWII. 2) Succinct analyses of the problems faced by the newly independent countries after decolonization, like unevenness of development, debt, neocolonial exploitation, sectarian conflict--anything relevant that helps explain their current predicaments today and how they got there.

The goal of the class is to try to give people a brief overview of the history and the major forces at work today in former colonies, with an eye towards better understanding the contemporary world through it. A lot of people don't understand why many 'third world' or 'developing' countries have so much emigration and aren't at the same level of development as some of the nations in North America, Europe and East Asia. This ignorance can easily play into racist or anti-immigrant positions. We want to provide enough historical context so people in our community aren't as susceptible to hateful and ahistorical explanations that marginalize others.

The core reading would only be around 40-50 pages total for the fortnightly session (we try to keep it manageable for people), but feel free to recommend whatever you think would be helpful, since we will also provide supplementary materials for any attendees who want to go deeper. I'm also personally interested in the subject so I 'll definitely read it.

And if anyone who specializes in this history and lives in the New York area might be interested in speaking on the subject at the class, please feel free to DM me!

I keep forgetting to ask and groupemedvedkine's comment jogged my memory - what are some good books about colonialism? (preferably covering the 19th and 20th centuries)

I'm reading The Roosevelt I Knew by Frances Perkins and really enjoying it. Are there any scholars of FDR or the New Deal-era U.S.A. here with some thoughts on the book?

What is considered the definitive biography on Horatio Nelson?

I'm interested in books covering the BDM and the Hitler Youth before the war. Considering the scale of WW2 as a topic, it's hard to find unbiased factual books covering this (relatievely) niche sub-topic.

I recently finished "Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad" by Matthew Tobin Anderson. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Soviet history, WWII history, or musical history. If anyone familiar with it knows of similar books, I'd greatly appreciate a recommendation. I was disappointed to learn the author didn't have more non-fiction.