Thursday Reading and Recommendations is intended as bookish free-for-all, for the discussion and recommendation of all books historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:
Asking for book recommendations on specific topics or periods of history
Newly published books and articles you're dying to read
Recent book releases, old book reviews, reading recommendations, or just talking about what you're reading now
Historiographical discussions, debates, and disputes
...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 of history and books, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
I would very much appreciate some recommendations on the history of food and cooking. Interested in any aspect in any period.
I'm looking for book recommendations! I need to buy a Christmas present for my very difficult to buy for father-in-law. He likes history books, but our interests don't exactly align so I often struggle to find him something that he'll like. So I thought this year I'd crowd source some ideas from the best community of historians I know!
In general he likes modern history, WW1, and histories of modern technology (preferably military, but boats and planes are also often a favourite). He usually doesn't want something too long or academic, easy to read and engaging are big bonus points. I often try and buy him something quirky or unusual, the kind of history he wouldn't usually have stumbled across buying standard books in the bookshop.
A few examples of successful books I gave him that I sourced from this very sub are:
Let me know if you have any ideas, I'm all ears and have basically no back up plan! ;)
Perhaps a bit of a weird response, but I'm interested in a biography on Mr. Rogers. He's shown up in my newsfeed a great deal recently, and I'd be interested in reading more about him that's not random newspaper articles.
Looking for reading recommendations on European warfare in the Late Middle Ages and Rennaissance.
I'd love a recommendation for histories of less well known women scientists or events involving women in science. Preferably in the American context but happy to have suggestions for non-European too.
I would really love to read more about the history of medieval tournaments - from the style that William the Marshall would have been involved in, up through jousting etc.
I have become aware of Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia by Noel Fallows which sounds great but is quite expensive and not available in nearby libraries (though if y'all tell me its fantastic I will scrounge up the money somehow). I would also like to learn about tournaments in France and England. So additional source suggestions would be amazing!
Any recommendations for books about minstrels and bards during the Middle Ages? Interested in their travels, the inspirations for their songs, what songs from then have survived, how they survived/finances and whether political content in their songs generated any controversy.
William Dalrymple as a South Asian historian? Haven't heard much about him in academia, but his books sell really well.