Can anyone recommend me some thorough, scholarly, and unbiased (as far as possible) biographies of Lenin and Stalin? Also histories of the Russian Revolution, as well as of socialist parties and movements in Russia leading up to the Revolution.

Also, any good general historical overviews of the Caucasus or particular countries or regions therein? Even ethnographies are welcome. Also looking for the same kind of thing for Central Asia. Shoot me some reccs for anything of the sort.

Thanks!

I am looking for a book that looks at how Eastern Germany was transformed into a Communist state after the second world war. I actually have a gifted copy of "Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956" by Anne Applebaum, but since Applebaum is a journalist I have been avoiding all her works, including this one. But I was just wondering today, is her book good and would it be classifiable as an academic work? How do historians view her? If there is a better alternative to this book, I would be very happy to hear some recommendations!

Hey all,

Looking for any recommendations on pre-Christian religions practiced in Ireland or Germany. Books are preferred, but peer-reviewed articles are fine as well.

Thanks!

I’m doing research for my school’s production of the Greek play The Birds, and my director wants to make the show about youth political movements. Does anyone have good books or resources about:

• Youth culture in Ancient Greece (500-400BCE, primarily)
• a history of youth activism, hopefully including stuff earlier than the turn of the 20th century but certainly including more modern/recent stuff.

Bonus points if there’s something about youth activism/politics in Ancient Greece, but I suspect there isn’t much on that matter.

A bit late to the requests but maybe there are some souls still checking. Any recs for good books about medieval

• bards and minstrels
• assassins
• practitioners of "magic"
• alchemists
• knights
• clergy

Keeping it pretty open-ended because I haven't formulated more specific questions yet, just general interest areas. :) Thanks for your help.

I know I'm a bit late, but holidays and such. If you want a great and in depth look at the history of American suburbs I recommend: Crabgrass Frontier. It forms the base for the floating feature I'll be writing for, so consider it background reading!

I've been working my way through two books in the past week that I've been thoroughly enjoying.

1. Writing Down the Myths, ed. Joseph Nagy, 2013. It's all about why and how myths were written down, focusing on Greco-Roman, Celtic, and Norse, but with chapters on India and Japan as well. It's a fascinating approach to mythology and its development both in ancient mythographers and present ones. Highly recommended.

2. Feudalism: New Landscapes of Debate, ed. Sverre Bagge, Michael Gelting, and Thomas Lindkvist, 2011. I've always been on Susan Reynolds' side on the debate as to whether feudalism is a useful term for the Middle Ages (i.e. it works for a specific moment in 13th century France, but is actively harmful as an all-encompassing term for the social structures of the period). But, this book looks like a really thorough primer on where the debate has moved in relatively recent years, which is definitely useful to start thinking beyond the borders of my particular academic focus (Old Norse).

Late Ancient/Early Medieval Europe

I made a separate thread on about this because I did not realize this sticky existed:

Does anyone have any reading recommendations on the development of "civilization" (complex economic activity, literacy, and large scale stable states) in "barbarian" (non-Roman controlled, i.e. Scandinavia, Central, and Eastern) Europe? In particular, I want to know how these changed in the 1 CE to 1000 CE period.

I have a little bit of background (I have read like Rosenwein's textbook, a bit of Chris Wickham's and Peter Heather's work, as well as Bartlett's The Making of Europe), but most of what I know on this topic is inferring from passive assumptions in these works. I gather that there were not large settled "states" in the region prior to the collapse of Rome (excepting maybe Nomad empires?), literacy, complex economic activity (e.g. very specialized or long-distance staple trade), or anywhere near the focus on "cities" that Rome had. (This is why I am using the term "civilization", because there does seem to be a difference between the urban civitas and whatever was going on in what is now Poland). I think that there was settled agriculture in these barbarian lands, and that the techniques and species used for it can ultimately be traced to the Fertile Crescent via the Mediterranean, but even this I am not sure of. I also think that the reason our sources open up is because of Christianity's emphasis on elite literacy, but I can't tell if there is also a lack of political and economic scale before that.

I know this might not seem like an especially coherent question, but I am looking for an overview which helps me understand the academic consensus on this topic and how these strands come together. I will be having to teach high school world history next year and I really want to be able to answer questions.

Thank you in advance!

Dear AskHistorians --

I hope this question isn't too vague. :)

I'm interested in finding a book describing a period of upheaval, political intrigue, and warfare -- from anywhere in the world, and any pre-modern time. Mostly I'm looking for something entertaining, not excessively academic, and reasonably easy to follow -- and ideally which tells the story from multiple points of view.

I'm not exactly sure where in history to look. China's Three Kingdoms period seems like one possibility, Japan's Sengoku period seems like another. There must also be examples from European history, and nearly everywhere else in the world for that matter... not sure where to look to be honest.

(One source of interest: I am developing a D+D campaign world, and am looking for inspiration. I could just read Game of Thrones or something, but I thought I might look to actual history.)

Can anyone recommend something entertaining for the beginner?