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 have been reading Mack Holt's "politics of wine in early modern France" it's a great insight into the political and religious tension in Burgundy before and during the French religious wars. Would highly recommend.
Anyone got any good reading suggestions for books about Victorian England? Any particular subject is fine. A buddy of mine is very interested in the period and turns out its a gap in my general reading list!
I've been researching urbanism, the built environment, and the relationship between health and housing in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore. So plenty of room for interesting historical interplay between late colonialism, high modernism, developmentalism; but also all sorts of interdisciplinary wackiness between critical geography, urban studies, ecocriticism etc.
Right now I'm reading A Genealogy of Tropical Architecture: Colonial Networks, Nature and Technoscience by Chang Jiat-hwee. He's an architectural historian at a university here, and I have no design background myself (I struggle to draw anything more complex than smiley face-suns, and did the equivalent of AS-Maths etc.) But all really interesting!
I'm interested in learning about the conflict in the middle east, so I'm looking for a book to read about it.
I don't want it to be like a history textbook; I want it to be something compelling enough for a layperson.
But the important thing is: I do not want it to be a "journalism" type of book that pushes an agenda or is biased in perspective. I know a truly neutral book is not possible but I would like one that is as close as possible and shows all different perspectives.
I'm interested on any recommendations for venetian history or littoral operations. In general. And any good books about rugby history. I'm laid up, so book recommendations in general would be awesome, I usually enjoy naval history.
What would you recommend for an outsider who wants to understand the historical context that Christianity originated and developed into what we know today?
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Hi, I know I came in late, but I was wondering if anybody knew any good books on the elder Bush's presidency?