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.
Looking for reasonably affordable (i.e., not textbook prices) books on the development of canon law (or other systems of religious law)
Would also like recommendations on the development of legal institutions, especially in Europe in the 1300-1700 or so time period (but would be interested to hear about books from other regions and times as well!)
I've been reading "Set the Night on Fire: Los Angeles in the Sixites" by Mike Davis and Jon Wiener and I can't recommend it enough (long read though). The level of detail, the analysis of the social movements, and how good the book flows has me hooked.
Hope this is a specific enough request, but I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations of audiobooks on the topic of general/introductory world history? Preferably written for the layman or at least written in an approachable way.
I went through the sub's wiki and searched for audiobook versions of the general/introductory world history books listed there in my local library's companion app, which is what I use to listen to audiobooks, but I couldn't find any of the titles in audiobook form.
I'm also interested in the history of south america in the 19th and 20th century and of the history of the middle east in any era. But specifically in audiobook form.
Hope this is specific enough. Thank you!
I’d like some reading material on the history of sex in advertising, and sex in popular culture more generally—idealing focusing on postwar America and/or Europe. Overlap with work on the sexual revolution and sexology appreciated.
Any good recs on daily lives of clergy or spiritual lives and practices of laity in late medieval England? I’m especially interested in how things differed spiritually between rural areas and cities.
Happy if you have recs up this alley but elsewhere, too!
Looking for reading on when/how the US started to transition to chains and large corporate stores vs. smaller privately owned stores/restaurants.
Wolf of the plains - if you know, you know!
Looking for a book on the history (and fall of) the American highway system. Any recommendations would be awesome.
Looking for a book about class systems in the old south, how they pitted poor whites vs poc, and how/when those class systems were defeated.
Hi, I know almost nothing of European history, so I wanted a book , ideally under 500 pages, that covers early modern and modern European history. I did some googling and searching of the reddit and found this course recommended: https://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-202
I know Merriman has a highly regarded textbook but I don't really want to read a 1200 page book just yet. I was hoping for something under 500 pages so I can get an overview and see what strikes my interest before going into more detail. Looking on amazon, this seems like it could be a good choice? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538113279
It starts in 1789 though. Any thoughts are appreciated!