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.
Can anyone recommend a good book about pre Peter the Great (pre-Petrine?) Russia? Not so much a political history, I’m more interested in a readable book on the material and cultural history of pre-Europeanized Russia.
Two questions: What is AskHistorians opinion on 'The English and their History' by Robert Tombs? I can't seem to find many if any academic reviews and from the sounds of it it's very very whiggish, but the journalistic reviews are mostly positive.
Second somewhat related question: I've been wanting to read more academic books on the history of Britain and was wondering if any residents could point me in the direction of some books from their period of expertise. I had the idea of making an unofficial 'History of Britain' series as a more up-to-date version of the Oxford series by combining the "best" books on the various periods together (Roman Britain, Early medieval, medieval, Tudors/early and late modern periods).
Barbarian migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 from Guy Halsall Is it worth a read?
writings that explore the US's place in global history (especially related to Britain)?
looking for things similar to
American Empire by A G Hopkins
How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr
The Global Cold War by Odd Arne Westad
thank you!
Any recommendations for history of Somalia, particularly post-independence?
2 related questions:
What modern, scholarly books on Restoration/Glorious Revolution-era British history would you recommend? (In addition to the books by Tim Harris and Mark Kishlansky on the book list.)
What do you think of Thomas Babington Macaulay's History of England From the Accession of James II? I recently finished reading it, and I found it to be, if nothing else, one of the finest works of English language prose I've ever had the pleasure to encounter.
Any of you historians read Thomas Frank's The People, No? I was thinking about getting it out from the library.