Alongside the rather dreary and reductionist textbooks I've had to read over the past few weeks for school, here are a few fairly decent to good history books which have kept me going alongside the classroom readings (I found rather deserving of entry-level AH booklist recommendations, so I shall shamelessly copy paste my personal impressions from there here as a sort of "spotlight" on the books:

• To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw (2015; ISBN 978-0713990898): From the seminal tragedy of the First World War to the global armageddon of the Second World War and the tumultuous years in between, Kershaw's entry-level overview of Europe's first 50 or so years of the 20th century is a fairly concise work which takes in the "scenery" of the continent without spending too much time on one particular nation. Kershaw gives particular attention to various sociopolitical trends of the early 20th century, from the demise of empires to the rise of superpowers, and the dual threats posed by communism and fascism to the continent. Each chapter contains "portraits" of various countries at the time and he does a good job tying every development back to the larger picture.
• Roller-Coaster: Europe, 1950-2017 by Ian Kershaw (2018; ISBN 978-0241187166) This "second half" if you will of Kershaw's narrative of Europe since the beginning of the Cold War to 2017 is a great work as well. Kershaw's focus on the political developments is also set against the backdrop of social developments, cultural shifts, and even an economic overview of the 60 or so years covered in the book. If you can pick up To Hell and Back alongside Roller-Coaster, you've got on your hands a fairly good duo of books to start reading up on the past century of upheavals, triumphs, and tragedies which have (and in some cases continue) the shape the world in which we live.
• Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain by John Darwin: I've already mentioned this book in previous Thursday Reading & Recommendations posts, but it honestly is just so good for an entry-level overview of the British Empire's cultural, political, social, intellectual, and economic rise and fall. This fairly concise book (of about 400 or so pages) is best paired with Darwin's much larger work, The Empire Project: The Rise ad Fall of the British World-System 1830-1970. Both are so engaging, well-evidenced, and all around interesting works that they have earned permanent places on my bedside bookshelf (a place normally reserved for important schoolwork or other papers). Seriously, if you see either of these books on sale, consider purchasing them (or at the very least, a quick flick-through).

In other reading-related news, I finally managed to pick up a copy of Christopher Clark's Sleepwalkers! It's still sitting on my bedside bookshelf in the bookstore packaging, waiting to be liberated and digested by a very eager student of First World War history once his final exams in May are over. Not included here as well are a litany of interesting (if outdated) articles on the Territory of Memel and the sinking of the Lusitania, so feel free to pm me for those links as well if you're intrigued by either of those topics!

I’m looking for primary (or secondary) accounts of people who have lived through a siege. Digital archives if possible!

Can anyone recommend me good, accessible literature on crimes in find-de-siecle/belle epoque France?

Were there any philosophy books published in especially the 19th century but also maybe the 18th century that advocated for monarchy as a system of government?

Like how a lot of enlightenment thinkers advocated republics for a more equal society; I'm wondering if there were counter books that advocated monarchy. Like after Napoleon became Emperor, was there works published on why monarchy was more stable? Or in the late 19th century, why the constitutional monarchies of Europe were a better system than French or American republicanism?

I've been trying to find a good book on the history of the Boston Brahmins, and other wealthy, established WASP families in New England (e.g. the Lowells, the Cabots, the Griswolds, the Chafees, etc). Something spanning a long period of time, like from the 17th to the 21st century would be ideal.

Hello! I would love to read more about the practice of burying live servants alongside their deceased masters throughout different cultures. Anyone know any books I should look out for?

I just watched the Hamilton musical and my interest in the Founding Fathers just skyrocketed. Is there any recommended books on revolutionary and immediate post-revolutionary America and the key characters?