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:
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 book about the decline of labor unions in the US and the growth of mafia control?
I am biased that the Industrial Revolution was a time of great prosperity for not just the business men, but also for the general population. However, I am trying to challenge my perspective. I often hear that the Industrial Revolution proved laissez-faire free markets don't work. However, when I search for history books I am only reading descriptions that seem to affirm my bias or they aren't concerned with the economics of the period. I imagine Howard Zinn's book argues against my bias. What other books should I check out?
Can anyone recommend a book on the origins and general course of the Russian Revolution? I tried to read A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891 - 1924 by Orlando Figes recommended in the subs' booklist, but I found his attempts to describe what Russia was, how it was more 'Asiatic' (not my word), by way of how it differed compared to the other European states very frustrating. Not (or not just :P) because it frustrated a pedantic impulse, but because when the comparisons used to demonstrate the uniqueness of the Russian case don't hold up against what else I've read (the Russian Tsar having a uniquely divine character compared to all other European monarchs, Russian troops before WWI being unique in not having trained to do 20th century military things like dig trenches as examples) it's obviously hard to be convinced by the narrative Figes' tries to build, tying the Russian revolution to the unique characteristics of Russia's pre-revolutionary history.
The other recommended books on the list (the 3 books by Richard Pipes) seem possibly a bit too old (they were only written in the early 90's, but I've only recently become aware that understandings of history can change as vaults are opened, resources are declassified, recently discovered, finally translated etc. and so it seems intuitively like there might've been some drastic evolution in understanding of the relevant history over the last 20 years or so).
Does anyone have any recommendations for books about the history of pregnancy and/or early childhood in the US? I'm particularly interested in social and cultural shifts during the 20th century but any good survey history will do.
Thank you!!
Can anyone recommend some largely unbiased books covering the Troubles in Northern Ireland?