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.
I asked this question recently about the reaction of the Ottomans to Western archeologists excavating in and exporting artifacts from their territory. I realized soon after that a colleague had edited one volume on the subject of Ottoman archeology and written another on the creation of the Imperial Museum toward the end of the 19th century. These books answered my question and more.
I recommend the following for anyone interested in the development of archeology in the Ottoman Empire:
Bahrani, Zainab., Çelik, Zeynep., Eldem, Edhem. Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914. Istanbul: SALT, 2011.
Çelik, Zeynep. About Antiquities: Politics of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire. United States: University of Texas Press, 2016.
Hey everyone, I'm looking for a book on the history of Taiwan, from the first European encounters to the present. Even better if it goes back to the very first migration to the island thousands of years ago.
I was recommended Taiwan: A Political History by Denny Roy, but was later told it mostly focuses on the 20th century, with only two chapters on earlier history.
Thanks in advance!
Hey everyone,
Recent events in Afghanistan have made me want to read or watch a documentary which covers the history of Afghanistan comprehensively. I particularly enjoy the documentaries of Ken Burns, which are quite long (10-20 hours total). If anyone happens to know such a documentary or any other book that covers the modern history of Afghanistan extensively, I am very eager to hear about! I hope anyone can help me out.
Hello there,
I'm a European who wants to learn about history of the USA from its beginning until today because I know almost nothing about it. I tried searching in "resources" of this and other subreddits but it seems like all those books focus on rather specific periods and explain those periods in detail. What I want is one book (might be a tv series or not super big series of books) with all history of the US in this one book just to have general understanding of it.
I just finished Battle Cry of Freedom(McPherson) and it was awesome, really felt like reading a thriller