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.
Read a couple good ones recently:
Debates on Stalinism by Mark Edele (2020). This looks at the historiography of Stalinism, starting with a series of articles published in the journal The Russian Review in the mid-1980s that challenged the existing narrative, and led to a spat between historians. Edele has biographies of some major figures in the field (Moshe Lewin, Richard Pipes, and Sheila Fitzpatrick each get a chapter, while others also get a good overview), as well as some of the major debates in the field, like totalitarianism in context of Stalin, and about the Holodomor, and most notably a subsection titled "Stalin's penis" that gets into a frank talk about his sex life and how relevant that is. It's got an extensive bibliography as well, and being so recent is a great resource for anyone looking at how the field was shaped.
The Dunsmuir Saga by Terry Reksten (1994). In a totally different area, this is about a family that was a major factor in the development of Vancouver Island, and likely is only familiar to those who are from the Island. The patriarch Robert Dunsmuir emigrated from Scotland in the 1850s to mine coal, and ended up the wealthiest man on the Island (and indeed British Columbia) by his death in 1889, owning major coal mines, railways, and land. His son James Dunsmuir followed Robert as a wealthy mine-owner, and like Robert was elected to the BC legislature, where he briefly served as Premier from 1901 to 1903, and then as Lieutenant-Governor in 1906 to 1909. Reksten also looks at the other Dunsmuir family (both Robert and James had 10+ children; nearly all lived to adulthood), and the legal disputes that arose after Robert's death (it took years to resolve). She also covers how the family that effectively developed Vancouver Island and were de facto leaders of it by 1900 ended up broke by 1950. It's a really engaging book, and does a good job of covering their impact.
Looking for a few book recommendations.
First, anything covering the pirates of the Barbary Coast, maybe from the 17th century onwards? I know it's a complicated time and there's a lot of shifting polities in the region, but I'm so interested in the idea that there was this sorta rouge state on the Mediterranean for so long! So anything that could help give some insight would be great. Doesn't have to be too specific or in-depth on any particular time or ruler. I'm more interested in how it functioned, the extent of the raiding etc.
Secondly, I am very excited for Victoria 3 and would love some more background on the time period in Europe (mainly) and America (secondly). The game is from 1836-1936, and anything broadly covering that time period would be great. I am looking to purchase The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914 by Richard Evans, because it seems like the exact kind of broad overview I'm looking for. Any suggestions?
I'd also be interested in American history, but especially pre-Civil War. My knowledge is pretty shamefully lacking, so anything that covers post War of 1812 to 1860 would be great.
Thanks!
Taking a short break from more academic pursuits to read some spooky stories for the season that's in it.
First I read a small collection of ghost stories by M.R. James and really enjoyed them. It's also very apparent that he was a medieval historian, far more spooky manuscripts and very specific descriptions of ruins than in your run of the mill ghost story.
Currently reading Misery by Stephen King and find it kind of slow going. I'm only about 50 pages in but it's not gripping me like I expected.
Looking for books which explain the history of how Paganism managed to give way to Monotheism in ancient Greece/Egypt etc. I am trying to understand the first principles of the transformation.
Looking for book recommendations about the Republic of Texas, primarily focused on when it was an independent nation after the Revolution.