Quotations and Literature Forum

I was just wondering if there were any history buffs out there that had any good suggestions about history books to read. I love all history but especially World War II. Got any suggestions about books to read?

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Live life to the fullest, be your own hero, and never take the small stuff for granted.
~Stephanie Doney~

I love ancient history myself, anything up to the Renisance. I am a real fan of the historical fictions. I would say that anything by Morgan Llywelyn is good for history of the celtic people. I just got done reading an amazing book called Byzantinum by Stephen Lawhead. I hear that Cold Mountian is good, (better then the movie), Pasqulule's Angel, by Paul I. McAuley (about the Renissance), The Dress Loger by Sheri Holman is a good look at the 18th centery. For non-ficton Galileo's Daugther by Dava Sobel was good. And for fun a very amusing little book, if you like animals you might enjoy The First Pet History of the World by David Comfort.

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Every man carries a circle of hell around his head like a halo. Every man, every man has to go through hell to reach his paradise.
Robert De Niro, Cape Fear

If you can find a copy of the Leckie books, they are a terrific read. He really does a good job of bringing history to life.
The Wars of America, (Vol. 1: Quebec to Appomatox, Vol II: San Juan Hill to Tonkin)
by Robert Leckie
http://www.popula.com/sh/no_640/2132596.htm

Thanks for the replys, I'll have to get ahold of those you suggested to read. Currently I'm reading the book City People by Gunther Barth for my history since 1865 class. It chooses to focus on the positives of the industrial revolution and claims everyone got along. Not a bad book if your looking for a good history of city life such as the department store and ballpark. I also just finished up Black Edelweiss by Johann Voss. It was written by a Waffen SS soldier while he was a prisoner of war. It is extremely interesting as it delves into the complication of the Germans trying to honor their country by fighting but then having to come to grips with the Holocaust. I highley recomend it to any World War II buffs.

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Live life to the fullest, be your own hero, and never take the small stuff for granted.
~Stephanie Doney~

Will Durant's History of Civilization is a must.

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Let us then be up and doing, with a heart for any fate. (HW Longfellow)

The Japan and the Indian History Books are quite interesting to read with the kind of culture they have, try to get hold of any of em.

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Ishrat Noor Khan

A great book is called

"Dirty Little Secrets of World War II". by by James F. Dunnigan, Albert A. Nofi

and

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland (hard book to read but helps one come to a greater understanding)

Has anyone read any historiographical literature, notably Carr's 'What is History?' What do you think?

-fish are quick!

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"The proper study of mankind is man."
Alexander Pope

For those who have an interest in Napoleon, I would highly recommend the book Napoleon and Wellington by Andrew Roberts. It is something of a dual biography, although the author declares adamantly that he does not want it classified as such, on the lives of the two great military commanders who fought at Waterloo. It shows many fascinating parallels between the two men's lives and goes into magnificent detail about their socio-political affairs both before and after they met at that fateful battle. A good, enlightening read that offers many revisionist conclusions about several aspects of the men's lives.

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"Whom I love? Think a moment-
Think of me, me whom the plainest woman would despise...Whom should I love?

Why, it must be the woman in the world most beautiful!"

-Cyrano de Bergerac

I'm not sure if you're looking for fiction or nonfiction. Regardless, In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton is great. He compiled a number of interviews from men who survived the sinking of the Indianapolis. The book is fluid and has a story-like quality to it, but is very real.

The Indianapolis (the flagship for FDR if I remember correctly) carried the A-Bomb to an island in the Philippines before it was loaded onto a plain for Japan. Because it was a top-secret mission, few military officials really knew the whereabouts of the Indianapolis, nor the fact that it was in enemy waters. A Japanese sub intercepted the battleship after it dropped off the bomb and sunk it. Out of about 1100 men, 900 went into the water. The book talks about the three days or so those men spent, sitting in the ocean, getting savagely attacked by sharks. If you remember the movie Jaws, Quint alludes to this story. Amazing book. Fantastic story. Very real.

If you are looking for fiction, I love April Morning and All Quiet on the Western Front.

How's the reading going?

I agree with Quest. The Story of Civilization (Will & Ariel Durant) is a must read for any serious Historian. But if you don't have the time to dedicate to a dozen volume work you might try The Lessons of History by the same authors. It is one of the best pieces of non-fiction I've ever read.

Novel-wise, I'd also highly recommend Shogun. It is a fine piece of Historical Fiction.

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"The will to excel and the will to win, they endure. They are more important than any events that occasion them."

"I will demand a commitment to excellence and to victory, and that is what life is all about."

--Vince Lombardi

If you are like me, and you like to read World War II and Nazi Germany, read "The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich by William L. Shirer. It's long though, but good.

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M.A. Hamdan

Quest, I started reading
Will Durant's books several
years ago, and recently read
The Life of Greece again. He
is most unusual in that he
is actually interesting. He
even touches on old legends
like Aesop's fables. He died
in the early 1980's at the
age of 95. A remarkable man,
as was his wife, Ariel (sp.?).

A quasi-historical book that was popular a few years back is :The Eagle Has Landed, about a plot by crack Nazi paratroopers to kidnap or kill Churchill to force peace with England. It is decent reading but as with any book 'based on a true story', debatable how accurate it really is.

read johnny tremain...it's wonderful...american revolution! always wonderful