books on history

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bmoore15

100+ Posts
What is the best book everyone has read about history? I love to read books on history, especially World War 2 and the American Revolution, and was looking for a couple of new books. I think my favorite is Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose. I like all of Ambrose's books. So what would everyone suggest?
 
If you want to get a great feel on the interlinkings of both world wars, I would recommend starting with Dreadnought (the building up of the world's great navies at the end of the 19th century into WWI) and The Guns of August (deals with Germany's invasion of Belgium/France in August 1914). Then continue with other novels about WWI, such as Castles of Steel, that deal with the great battles of the Great War.

Next recommendation would be The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which will fill in the gaps between the wars and give you the background on how the Nazis rose to power, reclaimed the Sudetenland, Austria, invasion of Poland, etc.

This process was able to give me a much greater understanding of the political situation and subsequent turmoil that lead to both wars. I would also recommend reading up on the Bolshevik Revolution (October 1917) and an overview of the Pacific Theatre. I don't have recommendations for these two subjects because most of the books I've read on them have been piecemeal.

Anything you read on top of that will give you a much broader context about what was going on behind the scenes at that time.

And my favorite WWII book - A Bridge Too Far.
 
Ditto on Battle Cry of Freedom (I'm a big Civil War guy), but if you like the early period, read Founding Brothers about the founding fathers after the revolutionary war. Great, great book.
 
If you want to read a great military history of the battles in the Texas Revolution (Concepcion, Goliad, the Alama, San Jacinto, Agua Dulce etc..) read Texian Iliad by Stephen L. Hardin.
 
I second Texian Iliad.

There is some very good historical fiction that I found instructive.

The Killer Angels about the battle of Gettysburg is astounding and heart breaking. The author's son, Jeff Shaara, wrote two books about the American Revolution, "Rise to Rebellion" and "The Glorious Cause," which are meticulously researched and very instructive.

Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror" is a great book about the 14th Century. I'd heard her name often and found this book to be a great read. I look forward to finding other of her works.
 
I read John Adams at the same time that I watched the HBO series. I am not going to say it was great, but it was eye opening in the similarities of today and 200 years ago.

Citizens Soldier is one of the best reads. I am currently in the process of reading it again. I think it is amazing how the second time through a historical book like CS opens your eyes even more.
 
Jeff Shaara also wrote two books on Gettysburg, which form the trilogy on the Civil War - Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. If you're going to read Killer Angels, I'd recommend reading all three.
 
The best WW2 book I've ever read is The Black March by Peter Neumann. It's the autobiography of a German who joined the SS. He doesn't hold anything back as far as his thoughts and mindset at the time and just presents them as they were without either being ashamed or making excuses. Very revealing to see his sympathy for Jews, civilians, and prisoners and his mental mockery of inept Nazi leadership and ridiculous philosophical/political ideas matched up against his youthful zeal, love for the Fatherland, and devotion of obedience and duty as a soldier.

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Any of the churchill non-fiction books are excellent.

These

There is also a book about Hitler's architech Speers, which I found strangely riviting, and I'm not sure why.
 
It's long (990 pages) and a bit more "scholarly" than most of the books on this thread but Freedom From Fear by David Kennedy is a masterwork and provides a great perspective on America from 1929-1945 . I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it. It's the type of thing that could be used as a college textbook but is not dry in the slightest.
the book on Amazon
 
Sort of on the subject of WW2 is another great book, "The House on Garibaldi Street" by Isser Harel. He was the head of the secret Israeli mission that begin in the late 1950s to find and capture Adolf Eichmann and bring him to trail and the book is the story of how they went about that mission.
 
"Endgame - 1945" is a must read. Agree with "Dreadnought"....actually I might justread that one again.

I'm currently reading "After the Reich". Very gritty...its an account of the allied occupation. I'm developing a whole new view of WW2.
 
I'll throw out another vote for Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I enjoy how a German reviewer complained the book didn't cite such and such a historian (Shirer almost always cites either primary documents or memoirs of people involved).

I'm a big fan of a lot of the civil war stuff written by Bruce Catton- I'd start with The Coming Fury.
 
Unfortunately there are a couple of books out with the same name, A History of Rome, that I would recommend but can't pin down exactly which is which.

Nonetheless, I will impart several lingering and haunting lessons learned:

1) At some point a Roman became a Senator because of his wealth. Not because of a vote by the people.

2) Senaors came from Italy mostly. There was no elective representation from other parts of the Empire.

3) Roman politicians innovated with their law the same way we innovate with technology. Julius Caesar was perhaps the worst of them. He was a great guy and literally a mass murderer on the scale of Hitler, but he was a little too loose with the law and tradition. Hence he was assasinated.

With so many references back to the Roman Republic by our Founding Fathers, I think reading a book about Roman History can help one to appreciate what the Founding Fathers admired about Rome, and by reading the Constitution, what they didn't.
 
A. Bettik,


I don't want to be a jerk, but your brief on Roman History is not particularly accurate. Part of the problem is that Roman History covers centuries over which the republic and then empire changed.

Accumulation of wealth was not an instant ticket to the Senate, although it was the mark of an Equite. Attaining the Senate was a combination of birthright and election to a series of other government positions (during the Republic).

Julius Caesar being "assassinated" because he was "a little too loose with the law and tradition" is also not particularly accurate. The Republic was already largely dead after a series of civil wars and dictatorial rulers. Although some of his assassins may have had a romantic notion of restoring the Republic, for most of his assassins the issue was jealousy and ambition.
 
For Julius Caesar and the fall of the republic I'd recommend Rubicon by Tom Holland. Really gives you a feeling for the context and the personalities involved.
 
I recently read to WW2 related books:

"The Man Who Invented Hitler" by David Lewis

"The Young Hitler I knew" by August Kubizek

Enjoy!
 
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