Bookclub and Sources Wednesday!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to our weekly e-book advice thread!
Now we have discovered that lots of people come to this sub to ask for books about historical past or sources on sure subjects. Others make posts a couple of e-book they themselves have learn and wish to share their ideas about it with the remainder of the sub.
We thought it will be a good suggestion to try to bundle these posts collectively a bit. One massive weekly put up the place everyone can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic topic or timeperiod, or to share books they lately found or learn. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is inspired!
In fact it’s not restricted to *simply* books; podcasts, movies, and many others. are additionally welcome. As a reminder, [r/history](https://www.reddit.com/r/historical past/) additionally has a really useful checklist of issues to learn, hearken to or watch
Comments ( 16 )
I’ve recently read city of fortune by Roger crowley. Its about the history of the city of Venice from 1000-1500. Telling the story of how Venice went from being a byzantine vassal, to the lords of Dalmatia onto becoming the stato del Mar, their role in the 4 crusade,
Battle of choggia in the war with Genoa, battles and trade with the ottomans and finally how they lost control of the spice trade and the city’s decline.
Really good book I’m a fan of crowleys other books like empires of the sea, and 1453
My last two books on the Weimar Republic for now –
**Germany, 1914-1933: Politics, Society and Culture by Matthew Stibbe**
>Not much to say. A good textbook that covers all the things you’d expect a textbook to have – politics, economics, culture etc. Short at 200 pages but with the sources being at the end of each chapter it is probably closer to 180 pages. Worth reading if you can find a cheap copy or a library copy but too expensive online to buy imo.
and **German Military and the Weimar Republic: General Hans Von Seekt, General Erich Ludendorff and the Rise of Hitler by Karen Schaefer** (I saved the most niche of the Weimar books till last)
>3/5 Good info, interesting argument but presented in a dry manner and a bit too niche for most people. I didn’t dislike the book too much but I would find it hard to recommend to most people, although some people might get a lot out of it.
>Short at 200 pages, gets the info across but not that much in the way of background context. .The book is mainly about Hans Von Seekt, head of the German military between 1920 and 1926 – mainly his ideas around the shape of the Weimar’s military (the Reichswehr) and military-civilian leadership relations. The first chapter covers the historiography of the man, which is basically a lot of other historians saying Seekt was an incompetent ideologue who wanted to turn Germany into a dictatorship, break the Treaty of Versailles and start a war with France. The author disagrees. The author’s main argument through the book is that Seekt believed that the military should come second to the political government, that there should be cooperation between the military and civilian leadership rather than the military dominating everything, and that it was preferable to avoid war (which is contrasted with the views of other military figures like Ludendorff who wanted total war and military dominance). In terms of military strategy the author says Seekt wanted a small (but a little bit larger than the Versailles restrictions allowed 200k instead of 100k men) professional and well equipped army because (1) technology was key and it would be too expensive to arm large numbers of men with the best equipment, (2) Seekt believed it would lead to wars of mobility rather than heavily destructive wars of attrition, and (3) a large army would be destabilising considering how many people were opposed to the Weimar Republic, so it would be stupid to arm and train them.
>The book is a PHD thesis turned into a book , so it is not the most readable of books. If you’re just looking for an overview of the Weimar Republic’s military then this probably isn’t the book for you. While the title of the book mentions the rise of Hitler that topic is not mentioned at all – purely a publishing and marketing gimmick.
>It is my first book on this narrow subject so I have nothing to really compare it to.
I’ve started reading Douglas Haig: War Diaries and letters 1914-1918, edited version of Haig’s diary released in 2005.
It’s quite amazing really, most of what I thought I knew about Haig, such as him being a technophobe, thinking cavalry was great and uncaring about his men. All things like that are in complete contradiction of what Haig wrote in his diary. For example, Haig was a big supporter of the Royal Flying Corps and the introduction of tanks.
Finished 1491 New revelations of the Americas before Columbus, and it’s settled as my favorite book for sure. Are there any other good top down books on the subject? Special bias towards anything regarding the Amazon Basin.
Ooooo! I’d love to read about the history of the Middle East and Asia. I took some history courses in Uni but they were focused on Western Europe and North American history. I’ve looked from time to time for some lay-person friendly general history of those regions, but not found much. I’d appreciate any recommendations! Any time frame is of interest. I have so little knowledge of that part of the world and I want to change that.
I’m currently reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes and I am loving it. It’s a great blend of the history behind nuclear physics, the people involved and the politics behind it.
Hello everyone, I’m currently writing an assignment on Dutch trade, imports and exports and I’m looking for a very specific source. I’m looking for the historic amount of trade that came through Rotterdam Port, especially from 1500 – 1800 (I believe that the metric would be tonnage). If it’s peer reviewed that would be amazing, but I’m lucky I don’t really need it to be.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for even considering it 🙂
I started reading Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne. It’s a history of the Comanche Tribe and their impact on the settlement of the American west.
As I type this, the top post on this subreddit is about Spanish horses and the impact on Indigenous North American cultures. This book will help you fully understand the impact these horses had on the Central Plains of the U.S. up to and including the expansion of Anglo settlers.
The Comanches took to horses like a fish takes to water. They mastered horseback riding and warfare from horseback before any of the other native tribes, and then used that power to conquer vast swaths of the Central Plains.
It really is a fascinating book, and I cannot recommend it enough.
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Looking for a recommendation on the 1876 election.
I’m looking for books, videos, podcasts, whatever on the 1876 election. I’ve seen several clips that are 7-10 minutes long, but I’m looking for something more in depth. I’ve already tried Five Books, but didn’t turn up anything.
I’m okay with more academic sources if that’s all that’s out there. Thanks.
Want to read more Pueblo Indian history. Any book recs? Preferably from a marxist or decolonial perspective, but any and all are welcome.
Does anyone have any good books on Romania or Bulgaria? More recent so after they gained independence from the Ottomans
I want to get a bit more reading in in the coming months, so:
What are your favourite books that deal with Europe in the rough timeframe between 1555 and 1648? Not particularly picky about the subject.
Also I read both German and English, so books in either language are fine.
What are some interesting books about heroism in Homer’s or Virgil’s works?
Nearly finished Scorched Earth: Environmental Warfare as a Crime Against Humanity and Nature by Emmanuel Kreike. It’s a look at the consequences of total war on both the natural world and human societies. This is different as instead of revisiting the American Civil War or World Wars I & II it examines the 30-years war, the conquest of the New World and the North American wars of colonization. Recommended to anyone with more than a passing interest in environmental, or military history..
Are there any good books that cover WWII resistance movements across multiple countries and fronts?