#history books

[newhistorybooks]

Ruin Their Crops on the Ground adds a critical yet overlooked dimension to the history of U.S. economic and racial oppression, exposing policies rooted in slavery and colonialism that have long targeted marginalized communities... This eye-opening book will change your view of food and its contribution to America's profound inequalities.

[ancientsstudies]

What is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?

ig credit: itsshukran.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Hi, can you recommend any books that offer a thorough overview of the Holocaust? I haven't really dived into that area since college. A friend recommend Timothy Snyder's Black Earth, do you know others?

The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander by is the single best treatment of the Holocaust I've ever read. It is beautiful and eloquent and just, chef's kiss.

I generally refer to The Years of Extermination, Snyder's Bloodlands, and Mark Mazower's Hitler's Empire as the holy trinity of Holocaust and World War II histories.

Dwork & van Pelt's Holocaust is also good.

There are a variety of other, older, well-known, and highly respected general treatments of the Holocaust. While those are important and valuable, particularly to people studying the Holocaust on the graduate level, I would argue that they are no longer the best secondary treatments available to undergraduate-level learners.

[cinamun]

Kendrick's response to Drake's horribly crafted final "diss" 😏

[int3rnztstar]

book rec drop!! currently reading ‘speak’, to be finished tomorrow! I’ve been told the ending leaves much to be desired but i’m not so sure just based off what I’ve read (like 150ish of 198 pages) tbd tbh

bye! 🤟

[charredtoad]

I want to start a post where everyone here can drop their favorite (can also be super thorough or accurate) history books, non fiction books, queer/LGBTQIA+ books, scientific books, and political books. In case, you know, they disappear!

[nanshe-of-nina]

Favorite History Books || Sybil, Queen of Jerusalem, 1186–1190 by Helen J. Nicholson ★★★★☆

As a child, Sybil’s future prospects appeared excellent: as the eldest child of King Amaury of Jerusalem and as a member of the dynasty that claimed descent from Godfrey de Bouillon and the other heroes of the First Crusade, we might expect that she would have been an attractive marriage prospect. Yet European noblemen did not queue up to seek her hand. One reason for this might have been that commanding the defence of the kingdom of Jerusalem in the face of aggressive Muslim expansionism was a daunting prospect for any warrior, no matter how ambitious. Moreover, as her brother Baldwin’s illness became generally known in Europe, Sybil’s potential husbands may have wondered whether she and her children would be similarly afflicted. In addition, as her brother Baldwin and his council made clear to Philip of Alsace in autumn 1177, outside aid was unwelcome in the kingdom except on the terms they dictated. Robert VI of Béthune, Philip of Alsace’s candidate for Sybil’s hand, might have made a more effective count of Jaffa and Ascalon, regent of the kingdom and king consort than Guy de Lusignan, but Baldwin – aged only sixteen at the time of Count Philip’s crusade – preferred to marry his sister to a man he knew. If King Baldwin IV had supported his elder sister as the heir who – given that Baldwin V was very young and in uncertain health – would almost certainly inherit the kingdom, it might have been possible for Sybil to unite the nobles of the kingdom behind her as her brother had done. But his contradictory and changing policies left her rights of inheritance unclear and the nobles of the kingdom divided. He married her to one of his household knights, then attempted to divorce them; he appointed her husband as procurator, then shortly afterwards deposed him and appointed her son as his co- ruler, and then appointed another procurator, then finally appointed two regents, one to care for the young king Baldwin V and the other to govern. If he made further arrangements for the succession after Baldwin V they were unworkable. By marrying his younger half-sister to a leading noble of the kingdom but forcing the bridegroom to surrender his inherited estates in return, King Baldwin IV ensured that both his sisters and their husbands and supporters had grievances against him. While his measures reduced any threat that he would be overthrown during his lifetime, they boded badly for the kingdom after the death of his immediate heir. Given the rivalries between the leading nobles of the kingdom and Saladin’s need to win a decisive victory over the Franks, no one could have prevented Saladin from taking Jerusalem and conquering most of Sybil’s kingdom; Sybil was doomed to failure as queen. Not only did she lose Jerusalem, but she also failed in the most fundamental function of a noblewoman: she failed to provide an heir for herself, as both her son Baldwin and her daughters died in childhood. On the other hand, in the face of disaster she did not abandon her kingdom and flee to Europe, nor did she retire to a religious house. Instead, she stayed in the crusader states and did all she could to oppose the invader. She tried to defend Ascalon, she remained in Jerusalem until it was surrendered to Saladin, she obtained her husband’s release from Saladin’s prison, and by accompanying him in the months that followed she gave him the authority to continue as king of Jerusalem. As husband of the eldest daughter of King Amaury of Jerusalem and as a crowned king, Guy had a stronger claim to royal authority than Conrad of Montferrat: crusaders from Europe rallied to him and the representatives of the Italian maritime cities supported him so that he could begin the fightback against Saladin which was continued by the Third Crusade and enabled the kingdom of Jerusalem to continue to exist until 1291. When Sybil died, Guy’s authority died with her; but she had ensured that her kingdom would not die, at least for another century.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Do you have any recommendations on books about the history of Catalonia?

I have (obviously) read about the topic in Catalan, so I haven't personally read the books that have been published in English, and the options are going to be more limited in English. But I have heard lots of historians (both from here and from around the world) praise the book A People's History of Catalonia by Michael Eaude. Judging by the reviews I've seen, it seems like a very complete book, perfectly historically accurate, and engaging. Even though I haven't read it personally (yet), I've seen Catalan historians whose work I really trust and respect recommend it.

However, you have to be interested in working class history, if you're looking for the story of kings and the church, you'll find that less here.

This might also interest you: I answered a similar question here.

[labyrinthofstreams]

The Comets and Their General and Specific Meanings, published in 1587. Unknown author.

[therealadothamilton]

RON CHERNOW

Are there inaccuracies in Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton? Of course.

Does he kiss Hamilton's ass? Sure, the book is totally hagiographic... except when he's criticizing Hamilton for...

Cheating on his wife

The Newburgh Conspiracy

The John Adams burn letter

The Reynolds Pamphlet

The Whiskey Rebellion

Defending the Jay Treaty

Getting killed in a duel

Leaving his widow and children destitute

Duel challenges

Bitching anonymously in the press

Being too thin skinned

Lusting after pretty much everyone including his sisters in law

Etc., etc.

Oh, and btw, he doesn't cite his sources at all.... Except, these:

[doubledaybooks]

Goodreads Choice Awards: Vote in the Opening Round of 2024!

Vote in the opening round of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards! We're thrilled and honored by readers who nominated our authors this year:

Fiction: SAME AS IT EVER WAS by Claire Lombardo

Audiobook & Historical Fiction: JAMES by Percival Everet

Historical Fiction: THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon

Romance: LIES & WEDDINGS by Kevin Kwan

Debut Novel: VICTIM by Andrew Boryga

Nonfiction: FRAMED by John Grisham

History & Biography: THE WIDE WIDE SEA by Hampton Sides

History & Biography: WHEN WOMEN RAN FIFTH AVENUE by Julie Satow

[newhistorybooks]

“Ivan Marcus’s book is a major intervention in the ongoing scholarly conversation about medieval and modern ‘antisemitism,’ including the debate as to whether this is the correct word to describe the cluster of hostile attitudes toward Jews in the earlier period. He strongly defends the usage in this characteristically evenhanded but spirited and engaging study of a painful subject. It ought to command wide readership and stimulate an enormous amount of productive critical response.”

[ancientsstudies]

I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide.

ig credit: bookishcoffeelover.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander

Hitler’s Empire by Mark Mazower

Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder

= my big 3 rn. this book (the one that I’m writing) requires a huge amount of contextual exposition about everything from the evolution of Nazi thought regarding the solution to the “Jewish problem,” to why Hitler felt the need to invade the USSR, to what the fuck kind of games Stalin was playing wrt Poland.

Also, Years of Extermination is probably the best work of Holocaust history I’ve ever read and I highly recommend it.