Thread: Good Historical books?

I want to read some good, well-written and (most importantly) unbiased books on the following:

The American Revolutionary War
The Napoleonic Wars
Post WWII Britian (40's and 50's especially)
The End of the British Empire
The Romans - beginnings and end
Medieval Europe
USSR.

And anything else you may think is interesting.

Engaging is what I want

John Keegan is your man if you're keen on military history. He's written quite a few excellent books. John Keegan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My personal favourite is The Face of Battle , mainly because it's written from the point of view of the frontline, battlefield soldier.

Still if you choose half a dozen Keegans from that list, you'll have your reading time pretty well occupied for quite a while. My husband's the Revolution and Civil War enthusiast. But all that stuff is neatly packed away in a box (or three or more) so I can't give any recommendations.

Hmm, not exactly the 'end of the British Empire', but its a great book: The Washing of the Spears: Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation, by Donald R. Morris. As implied, it's about the rise and fall of the Zulu Empire - but a lot of the Zulu Empire's history involves the British Empire as well. It's a very interesting read, and often the descriptions of events read almost like a story. I think my favourite parts of the book definitely centre on Colonial Policy, or moreso the manipulation of policy by a few unsavoury historical figures. Really good book.

It's probably not the meaty main course you are looking for, but if you are looking for points of views and a bit of salt and pepper on the main course, the book "Tragedy and Hope" by C Quigley might be interesting. I've just read the beginning so I cant comment on the book as a whole but so far it is very interesting (and wish I would have read it 20 years ago).

The end of the british empire? History books? Won't you need some kind of phophetic books to tell you about this?

Or is the british empire a name that is no longer in use? I tell you what, the united kingdom of great britain hasn't ended yet... and if the british empire has ended then it's onlt ended in name.

here's a pic of british empire during the 1920's:


here's a pic of the british common wealth:


Sure... over 80 or 90 years you'd expect the territories to change a little bit

Originally Posted by question for you

here's a pic of the british common wealth

Well, that's the dumbest thing I have seen posted for a while. The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organisation of 54 independent member states. Most, but not all were part of the British Empire. Not all states that were part of the Empire joined the Commonwealth.

But the important point is: they are independent states. Free to join. Free to leave.

Are you going to suggest that the UN, the EU, NAFTA, NATO and IBM are all empires as well?

Okey dokie... thanks for the clarification.

I'll be honest... it didn't even occur to me that the british empire had ceased to until after I began to answer. Thats not dumb, it's just ignorant. The empire was befor my time.

Still.. quite striking similarities between the british empire and the british common wealth territories, don't you think? why is this?

What is the incentive for nations to remain or join the common wealth? I did here about australia deciding to remain in the common wealth not so long ago.

Originally Posted by question for you

Still.. quite striking similarities between the british empire and the british common wealth territories, don't you think? why is this?

Because it was formed as a group of ex-Empire nations.

What is the incentive for nations to remain or join the common wealth? I did here about australia deciding to remain in the common wealth not so long ago.

Same as any other club, political group or trade organization, I guess. Opportunities to share information, attempt to influence people, build alliances and trade, etc.

Purely an observation from an ignorant position here... But it seems a bit odd. Britain goes from an empire owning half the world approx. to the head of a 'common wealth' with whome it presumably shares it's wealth.
As britain is the Head, does it benefit more from the common wealth that other members? or does it sacrifice more?

Eitherway... quite a diplomatic stroke of genius to go from owning these nations to apparently sharing it's wealth with them...

Originally Posted by icewendigo

It's probably not the meaty main course you are looking for, but if you are looking for points of views and a bit of salt and pepper on the main course, the book "Tragedy and Hope" by C Quigley might be interesting. I've just read the beginning so I cant comment on the book as a whole but so far it is very interesting (and wish I would have read it 20 years ago).

1300 pages and $475? Bit out of my price range

The Zulu book sounds interesting, thanks

You might want to consider "The Hornet's Nest" by Jimmy Carter. It's an average historical fiction with not the greatest storyline, but quite strong in historical detail and perspective about the South's role in the American revolution.

"and $475?"

There's a 45$ version, and you can probably access it for free by other means (Public library, etc)