history book to read

[Kerbie]

Another very enjoyable book was No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It looked at the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, but focused primarily on the WWII years. Very well written.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; just got my Kindle [not crazy about it] still not sure how to use this thing. but ,I have "unlimited" [as they say] . I'm like to read History ,any kind of history. I can't find anything that suits me. Everything that comes up are these "teen "books or girl kind books ...I don't know. I'm looking for an interesting history book,any kind of history...Thanks.

Might as well start at the beginning . . .

https://www.amazon.com/Herodotus-His...al-text&sr=1-6

[MikeB1]

Originally Posted by eyesore

.. maybe something about Italy [my nationality]... someday I should go there.

You mentioned something about Italy. Here are two that are very informative and very entertaining:

1. "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling"

2. "Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture"

And yes, you should go there! My first trip was for 1 week, just to Rome and Florence. For me, seeing the Sistine Chapel and the Duomo in Florence was magical.

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by reeve21

I recently downloaded the American Experiment by James McGregor Burns
when it was on sale for 3 bucks. Regular price about $15. I haven't had the courage to start it yet, it is 3 printed volumes, 4,100 pages long. It is a commitment, for sure. So the only endorsement I can give it that is is long, and gets good reviews on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Expe.../dp/B00CLVB9UQ

Great suggestion! I did pick up the 3 volumes for $3. Just finished Volume 1 a short while ago and started on Volume 2. A good read with lots of insights.

[chuckroast]

Path Between the Seas, about the Panama Canal

https://www.amazon.com/Path-Between-.../dp/0671244094

And also related, Theodore Rex about Teddy Roosevelt

https://www.amazon.com/Theodore-Rex-...s=books&sr=1-1

[eyesore]

ooooh! so much to check out here ! thanks a million!!

[Slothead56]

There’s some deeper readers on this thread! I’m a bit more pedestrian when it comes to history.

Anything by David McCollough is excellent. I particularly enjoyed The Great Bridge and 1776.

Also entertaining is any book in the Killing series by Bill O’Reilly. These books are historically based but written more like novels. Some may argue it’s not “real” history, but you can tell the research is there. O’Reilly doesn’t pull any punches. Killing Jesus, Killing the SS and Killing the Rising Sun were brutal in parts but important to the story.

[DCCougar]

To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science - Steven Weinberg (2015)

Originally Posted by Amazon

"Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato’s Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we understand about the world—they did not understand what there is to understand, or how to understand it. Yet over the centuries, through the struggle to solve such mysteries as the curious backward movement of the planets and the rise and fall of the tides, the modern discipline of science eventually emerged."

[ghostnote]

A book I read last year and enjoyed very much is Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne. It's the story of the Commanche nation's rise and fall, and if you're at all interested in Native American history, it's a great read. One thing I liked about it is that it's not full of revisionist history or romanticized versions of the times. He doesn't take sides, he just presents the story warts and all. And there are plenty of warts to go around in this history.

[Mdinterman]

If you’re into the civil war check out Shelby Foote’s 3 volume of the civil war. Can be tedious I. Some parts but it is arguably the best reference to the civil war.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by eyesore

. I'm like to read History ,any kind of history. ...I don't know. I'm looking for an interesting history book,any kind of history...Thanks.

Originally Posted by eyesore

Well anything really. as long as it holds ones interest. American history or a goodbiogrophy....

Don't know anything about kindle, but look for:

Gustav Stickley by David Cathers.

[Mycroft]

I'm about half through "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy" by Max Hastings, who is one of my favorite military historians. Excellent, so far. Unsparing.

https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Trage.../dp/0062405667

[Kerbie]

Originally Posted by Mdinterman

If you’re into the civil war check out Shelby Foote’s 3 volume of the civil war. Can be tedious I. Some parts but it is arguably the best reference to the civil war.

I have those and they've always been a retirement goal of mine to finish. And I'd add Dumas Malone's 6-part study of Thomas Jefferson to that goal. I think I'll be quite busy for a long time.

[Glennwillow]

A book I read recently called "Grant" by Ron Chernow was very interesting and very well written. I think it won a Pullitzer Prize. It's not free on Kindle, something like $17, but it was a real eye-opener in terms of what happened during Reconstruction.

Also, a classic and great book on the American Civil War is "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. It's about $8 for Kindle.

I found that I could download Kindle classic collections by Dickens or Mark Twain for free or almost free. So I have read a bunch of that stuff. Both Dickens and Twain make for interesting reading.

For books about World War II, Stephen Ambrose wrote a lot of terrific books. He wrote "Band of Brothers," for example.

- Glenn

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi; just got my Kindle [not crazy about it] still not sure how to use this thing. but ,I have "unlimited" [as they say] . I'm like to read History ,any kind of history. I can't find anything that suits me. Everything that comes up are these "teen "books or girl kind books ...I don't know. I'm looking for an interesting history book,any kind of history...Thanks.

Here's a well written book about the history of my hometown. One might think it's a specialized book, you'd need to be from the area but it's an American story. Pick any area of the US and there's a similar tale. Walking the Old Road: A People's History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe

"The story of a once vibrant, now vanished off-reservation Ojibwe village—and a vital chapter of the history of the North Shore (of Lake Superior)"

https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Old-R.../dp/1517903408