Favourite Historical books? (1 Viewer)

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Apart from crimes, Harry potter, and fictional books. Does anyone read historical books?

my favourite is reading medieval books. There's so many i've read, especially medieval books on i.e culture, religion, monarchs at medieval period.

Also reading about history on revolution, i.e france, iran, america etc.


discuss.
 
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nicole21290

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CSI: CRIMES ™ said:
Apart from crimes, Harry potter, and fictional books. Does anyone read historical books?

my favourite is reading medieval books. There's so many i've read, especially medieval books on i.e culture, religion, monarchs at medieval period.

Also reading about history on revolution, i.e france, iran, america etc.


discuss.
Alrighty then... In answer to your question I do. I am absolutely fascinated by religion in general so that got me reading history books in relation to that, and since I started doing Ancient and Modern in Yr11 I started reading much more of that type of book. I try and research for assessments and I end up reading an extra couple of hundred pages on something completely unrelated but very interesting all the same :) My history textbooks have been read a few too many times (and all the topics we didn't too). I'm a sucker for pretty much any book though :)
 
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Snoozy_student8

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To get more of a basic overview of World History i'm currently reading 'A little history of the world' by E. H. Gombrich, he wrote it for children so it is a little patronizing but its not taxing and i'm finding it quite enjoyable.
 

m0ofin

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Memoirs by war veterans, stuff about the wars, Holocaust, the Victorian era.

My favourites are:
- An Anzac Story by Roy Kyle
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
- The Diary of Anne Frank
 

Triangulum

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m0ofin said:
Memoirs by war veterans, stuff about the wars, Holocaust, the Victorian era.

My favourites are:
- An Anzac Story by Roy Kyle
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
- The Diary of Anne Frank
Ugh. Fingersmith. I haven't actually read it, but the miniseries was awful.

For historical fiction, the one that springs to mind is the Ramses quintet, by Christian Jacq. Boy, is it ever tacky and unnecessarily long. But there's plenty of rippling muscles, sheer robes and gratuitous sex scenes (or at least descriptions of them; no illustrations or anything) if that floats anyone's boat.
 

Juliet

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Oh yes historical fiction, a match made in heaven if ever there was one, my three favourite books are historical fiction:

- Moon in the water by Pamela Belle
- Chains of Fate by Pamela Belle
- Alathea (or Alethea) by Pamela Belle

All set in and around the English Civil War, 17th C
 

Tulipa

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I just finished "The Devil In The White City" by Erik Larson about the Chicago's World Fair and a serial killer that was operating around the area at the same time.

Also there's a fascinating book "Waking The Tempests" by Eleanor Randolph about ordinary Russians after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Neither are fiction though.
 
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xeuyrawp

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Haha, I think my life is reading historical books.:p I'm currently reading Enemies of Civilisation, a comparative look at how the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Chinese saw foreigners. Very interesting just to see how you compare three very different cultures.

If you're interested in something less academic, I can definitely recommend the Jared Diamond books - Why Sex is Fun, Guns Germs and Steel, and Collapse are the best three.

Definitely lots of criticisms of them, but just be mindful when you read them.

I'm reading a really great book atm called The Surgeon of Crowthorne, it's about the original Oxford English Dictionary. It sounds lame, but it's a really interesting story and is written amazingly well. Definitely can recommend. Is a number-one bestseller, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

I never liked historical fiction; the Ramses shit by that French guy was horrible. The Mask of Ra series was a bit better, but still a bit crappy.
 

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I love historical fiction, and Sara Douglass is my favourite author ever (The Betrayal of Arthur, an examination of the Arthurian texts etc etc is awesome too). And Bryce Courtenay. :D

But historical wise, anything medieval, ancient history, etc... <3. Generally western though, British stuff. No specific booklist, I just pick things up and read them.

I wish UoW had more than like two ancient history subjects :( One of my little daydreams would be heading to Trinity College and doing the Medieval Studies Masters. And I still want to learn Latin. and DAMMIT!
 
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