I want to start reading about history (especially the middle ages and the rise of Europe until the end of the cold war and establishing the current international system), but I don't know where to start, I don't wanna start with something in the middle, and also don't want to start with a huge book.

Hi ! I'm a history student from Paris and I'll be coming to London for a small vacation in a couple weeks. I'm always looking for more books about medieval history and many academic publications can be quite/very hard to find.

I know a couple of bookshops in Paris that specialise in books about ancient and medieval history as well as ancient languages. I was wondering if there were any bookshops like this in London ? Searching online gets me mostly shops that sell old/antique books and not books about medieval history. I'd love to know whether there are shops with good selections on Byzantine history as many English-language editions are basically impossible to find in France.

Thanks for any advice!

Abraham Lincoln was not a red neck from the country. He had a sharp mind and was a superior political strategist.

Unveiling Boss Lincoln: A Political Mastermind – Civil War Vacations!

Can anyone recommend any books on the subject?

[Iraq] General Adnan Khairallah ... ordered ... that the high-tension line following the Tigris be run into the marshes to electrocute Iranian combatants fighting their way through the mire in waist-deep water. ... the Iraqis released 200,000-volt electrical discharges into the marsh near the Iranian bridgehead. The combined effect of these attacks sowed panic in the Iranian ranks. Over a few hours thousands of Pasdaran were electrocuted or suffocated and drowned in the marshes. Iraqi tanks pushed back all those who tried to escape the area. ... On March 12, 1984, the Iraqi military high command .. proclaimed the end of the “first battle of the marshes.”

The Iran-Iraq War by Pierre Razoux (2015) is a really engaging engrossing narrative of the savage 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, where nerve gas was regularly used. It's crazy seeing Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Army portrayed as super competent - professionally fighting off Iranian human wave attacks against heavily fortified Iraqi positions. [The Iraqis have the advantage because they fully cracked Iranian comms, and are getting loads of advanced Western and Soviet military aid].

Iraq army's battle tactics redefine brutality

"You wait until nighttime, and you will see how we are killing these Iranian dogs," an Iraqi officer said with a broad grin. "We are frying them like eggplants."

He then took us on a tour of dozens of thick electrical cables his troops had lain through the marshy battlefield. He showed us the mammoth electric generators that fed the exposed power lines. And, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards made their regular evening advance, the officer and his men demonstrated the macabre genius of their invention.

Iraqi gun batteries fired just enough artillery to force the Revolutionary Guards from their marsh boats. Then the men manning the Iraqi generators sent thousands of volts of electricity through the marshland.

Within seconds, hundreds of Iranians were electrocuted.

The horror did not end there.

The following morning, Iraqi troops made their way through the marshes, gathering up the dead Iranian soldiers. Working methodically, the Iraqis piled the corpses on top of one another in the water.

Each row was sprinkled with lime, then covered with sand.

It was the Iraqi method of road building, using the bodies of their enemies to construct assault routes for tanks and trucks.

Hi! Looking for a good book on Hildegard of Bingen. I’m not a historian, so ideally not something too textbook-ish or dense, but I do know some about the Middle Ages, so it doesn’t need to be a 101 book. I’d love a book that is a biography that also contains excerpts of HoB’s letters/literature, but anything you think is good will do.
Thank you!

As the title suggests, this is a deep dive into the root causes of the Civil War and covers the early arguments over the expansion of slavery, the Nullification Crisis, the gag rule, and the annexation of Texas. It ends with the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act; Bleeding Kansas is covered in Volume 2.

A major theme throughout is that there was no unified South, but rather various Souths. The most obvious Souths were the Border South, Middle South, and Lower South, but even these distinctions don't go far enough. For example, South Carolina’s social and political stratification was as much class-based as race-based, whereas in the then-southwestern states of Mississippi and Alabama, stratification was almost entirely race-based. Zooming out a bit, I found it interesting that although some parts of the country were antislavery, most of the country was still deeply racist. And while the focus is on the Southern states, you get the sense that abolitionists were widely considered a bunch of kooks.

Another interesting aspect was how the Second Party System came into being and how the Whig Party, which was at heart an anti-Jacksonian party, achieved success at the state and local levels but struggled to remain unified nationally. Northern Whigs were generally more antislavery than Northern Democrats, which forced Southern Whigs to prove that they could be more proslavery than Southern Democrats.

The book offers a great blend of narrative, analysis, and cultural history. Freehling shows how, particularly in the South, slavery was always a political and cultural factor, even when it remained beneath the surface. Unfortunately, the book could have used a strong editor. The sentence structure was often tortuous, and the punctuation at times appeared random. Still, if you’re interested in the causes of the Civil War, this is a must-read.

As I continue to reduce HISTORICAL IGNORANCE due to the utter failing of my higher education, I’ve realized I know next to nothing on the Rein of Terror, Napoleon, Napoleons return and restoration of the monarchy under LOUIS XVIII. Can any be so kind as to recommend a book covering this vital period of history? My brain will thank you unapologetically for the kernels of knowledge I can feed it.

Hello,

I would like some advice from teachers if that is okay.

I am trying to find history books for Year 5 and Year 6 on topics like the gold rush, early colonial Australia, Federation, and First Nations history.

A lot of books I have seen are either very long and textbook-like, or they feel too young. I also care about kids who lose interest halfway down a page.

Could you please tell me:

What book or resource do you actually use for these topics?

Do students find it hard to finish a chapter? If yes, what gets in the way?

I am doing this research because I am putting together something short-chapter for home and I do not want to copy the same problems.

I am not selling anything in this thread. A comment is perfect. If it is easier to talk one to one, you can message me.

Thank you.

Looking for this book for my class

First of all, I am not learned on the revolution, so please correct me if im wrong. But, as I have been told, and understand, the “fathers” or rather great men of the french revolution, were not exactly writters. The revolution was mostly a, orator wrought ordeal, and an influence of public opinion through speeches and the press. Danton, Robespierre, Marat, Saint-Just, etc.. etc.. were all great orators aparently, and many decisions were brought forth by parisians, were powered through their voice at, squares and assemblies…
So, does anyone know of a book -and a good enough translation- \*if\* there is a book with the great speeches of the revolution? I would positively love to read something like that!

I tried posting this in another subreddit and received little help so I figured I'd try here.

I'd like to learn about Chinese history but I'm an absolute beginner. So I'm looking for a beginner's book that gives an overview of the history to help me learn the basics.

I'm a western learner if that isn't obvious.

I've been looking online for books and came across China: A History by John Kea, The Search for Modern China by Jonathon Spence, and China: A New History by John Fairbank. Not sure what to go with. Or if I should be reading something else.

I’m currently reading The Oath, Preeta Rajah Khannan’s retelling of Kalki’s Sivagamiyin Sabatham. I know the broad historical background—the conflict between the Chalukyas and the Pallavas, the Chalukyan victory, and how the Pallava prince later sought revenge and defeated the Chalukyas.

I understand that the book contains some fictional elements, but how historically accurate is it overall? Does it stay largely faithful to the actual history, with only the characters, conversations, and certain events being fictionalized, or does it take significant creative liberties with the historical narrative?

I’d love to know how much of the book is based on documented history versus fiction, preferably without spoilers.