Do you have a favorite book on history?

[Flaxbee]

If so, what is it?

[The Midway Rebel]

1. Guns, Germs and Steel

Jared Diamond, 1997.

It explains much about the world today.

also, anything by this guy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Braudel

...oh and David McCulloch is a fun read

...damn only one choice though...

[kentauros]

2. Mythology by Edith Hamilton :)

Other than that, the dictionary with etymological definitions :D

[hippywife]

7. I had that for my

high school Latin class. :hi:

[kentauros]

10. Cool :)

I can't remember what we had 32 years ago for Latin as far as books go... but I don't think we ever discussed mythology. There was some running joke about someone the instructor knew whom had built a house without using a square :P

[hippywife]

11. Was 32 years ago for me, too.

We did a whole semester on mythology, which I always loved, so it wasn't our text book, just a way to make it more fun. :hi:

[EFerrari]

14. Some really nice bookseller pointed out the two vol paperback edition

for me when I was about 12. :hi:

[AsahinaKimi]

3. Not sure its about history but its Historic

The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi,
I have really enjoyed reading it! I have the English translation
version by the way. Still good stuff!

[denbot]

4. The 900 Days The Siege of Leningrad

It is a gripping tale of the "other" WWII

http://www.curledup.com/900days.htm

[alphafemale]

5. Lies My Teacher Told Me nt

[unpossibles]

17. great book. nt

[hippywife]

6. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to present by Howard Zinn

A real eye-opener when I read it about 7-8 years ago.

Zinn was the man. :cry:

[EFerrari]

15. Overthrow is a great side dish to Howard.

Stephen Kinzer. Very readable.

[nuxvomica]

8. "The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody" by Will Cuppy

With drawings by William Steig.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=6y_KcpjsFpQC&dq=Will+Cuppy&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Ze4sSIS7_M&sig=lnEGPeekxPeUEIz3tUTxMV_nfSU&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=false

[old mark]

9. Anything by Samuel Elliot Morrison. I was disuaded from majoring in history

at college, but I have always loved to read it on my own, and I think Morrison is a very good scholar and good to read, which is not always the case with historians.


mark

[Baclava]

12. why yes I do - - - 'A History of Beer'

The art of brewing is as old as civilization. Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their nomadic hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process.

Through hieroglyphics, cuneiform characters and written accounts, historians have traced the roots of brewing back to ancient African, Egyptian and Sumerian tribes. The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians.

A seal around 4,000 years old is a Sumerian "Hymn to Ninkasi", the goddess of brewing. This "hymn" is also a recipe for making beer. These early accounts, with pictograms of what is recognizably barley, show bread being baked then crumbled into water to make a mash, which is then made into a drink that is recorded as having made people feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful!"

The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be the first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a "divine drink" which certainly was a gift from the gods.

http://www.alabev.com/history.htm

---------------------------------------------


You know what they say, 'A glass half empty is still full of beer'

[bif]

13. The Pax Britannica trilogy

by Jan/James Morris.

[frogmarch]

16. Ireland, by Frank Delaney

I learned a lot about Irish history from reading this novel. I loved it. It was one of few books I've read that I didn't want to end.

[rrneck]

18. A Distant Mirror, Barbara W. Tuchman nt

[Bennyboy]

19. Can't find my Way Home, the story of drugs in America.

Tells the story of drugs and popular culture int he US from Bird and Jazz, to Jerry and the Haight to Cobain and the Grunge scene.

Excellent book.