History Books

[howeman]

If I wanted to find well written books about history, where would I go to find those books? I'm not looking for textbooks, more along the lines of a novel, something more easy to read (along the lines of David McCullough). Obviously I could go to a library and ask the librarian, but the librarian was unhelpful so I'm looking for a plan B. Specifically, I could say I'm looking for war-time american history and European history pre-1800, but if there are broader sites, that's even better.

Thanks.

[Beuk]

Um, there's Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels which is fictional telling of the Battle of Gettysburg. Also, They Marched Into Sunlight is an interesting narrative of October 17-18, 1967 following the Black Lions in Vietnam and students at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. American history is my weak point, so that's about all I have.

I've never read it, but my mom likes Myself, Christopher Wren which is historical fiction.

I have tons of books about 19th century Europe but I know way less about 18th century and earlier Europe so that's about all I can do. There are probably tons of books about the Sun King and his court. If you're interested in Russia, you could find some good stuff about Ivan IV and/or the House of Romanov.

[Mars]

The Children's Crusade; a history
Gray, George Zabriskie, 1838-1889.

Was a rather good read.

A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age


Also good.

Um, well, go to your local library and look under the history section, find a few books and start reading them. Sometimes, they suck and I stop reading them. Also, look at the "Countries" section of your library. If you want to learn about, say Germany, they'll be modern books there as well as historical books.

[Beuk]

"go to your local library and look under the history section, find a few books and start reading them."

That's pretty much my advice as well.

[Dom]

Bernard Cornwell's not long released Azincourt, which I'd recommend as decent historical fiction. It does a good job of describing the build-up before the battle and the battle itself from the point of view of a rank-and-file longbowman, and of explaining just why they were so feared in Europe at the time.