(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best historical european biographies

There are far too many to describe one as "the best", but here are some of my favourites.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is a well deserved winner of the Pulitzer Prize. A combination of history, science and biography and so very well written.

A few of my favourite biographies include the magisterial, and also Pulitzer Prize winning, Peter the Great by Robert Massie. He also wrote the wonderful Dreadnaught on the naval arms race between Britain and Germany just prior to WWI (a lot more interesting than it sounds!). Christopher Hibbert was one of the UK's much loved historians and biographers and amongst his many works his biography Queen Victoria - A Personal History is one of his best. Finally, perhaps my favourite biography of all is Everitt's Cicero - The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician. This man was at the centre of the Fall of the Roman Republic; and indeed fell along with it.

Speaking of which, Rubicon - The Last Years of the Roman Republic is a recent and deserved best-seller on this fascinating period. Holland writes well and gives a great overview of the events, men (and women!) and unavoidable wars that accompanied the fall of the Republic, or the rise of the Empire (depending upon your perspective). :) Holland's Persian Fire on the Greco-Persian Wars (think Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes! Think of the Movie 300, if you must) is equally gripping.

Perhaps my favourite history book, or series, of all is Shelby Foote's magisterial trilogy on the American Civil War The Civil War - A Narrative. Quite simply one of the best books I've ever read.

If, like me, you're interested in teh history of Africa, start at the very beginning with The Wisdom of the Bones by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman (both famous paleoanthropologists). Whilst not the very latest in recent studies (nothing on Homo floresiensis for example), it is still perhaps the best introduction to human evolution available. Certainly the best I've come across. Then check out Africa - Biography of a Continent. Finish with the two masterpieces The Scramble for Africa on how European colonialism planted the seeds of the "dark continents" woes ever since, and The Washing of the Spears, a gripping history of the Anglo-Zulu wars of the 1870's. If you ever saw the movie Rorke's Drift or Zulu!, you will love this book.

Hopkirk's The Great Game - The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia teaches us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I should imagine that's enough to keep you going for the moment. I have plenty more suggestions if you want. :)

I am not totally sure what you are asking for actually exists in book form...which is odd, now that I think about it.

If it were me, I would think about magazines instead. And if you really want to push him, think about the following options:

1. Science News, which is very similar to the front-matter of the leading scientific journal Science. This includes news from the past month, and some in-depth articles. It is much better written -- and written at a much higher level -- than Scientific American or Discover. For a very intelligent (and science-interested) high school student, this should pose little difficulty.
   
2. The actual journal Science. This is weekly, which is nice. In addition to the news sections, this also includes editorials and actual science papers. While many of the actual papers will be beyond your son, he can still see what passes for presentation of data in the sciences, and that is cool.
   
3. The actual journal Nature. This is also weekly, and is the british version of the journal Science. In my opinion, the news section is better written than Science, which is important as this is where your kid's reading will be mostly done. IN addition, Nature always has sections on careers and education, so that your son will be exposed to the more human elements of science. Finally, the end of nature always has a 1-page sci-fi story, and that is fun as well.
   
4. If you must, you could try Scientific American or Discover, but if you really want to give your kid a cool gift, that is a challenge, go for one of the top three here. I would highly recommend Nature.
   
   If you insist on books...
   
   I see you already mentioned A Brief History of the Universe, which is an excellent book. However, I am not sure if you are going to get something that is more "in depth." Much of the "in depth" stuff is going to be pretty pop, without the rigorous foundation that are usually found in textbooks.
   
   If I had to recommend some books, here is what I would say:
   
   
5. The selfish gene is one of the best "rigorous" pop-science books out there. Dawkins doesn't really go into the math, but other than that he doesn't shy away from the implications of the work.
   
6. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dennett is a great book. While not strictly science, per se, it does outline good philosophical foundations for evolution. It is a dense read, but good.
   
7. On the more mathematical side, you might try Godel, Escher, Bach, which is a book that explores the ramifications of recrusiveness and is an excellent (if dense) read.
   
8. You could also consider books on the history of science -- which elucidate the importance of politics and people in the sciences. I would recommend any of the following: The Double Helix, A man on the moon, The making of the atomic bomb, Prometheans in the lab, The alchemy of air, or A most damnable invention. There are many others, but these came to mind first.
   
   Hope that helps! OH AND GO WITH THE SUBSCRIPTION TO NATURE
   
   edit: added the linksssss

I love the Name of the Wind so much it hurts. Rothfuss is an absolutely amazing author, and if you love the subtlety, complexity, foreshadowing, and maturity of Martin's books you will love Rothfuss'.

Joe Abercrombie's series are thematically very similar. They're very dark, very visceral. Abercrombie brings more life to his characters than I think anyone else in the genre, including Martin. The story itself isn't nearly as complex as those written by Martin or Rothfuss, though that isn't to say it's simple and twist-free by any means.

Also, if you enjoy the world of the Seven Kingdoms, there's some great historical non-fiction that you might enjoy. I just finished the Crusades by Thomas Asbridge, which was fascinating. Edward I: A great and terrible king by Marc Morris was also excellent. The latter you will enjoy if you loved all the political wranglings of the nobility in Westeros, while the latter will appeal if you care more about the military aspects. Right now I'm reading Millenium: the end of the world and the forging of Christendom by Tom Holland, which is all about Europe at the turn of the first millenium AD, and the biblical prophecies of the apocalypse rampant at the time. It's the background for so much of the prophecies you see in fantasy series everywhere, and it's quite a fascinating read.

Edit: I suppose it's worth pointing out that the above books were recommended to me by Joe Abercrombie, when I asked him in the comments on his blog for some recommendations of well-written historical books to be used as source material for fantasy worlds.

Other fantasies that I can recommend: Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards books, Peter V Brett's The Warded Man and its sequel. Brent Weeks is good too, though I have mixed feelings on how he ended his first series. Wheel of Time is a classic, but it's long and drags (though Brandon Sanderson has apparently finished it up quite nicely, I just haven't found time to read the 12 books necessary to catch myself back up). Speaking of which, Brandon Sanderson is good too. He's written Elantris (meh), the Mistborn trilogy (quite a fun read, though it won't knock your socks off), and the Way of Kings (which is supposed to be utterly fantastic). He also wrote another book in the Mistborn world that is supposed to be amazing as well.

Random selection of some of my favorites to help you expand your horizons:

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan is a great introduction to scientific skepticism.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris is a succinct refutation of Christianity as it's generally practiced in the US employing crystal-clear logic.

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt is the best biography of one of the most interesting men in history, in my personal opinion.

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski is a jaw-dropping book on history, journalism, travel, contemporary events, philosophy.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is a great tome about... everything. Physics, history, biology, art... Plus he's funny as hell. (Check out his In a Sunburned Country for a side-splitting account of his trip to Australia).

The Annotated Mona Lisa by Carol Strickland is a thorough primer on art history. Get it before going to any major museum (Met, Louvre, Tate Modern, Prado, etc).

Not the Impossible Faith by Richard Carrier is a detailed refutation of the whole 'Christianity could not have survived the early years if it weren't for god's providence' argument.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman are six of the easier chapters from his '63 Lectures on Physics delivered at CalTech. If you like it and really want to be mind-fucked with science, his QED is a great book on quantum electrodynamics direct from the master.

Lucy's Legacy by Donald Johanson will give you a really great understanding of our family history (homo, australopithecus, ardipithecus, etc). Equally good are Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade and Mapping Human History by Steve Olson, though I personally enjoyed Before the Dawn slightly more.

Memory and the Mediterranean by Fernand Braudel gives you context for all the Bible stories by detailing contemporaneous events from the Levant, Italy, Greece, Egypt, etc.

After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton is an awesome read if you don't know much about Islam and its early history.

Happy reading!

edit: Also, check out the Reasonable Doubts podcast.

It's all shadows and mirrors of course, but I see an interest in the occult on behalf of the CIA. To begin you have to consider what kind of organization the CIA is and how it operates. In my view, without regard for what institutional creed or beliefs the CIA may have, at its core it operates like an occult/secret society. Here's a quote from William Colby, former director of the CIA, published in his memoir:

> Socially as well as professionally they cliqued together, forming a sealed fraternity. They ate together at their own special favorite restaurants; they partied almost only among themselves; their families drifted to each other, so their defenses did not always have to be up. In this way they increasingly separated themselves from the ordinary world and developed a rather skewed view of that world. Their own dedicated double life became the proper norm, and they looked down on the life of the rest of the citizenry. And out of this grew what was later named -- and condemned -- as the "cult" of intelligence, an inbred, distorted, elitist view of intelligence that held it to be above the normal processes of society, with its own rationale and justification, beyond the restraints of the Constitution, which applied to everything and everyone else.

There really is a wealth of evidence out there. I can point you in a few different directions, if you're interested. But if you believe in occult or magical forces, then you should know that the use of occult power in military and intelligence circles goes back thousands of years, starting perhaps with the Bhagavad-Gita, or the Oracle of Delphi, or Crowley's connections to British intelligence, and so on.

I cannot detail every medieval king of England - that would be too long. I can, however, outline very briefly the fates of 2 or 3 consecutive kings which might help explain that there was no hard and fast rule about counsel power vs. sovereign power:

Edward I is an excellent example of a king exercising sovereign power and effectively binding his nobility to himself and his causes. He was very active in creating policy, expanding the judicial systems, waging war in Wales, Scotland and the mainland. He worked extremely hard to be successful, and to make his kingdom successful. He was forceful enough that his nobles went along with his schemes, and Edward was always in charge. He was an excellent commander and strategist.

Now, contrast that with the fate of his son, Edward II. He was okay as a commander, but he clearly preferred not to fight. He was less interested in the exercise of power as a way of responsibly raising the success and prestige of the kingdom than he was in exercising power to benefit himself and, especially, his friends. His friends often had nearly as much power as he did, and they all - including the king - abused it to enrich themselves, thwart justice, and generally lord it over everyone else. So he had a council, but unlike his father's council which helped develop and implement policy, Edward II's council found itself struggling to get anything done because the favourites (Gaveston and later the Despencers) were running the show with Ed's blessing.

So what could the other nobles do? They tried a few things - they got parliament to back them in forcing Edward to get rid of his favourite, and to let them run the country in a more responsible manner. But then they fought amongst themselves and Ed was able to take the reigns back and recall his favourites. Eventually he alienated everyone, and his wife and son ended up rebelling against him (I'm being very general here) and eventually Ed was relieved of his crown, and either died/was murdered or hung out in Italy as a pilgrim for many years.

So, in short, it depended on the King himself. Henry VIII is another example - he was quite forceful after Wolsey's supremacy was over, but, as Robert Hutchinson has suggested in The Last Days of Henry VIII, some crucial decisions and documents may have been authored and signed by his intimates using a dry stamp because Henry was so ill. If the king was effective, he led the way. If he was egregious, it often caught up with him.

Also see King John I, Richard II, Henry III, Henry VI and James II of England. Other European countries are beyond my knowledgable purview.

I strongly recommend checking out Steven Runciman's History of the Crusades. The first one has Behemond I as a major actor. He is an incredibly entertaining character, and Runciman goes into great detail about him. The book itself is narrative, so it reads very easily. Though, Runciman is a little biased against the Crusaders because he is a Byzantine scholar himself. All three books in the series provide a very good historical overview of the Crusades in general, and paint a great picture of the amazing cast of characters of the time period.

On a side note, one of the funniest things with Bohemond is Anna Komnene's apparent attraction to him from her description in The Alexiad

I think Pacific Islander beyond New Zealand is really interesting. One book I enjoyed on the history of Hawaii was The Shoals of Time.

Another time to explore would be the Russian Expansion into Siberia, Kamchatka, and the Bering Expedition. My most recent favorite book that I recommend to everyone I meet is about the Bering expedition to Alaska called Where the sea breaks its back. It's a gripping story that reads like fiction and the author is incredible.

I hope this thread blows up some because I think it's a great question and I want to reap the rewards. Also please post any specific books you've enjoyed related to the New Zealand history.

to me, the most interesting mathematical history books are those with a targeted goal, meaning they cover the historical aspect of a specific topic, time period, person or group of people, etc. these, at least in my opinion, provide the most insight, as some of the more general books, particular those written for the general public, are too overarching to get much out of. also, another suggestion is to find biographies of mathematicians or physicists. i personally do not find any math history prior to the 1500-1600s or so that interesting, so all of my suggestions are appropriately biased.

a few suggestions are:

• a history of vector analysis by michael j. crowe
  
• isaac newton by james gleick
  
• isaac newton by gale e. christianson
  
• the clockwork universe: isaac newton, the royal society, and the birth of the modern world
  
• gravity by george gamow
  
• one two three ... infinity by george gamow
  
• the mactutor history of mathematics archive - the biographies index is really pretty good and is often a starting point for me.
  
• ams notices - great for finding expository articles and interviews
  
  i don't know of many books that follow the history of a certain subject that are any good. most of my historical knowledge regarding a certain subject is taken from multiple sources. a good method is to read articles, track down the books and/or papers that are referenced by a certain book or paper you like, find biographies of the mathematicians involved, etc. for instance, interviews with mathematicians (like those in the ams notices and the one i posted the other day) are fantastic troves of information regarding the history of certain topics, because the story is being told by a direct participant.

They're the two most common branches of Islam (with each having sub-branches). It's hard to know the exact demographic breakdown, but Sunni Muslims probably make up something like 85% of Muslims and Shi'a Muslims something like 15% (a much smaller minority belong to other groups).

If you want an accessible (not written by academics/experts/scholars) book from a non-Muslim perspective that explains the historical events that lead up to the Shi'a-Sunni divide, I would recommend After the Prophet by Lesley Hazleton. Neither Shi'a nor Sunni Muslims will 100% agree with her version of the story, but it's nicely told, and for the most part gives the right idea. It's written in a narrative format that doesn't make things dry.

If you want a really concise description of the fundamentals of Islamic beliefs and practices, from a Shi'a perspective, then I would recommend Discovering Islam by Sayyid Moustafa Al-Qazwini.

Unfortunately, resources on Shi'a Islam in English are usually translations of (often either classical or somewhat outdated contemporary) works that were originally written in Arabic or Persian. There's isn't much that's originally written in English.

This volume from the classical Hadith collection Al-Kafi (on intellect and foolishness) might be a good place for looking into Shi'a hadith.

There is nothing like reading White Fang or Call of the Wild while in the Alaska backcountry. You start reading, and with no evidence of civilization suddenly it's 1890. Also read the short story, to build a fire.

Get a copy of a book or Robert Service poetry. You have to read the Cremation of Sam McGee at least once around a campfire (our most famous poem), it's even better if you cam manage to recite it from memory.

Here's a YouTube vid of Johnny Cache reciting it.

Here's one I read years ago where the sea breaks it's back it's the story of how captain Vitas Bearing and scientist George Stellar discovered Alaska. A truly harrowing tale.

this book is the memoirs or Dick Proenneke. He lived by himself in a cabin by a lake in remote Alaska for decades. The documentary based off of it (alone in the wilderness) is excellent but I haven't actually read the memoirs myself.

Since you're in the mountains read desperate passage this is an exceptionally well researched and written account of the Donner Party, it's chilling, I read while snow camping in the Chugach, powerful stuff.

Anther great thing to read in the wild, journals of famous adventurers. The Lewis and Clark diaries, for example.

A translation of the Poetic Edda (pretend your living in Viking times)

True Grit always an enjoyable slogging through untamed wilderness read.

Hatchet by Paulson, this book is aimed at a younger audience, but it's a good book for reading when out in the woods.

I'll second song of fire and ice, Alaska is the perfect place to read it and imagine themselves the king in the north, or wandering out beyond The Wall.

Also blood meridian is another good suggestion. Adventure in the wild lands with a big element of the unknown and sleeping under the stars. By that same token I'd recommend Dead Mans Walk by McMurtry, the fist prequel to Lonesome Dove, lots of slogging through the wilderness and mountains.

Those are all I can think of at the moment.

Also a note on into the wild, I've never read it but it a lot of people up here do not like it because it's caused a lot of people to come up and emulate the guy, some of them have died or almost died. So don't tell anything to the effect of that book being your inspiration for coming to alaska.

That certainly does sound interesting, for fiction. For a non-fiction account, I'd be more curious to read the following, which I probably will at some point:

Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult

The synopsis:

> Aleister Crowley is best known today as a founding father of modern occultism. His wide, hypnotic eyes peer at us from the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his influence can be found everywhere in popular culture.

> Crowley, also known as the Great Beast, has been the subject of several biographies, some painting him as a misunderstood genius, others as a manipulative charlatan. None of them have looked seriously at his career as an agent of British Intelligence.

> Using documents gleaned from British, American, French, and Italian archives, Secret Agent 666 sensationally reveals that Crowley played a major role in the sinking of the Lusitania, a plot to overthrow the government of Spain, the thwarting of Irish and Indian nationalist conspiracies, and the 1941 flight of Rudolf Hess.

> Author Richard B. Spence argues that Crowley—in his own unconventional way—was a patriotic Englishman who endured years of public vilification in part to mask his role as a secret agent.

> The verification of the Great Beast’s participation in the twentieth century’s most astounding government plots will likely blow the minds of history buff s and occult aficionados alike.

> Author Richard B. Spence can be seen on various documentaries on the History Channel and is a consultant for Washington, DC’s International Spy Museum. He is also the author of Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly (Feral House).

I'm not sure how much of that is accurate but it should make for a fun read, and interesting to fact-check (if feasible).

Ooh, you're in for a treat. A few of my favorites are:

The Royals, by Kitty Kelly

The Queen Mother, by William Shawcross

Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton (with all the drama and revelations afterward, I think it's really good to at least read)

On Duty with the Queen, Dickie Arbiter (I expected more behind-the-scenes stuff in this one, but it was still interesting)

My friend has read Fergie, Duchess of York's memoirs (yep, plural) and she said they were interesting but not super in-depth.

If you're ever looking for a novel about a non-British royal house, I highly recommend The Commoner, by John Burnham Schwartz, which is inspired about the empress-to-be (next week!) of Japan.

Must Read Bernard Goldstein's autobiographical account of the heroic Warsaw Uprising:

Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto: The Stars Bear Witness

>Born in a small town outside of Warsaw in 1889, Bernard Goldstein joined the Jewish labor organization, the Bund, at age 16 and dedicated his life to organizing workers and resisting tyranny. Goldstein spent time in prisons from Warsaw to Siberia, took part in the Russian Revolution and was a respected organizer within the vibrant labor movement in independent Poland.

>In 1939, with the Nazi invasion of Poland and establishment of the Jewish Ghetto, Goldstein and the Bund went underground—organizing housing, food and clothing within the ghetto; communicating with the West for support; and developing a secret armed force. Smuggled out of the ghetto just before the Jewish militia’s heroic last stand, Goldstein assisted in procuring guns to aid those within the ghetto’s walls and aided in the fight to free Warsaw. After the liberation of Poland, Goldstein emigrated to America, where he penned this account of his five-and-a-half years within the Warsaw ghetto and his brave comrades who resisted to the end. His surprisingly modest and frank depiction of a community under siege at a time when the world chose not to intervene is enlightening, devastating and ultimately inspiring.

>“His active leadership before the war and his position in the Jewish underground during it qualify him as the chronicler of the last hours of Warsaw’s Jews. Out of the tortured memories of those five-and-a-half years, he has brought forth the picture with all its shadings—the good with the bad, the cowardly with the heroic, the disgraceful with the glorious. This is his valedictory, his final service to the Jews of Warsaw.”—Leonard Shatzkin

To perfectly understand the Sunni/Shia split takes a good amount of time and understanding of the political situation of the Arabian peninsula and Levant in the 7th century. However, I recently read a book that I think does a great job, doing it in a way that is easy to read and understand. The book is called After the Prophet, by Lesley Hazelton. I suggest you pick it up and read it if you are really interested.

Now for a quick summary, which in no way does the topic justice. The split boils down to a disagreement about how the Islamic community (Ummah) was to be led after the death of Muhammad. Sunnis contend that the leaders after the Prophet would be selected from among the elders of the community by the elders themselves. This resulted in the establishment of the Caliphate. The Shia believed the Muhammad's first cousin/son-in-law named Ali was the true successor. They viewed the Caliphs as illegitimate and not the true spiritual leaders of the community.

Eventually Ali became the fourth in line of Caliphs and leader of the community. However Ali was opposed by Muawiyyah, a man who was the son of one of the biggest opponents of Islam early on (this opponent eventually converted to Islam.) Muawiyyah and Ali fought in a civil war and eventually came to peace with each other. However, Ali was assassinated (by fanatics who did not agree with Ali making peace with Muawiyyah) and Muawiyyah's son Yazid eventually orders the killing of Ali's son, Muhammad's grandson, named Husyan. Muawiyyah goes on to establish what is known as the Ummayyad Caliphate which leads the majority of the Islamic world for a long time.

So what this boils down to is the Sunnis view Shi'ites as these misguided people who put way too much emphasis on the family of the Prophet as leaders. They believe that their Caliphate represents the true leadership of the Islamic world. On the other hand Shi'ites view the Sunnis as people who follow merely political leaders with no spiritual ties to the Prophet and that the Caliphate is a sham position that is far too often held by people who are corrupt.

You mentioned that the Shia are more open-minded, well I am not sure we can say that as a general rule. They are more open to US support because Iraq was a majority Shia country ruled by the Sunnis for decades, so in that sense they are more than happy to take our weapons and support fighting Sunnis.

One that I can recommend which I'm reading at the moment is Prague in Black and Gold: Scenes from the Life of a European City by Prague born Yale professor Peter Demetz.

The scope of the book is the history of the city up to Tomas Masaryk and the eve of WW2 but a large portion of the first half of the book deals with the Premyslid dynasty and has a strong focus on the Hussite Revolution. The writing style can be more on the scholarly side but it is thorough and I think quite rewarding if your interest in the topic is beyond casual.

I'm interested in this period too and have seen recommended for the immediate aftermath and wars 'Ghost on the Throne' and 'Dividing the Spoils'. If you're interested in the wider historical aftermath for the period and have the appetite for a 1000 page tome then you might want to look at 'From Alexander to Actium'.

​

Unfortunately for this time period (the 'Hellenistic Period') we don't have a good narrative history from early sources like we do for some other periods. Herodotus, Thucydidesand Xenephon tell us the story of Greece from roughly 500-362, then we have a frustrating gap for the rise of Philip II (Alexander's father and seen by many ancients as more impressive than Alexander), then various accounts such as Arrian's of Alexander's conquests 336-323. But then there's a big 60 year gap after Alexander until Polybius's histories start in 264 (by which time this is the story of how the Successor Kingdoms and Carthage alike are ultimately defeated by Rome).

[Links in para above are to excellent scholarly versions: Landmark editions in particular are fantastic with maps, good footnotes and annexes etc. But as these are all ancient and so out of copyright you can probably get old translations for free on kindle etc.]

This is more novelistic than academic, but it's a great starting point: http://www.amazon.com/After-Prophet-Story-Shia-Sunni-Split/dp/0385523947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376894644&sr=8-1&keywords=after+the+prophet

This is also quite readable: http://www.amazon.com/Heirs-MuhammadIslams-Century-Origins-Sunni-Shia/dp/1590200225/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

For a history written by a Shi'i about their origins: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Shi`i-Islam-History-Doctrines/dp/0300035314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376894805&sr=1-1&keywords=momen+shia

Any more info needed I'd be happy to help.

Heh, the relationship between Hitler and "Loyal Heini" was a strange one indeed! Himmler used to suffer from debilitating stomach cramps whenever he was under stress, for example while visiting concentration camps. So he wasn't exactly fit for battle or an inspiring General!

Here's the funny thing about Himmler being made Commander In Chief of the Upper Rhine and being sent into battle (well, going there and hiding in his tent, reading reports all day) - it was actually Martin Bormann's idea! He was becoming extremely jealous of Himmler's increasing influence, so as a way of getting him out of Berlin he suggested the idea to Hitler, who went along with it. In fact, fuck it, I've just scanned the relevant passages here:

first page
second page

Despite his incompetence, I'm really surprised he didn't - somehow - manage to wangle a Knight's Cross out of it, along with all the swords and oakleaves and diamonds.

This is the book: History of the SS by G.S. Graber


"Hitler As Military Commander" is very interesting, but really, really, dry. Next up on my reading list is probably a re-reading of Hugh Trevor-Roper's "The Last Days of Hitler" which I'm sure you would enjoy.

Thanks for the book tips - I can't get enough!


btw - anyone reading this thread would probably love /r/HistoryPorn.

Pretty much all of the books about Alexander the Great are based on Arrian, Plutarch, and (had to look it up) Rufus. I found Arrian very readable, and now that there is a Landmark Arrian, you might as well read it. There are maps on almost every page. It's pretty sweet.


http://www.amazon.com/The-Landmark-Arrian-Campaigns-Alexander/dp/1400079675

Verhofstadt is an unabashed Americophile. Here's the description of his last book, which is subtitled "a more perfect union":

>https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465096859/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

>The answer, according to Guy Verhofstadt, is for Europe to remake itself in the model of the United States of America. The former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt is currently the leader of a powerful center-left coalition in the European Parliament, and he has seen first-hand the dismal failings and pernicious stalemates of Europe's leadership. As it stands Europe suffers from the worst of both worlds, with the EU combining the bureaucracy and obstinacy of empire with all the divisiveness and bigotry of old nationalisms. Much as America's sovereign states traded self-government for the security, efficiency, and prosperity of a federal government--and thus laid the foundation for the immense wealth and power of the U.S. today--so too must Europe's independent nations accept the mantle of federalism so as to remain prosperous and influential into the future.

He also wrote another book which is simply titled "The United States of Europe." So yeah, when he said the US was an "empire" in that speech, he was definitely describing something he wanted the EU to aspire to be. It may not have been the most politic choice of words, but he said it. Farage didn't make it up.

edit: and now that that's settled, you have redditors saying that he didn't know what he was saying, because he's Belgian. Please- he has a firm grasp of English and is doubtlessly aware of the connotations of the word.

Not surprisingly, but the truth is he died in the bunker. Hugh Trevor-Roper worked for Allied intelligence on tracking down the people who were in the bunker and interviewing them. His Last Days of Hitler where he gives the evidence that was available in the late 1940s makes it very clear that Hitler died in the bunker. This was clear even without the additional evidence from the Russians.

It's a highly recommended little book that gives a very vivid picture of what those April 1945 days in Berlin were like, and also some idea of how Allied intelligence worked.

Great first hand account of living there during the occupation - [Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto] (http://www.amazon.com/Five-Years-Warsaw-Ghetto-Witness/dp/1904859054) by Bernard Goldstein. I read it earlier this year and found it quite moving. The things people did for their freedom during the uprising is heartbreakingly brave.

I like Prague in Black and Gold. I also co-host a podcast on Czech history called Bohemican.

Otherwise you're asking a super broad question.

The history goes back to Greater Moravia. That might be a good thing for you to look at.

It became a part of the Holy Roman Empire (the only Kingdom in the HRE) and later the Austrian Empire with bouts of independence here and there (see the Hussite Wars, for instance)

But the whole time they were Czechs (i.e. Slavs), not German, so they wanted independence.

I'm not what you mean about migration. Along with other Slavic peoples they moved West. How and why is mostly legendary (see Father Czech if you're curious)

They weren't ever part of another culture, so I'm not sure what you mean. They were next to - or under Germans/Austrians for so long that Czechs have a more similar culture to Bavaria or Austria than Russian.. but I can't tell what you mean.

If you ask more specific questions I'd be happy to try and help.

Yes ... I highly recommend the Book "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos (essentially a "Double Biography" telling these 2 mens' life stories and how they intertwine) I have given it as a gift to several friends who like history or aviation. Link to A Higher Call Book on Amazon

You are p dumb and also you rely on Wikipedia for knowledge. The Roman (not Greek) emperor renamed the city after himself but to the Greek population until and after the fall of the city in 1453, thirteen centuries later, it remained Byzantium. and that was the name of their empire as a result.

I suggest that you first read John Julius Norwich's superb three-part history of the Byzantines:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Byzantium-Early-Centuries-v/dp/0140114475
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Byzantium-v-Apogee-Apogee/dp/0140114483/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Byzantium-Decline-John-Julius-Norwich/dp/0140114491/

Then a useful primary source to start with would be Anna Komnene's Alexiad, written about her father the Emperor and infused with first-hand knowledge of the city of Byzantium and its empire: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexiad-Penguin-Classics-Anna-Komnene/dp/0140455272

Then perhaps something like Procopius' Secret History. Then come back and try and tell me that you don't cringe at that time you thought the Greeks called their city "Constantinople".

The Alchemy of Air

It's the story of Nobel Prize winners Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who together created the Haber-Bosch process to convert inorganic nitrogen into organic nitrogen, and then scaled up the process to magnificent industrial proportions. While this invention is responsible for the Green Revolution (organic nitrogen = fertilizer), it is also largely responsible for Hitler's ability to prosecute the Second World War from 1943 to 1945 (organic nitrogen = explosives, and food to feed a blockaded country).

This has almost nothing to do with your academic work. Read it any way. You won't be disappointed.

Adrian Goldworthy's The Punic Wars is a great book on all three of them, although I warn you it is a massive book.

http://www.amazon.com/Punic-Wars-Adrian-Goldsworthy/dp/030435967X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367623502&sr=8-2&keywords=the+punic+wars

Anthony Everett's Cicero details the life of Cicero but also details the fall of the Republic in more depth than would be required for a biography on Cicero. Wonderful book, I heartily recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Cicero-Times-Romes-Greatest-Politician/dp/037575895X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367623581&sr=1-3&keywords=cicero

"Napoleon: A Life" and "Napoleon the Great" are the same book. The US release has a different name for some reason. This should help with price shopping. Life is a cheaper hardcover. Great is a cheaper paperback.

https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Great-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0141032014

https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853

If you like miltary history or WWII at all, A Higher Call was the best book I got on Audible. Absolutely amazing.

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

More chemical engineering related, but illustrates what I call "big picture" and "scale it up" engineering philosophies.

I'm a big fan of "The Alchemy of Air":

https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793/

Then, they are 100% chem E / mech E related, but I like Norm Lieberman's books on troubleshooting process equipment.

https://www.amazon.com/Working-Guide-Process-Equipment-Fourth/dp/0071828060/

https://www.amazon.com/Process-Equipment-Malfunctions-Techniques-Identify/dp/0071770208/

There are CHEAPER earlier versions you can dig out on Amazon. Note, troubleshooting a pump hasn't changed a lot in 60 years... so... you know.

I can suggest some books that are really helpful in filling in the blanks.

For a basic overview of Islam's history and the reality of Islamic countries in the modern world I'd recommend "Introducing Islam."

For a seriously compelling look at the Sunni/Shia split and the conflict between the two sects I highly recommend "After the Prophet". Not only is this good history, it's a very well written.

And for a really excellent look at the misconceptions westerners have about Islam, and the ways in which those misconceptions are transmitted and perpetuated, you can't beat the works of Edward Said. He wrote three books on the subject that he considered a trilogy. They are:

Orientalism

The Question of Palestine

and

Covering Islam

Also, here's a documentary that is largely an interview with Said on the topic of Orientalism.

And a documentary called "Reel Bad Arabs" that examines the way the middle east is portrayed by western media.

I recently finished The Royals by Kitty Kelley after watching Netflix's "The Crown." It's a biography of the House of Windsor from its start (Queen Elizabeth's father IIRC) until the mid-90s, when the book was published.

According to an Amazon comment, it was banned in the UK as it doesn't paint the Royal Family or the aristocracy in general in a positive light. I found it incredibly entertaining and objective -- it wasn't a hit piece, nor was it written by a fawning fan, and the author clearly did her research.

Europe's Last Chance: Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union by Guy Verhofstadt ;
The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy by T. R. Reid ;
On Governing Europe: A Federal Experiment by Andrew Duff ;
Towards a Federal Europe by Alexander H. Trechsel

I always find it hard to judge how well known a book is, but here are some I loved that I hardly ever see get any mention on Reddit:

• The River Why - David James Duncan
  
• The Snow Leopard - Peter Mathiessen
  
• Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
  
• Travels with Herodotus - Ryszard Kapuscinski
  
• Replay - Ken Grimwood

If you haven’t read it already “A Higher Call” is a great book about an encounter with a b-17 and a me-109. Told in both the perspectives of the U.S. pilot and German pilot. Very good read

As far as Stalin biographies go, I would recommend you read volume one of Stephen Kotkin's three part bio on him. Here's the link:

Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594203792/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_EsJfvb01P8RMZ

It's very interesting, and definitely not dry at at all.

Edit: Additionally there is also Oxford's History of the Soviet Union post-1945, although seeing as I haven't had the chance to read it yet I can't tell you just how readable it actually is.

Last of the Empires: A History of the Soviet Union 1945-1991 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0192803190/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_WuJfvb0JSYHNT

Quote from the Pilot section about Franz Stigler.

>The things he experienced could easily fill a book

here it is (tho not just about him, it does give out alot of Franz's life in it)

Please, i beg you, read it, and if you have, Read it again. i've read mine 4 times in the past 2 months. please, just do. it's my favorite book, and as 16 who do nothing but play war thunder all day, reading a book, yet alone having a favorite one is something i rarely experience.

"A Higher Call" by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

You can find the book on Amazon with the following link, or (As I highly recommend) check out a copy from your local library. It's available as an audiobook as well, if that's more your thing. A good read/listen.

Link is to the Amazon Kindle edition.

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn-ebook/dp/B0095ZQ36G/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

I've had Davies since high school and he's never failed me as a jumping off point into different periods and civilizations.



Also, Hansen is quite good at describing Hoplite warfare with an uncanny knack for the soldeir's perspective.

Everitt is great for looking at the fall of the Roman republic from Cicero's perspective. He also has a good book on Pompey but I have yet to read it.

These are the first 3 books I pulled off my shelf next to my desk, there are more but Ancient history is pretty broad (and two of my books arguably are classical rather than ancient), I'm not going to make an exhaustive list though, because well, that would be exhausting.

Interesting stuff. There's a book I own about a very similar experience, where a guy spent 5 years living in the middle of nowhere in the Welsh hills. Definitely worth picking up if you can get it in the US: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Country-Years-Welsh-Hills/dp/0141049324

EDIT: US link: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Country-Years-Welsh-Hills/dp/0141049324

So ANOTHER biggish problem is the Stalin section -

The story of Stalin here is ,essentially, the Trotsky version. The scheming, plotting, just kinda randomly came into power, was never an heir or protege of Lenin.

Of course the Stalinist version of Stalin isn't accurate either.

Here's what I can add to this :

• Stalin was made a member of the Bolshevik Central Committee in 1905 by - one guess here - Lenin. Other Bolsheviks objected to Stalin being involved in robberies, Lenin reportedly said that a man of action was exactly what the party needed.
  
  
• Stalin came back from Siberian exile a little before Lenin came back from Switzerland, and he was pretty indispensable, despite not being very visible.
  
  
• During the civil war, Stalin displayed an ability to both blame shift when things when wrong and to get things done. He was 100% ruthless in how he did it, but he did do it. This ruthlessness extended to fellow Bolsheviks as well as to everyone else. Whether or not Lenin knew or cared about the blame-shifting part doesn't seemed to have affected Stalin because....
  
  
• Lenin specially created the General Secretary position for Stalin. Since the RSFSR/USSR was already a single party state that had outlawed factionalism inside the party, this was an incredibly powerful position. And there's no way Lenin didn't know that. Note that this wasn't in 1917 like the comic book portrays but in the 1920s.
  
  
• Stalin's relationship with Kamenev and Zinoviev wasn't nearly as neat as the comic shows. For example Kamenev and Zinoviev were two of the backers of a plot/thing to try and remove Stalin using the (maybe forged maybe not) Lenin's Testament (not actually called as such on the paper). I'm not sure if that was one of the still secret documents when the comic was made, so I don't know if its right to call them out for not knowing about it.
  
  
• There's nothing really unusual about Stalin getting Trotsky's friends fired. That was pretty standard for the Bolsheviks post-civil war.
  
  
• Stalin didn't, maybe, consider Trotsky a rival. As Kotkin put things "...Trotsky proved to be less the obstacle to than the instrument of Stalin's aggrandizement.... Stalin needed "opposition" to consolidate his personal dictatorship - and he found it." I must say I also object to Trotsky wearing Stalin-esque garb (what came to be called the Vozhdika I think, leader clothes) when Trotsky had a major preference for Western style suits.
  
  
• Stalin did not grab Lenin's power. It was handed to him, by Lenin.
  
  
  All I got to say about that. Other than read Kotkin's book if you haven't already.

Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.

Unfortunately I don't know ancient Greek, so I had to rely on translations. I tried to use several translations and compare and contrast. My two favorites: The Oxford World Classics and The Landmark Arrian.

So I didn't look for linguistic similarities, but more subject matter similarities and what I knew to be Ptolemy's bias.

Hawking's On The Shoulders of Giants

Gribbin's The Scientists

Smithsonian's Timelines of Science

There are also a ton of good historical books on almost every major milestone in physics - a few I enjoyed:

The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick

Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electric Field by Nancy Forbes

E=MC2 by David Bodanis

Quantum by Manjit Kumar

The Big Bang by Simon Singh

I can't link you to any histories of biology or chemistry, sorry, those aren't my areas of knowledge.

https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Magic-Ancient-Egypt-Rosalie/dp/0140262520 This book i found to be very interesting when talking about old egyptian history. It gives a look into early society and how they went from scattered communities to a kingdom, but it focuses on the religious aspect.

I would think a book on Napolean would be a good start, and also a book on the French Revolution.
https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853

https://www.amazon.com/Citizens-Chronicle-Revolution-Simon-Schama/dp/0679726101/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TS49J5H345TC8T3XXSS5

Gotta plug a book I just finished, A Higher Call.
https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485022791&sr=8-1&keywords=higher+call

It's about a German fighter pilot and an American bomber crew, it's the best WW2 book I've ever read.

I'm reading a really excellent book on Napoleon at the moment. Recommended.

Napoleon: A Life

Don't fret!

Calc and the higher maths are like a video game on paper.

This is a good intro and quite the stirring read.

Something to really look forward too, I'm half way through the book by Adam Makos called "A Higher Call" about a German fighter pilot and a B-17 Bomber crew. Most people who flew bombers in WW2 must have ad a death sentence or something. One of of the fascinating things I've learned is pilots in bombing squadrons all volunteered

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn-ebook/dp/B0095ZQ36G/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Adam+Makos&qid=1572876521&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sr=8-2

This author is amazing at telling stories that are captivating

Two amazing books called The Alchemy of Air and The Demon Under The Microscope talk about how late 1800s/early 1900s Germany was able to come to power by reling on its universities working closely with large Germany industries through research and development. Germany didn't have to many abundant resources besides coal and with that they did incredible things. They were also late to game in terms of colonization and trading companies, which they had to overcome when they were somewhat isolated from the world during WWI and II.

If you are an eningeer or scientist I highly recommend these books. Thomas Hager is an incredible writer.

Great book:

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn-ebook/dp/B0095ZQ36G/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_14?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Y5Q0EATT0JQGT71A44SM

Wow. They completely missed Deep Country, which is astonishing considering that I bought it on The Guardian's recommendation only a few years ago.

Here's a link - I highly recommend it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Country-Years-Welsh-Hills/dp/0141049324

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler is a popular science novel about the discovery and development of the Haber-Bosch process for ammonium nitrate.

>Dude believe what you want but for every manuscript written by an islamic person there are ten thousand written non muslim that portray a brutal life under muslims.

This is something you want to be true, but isn't. You want it to be true, so you will never seek out information that contradicts it. I get the impression that you've never read a primary source written from within the Muslim empire. You've been told these things, but you're too intellectually lazy to wonder if they might be lies, misunderstandings, and myths. If you want to be spoonfed you interpretation of history instead of researching it yourself, that's your business. But don't claim to have knowledge of history if second hand accounts and Crusades-era anti-Islam propaganda are the shaky foundation you want to build your worldview on.

Once again, the image of Islam would be seriously shaken if you read something written by scholars, like No God but God or After the Prophet, or Orientalism. Unfortunately it's pretty clear that you lack the curiosity to verify what you believe.

The Alchemy of Air is a fascinating book on the history of the Haber Process, and as geeky as it is: the beginning of the synthetic chemicals business is well detailed in Mauve and so is Napoleon's Buttons and anything by Joe Schwartz.

If you liked that I'd recommend The Alchemy of Air. It's about the history of fertilizer and nitrogen, or more specifically the Haber-Bosch Process and how it's discovery in the early 1900s allowed for the mass-production of fixed nitrogen/ammonia, and how that one discovery has completely reshaped the world, from wars to agriculture to population growth, etc, etc.


http://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793

While not written by a pilot, A Higher Call is based mostly on interviews with Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler. The majority of the book seemed to focus on Stigler discussing his career in 109s and later in 262s. I enjoyed it very much.

Read “After the Prophet" by Lesley Hazleton: https://www.amazon.com/After-Prophet-Story-Shia-Sunni-Split/dp/0385523947

It isn't written by a shiite, but it seems like she does lean more towards the shia point of view than the sunni one.

I really liked the idea of a sense of place being important. Somewhere you belong. Somewhere you can be happy.

I have read quite a bit of nature writing recently and there is a trend of the writer concentrating their efforts on a very small area of land rather than writing something with a title like Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape. (still a brilliant book)

In these new books the writers spend considerable time, years even getting to know their local environment intimately and writing about their experiences. There is a real sense that they belong in that area and are happy there.

Of course this is not a new thing. Thoreau probably started it off with Walden. Some modern books I can really recommend are Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet by Mark Crocker, Common Ground by Rob Cowen, Deep country, five years in the welsh hills by Neil Ansell (a modern day Walden IMHO) and particularly and especially Nature Cure by Richard Mabey who covers his own breakdown, mental health and depression and how walking and the local countryside helped him explicitly in his book. All of these are British writers but I am sure there are similar writers elsewhere. One Man's Wilderness by Dick Proenneke springs to mind. You can see his films on youtube.

My family have lived in the same village in very rural Somerset for hundreds if not thousands of years if some of the explanations of my odd Latin surname is correct. I have not lived there myself for about 12 years now (moving 7 miles away when I got married was a big step) but I still know every last detail about my home. Drop me within five miles and I can find my way around, not just on the roads but on footpaths and across fields and through hedges. My father can tell me a farmer cut down a certain prominent tree and I know exactly which one he means. I do miss my home.

I now live in an area that has been immortalised in a nature study to that level of detail. I live not far from the real location of Watership Down Richard Adams spent his days walking the countryside around his home and if you know what you are looking for in the pages of the book and the countryside you can pinpoint individual trees that the rabbits pass that still stand in the fields today. Some of the events in the book took place about half a mile from our house.

That gives me an idea. Perhaps I will use the book as a guide to my new home as I continue to explore the area.

Where did all that writing come from? ;)

Depends on who you ask. Shias will acknowledge that there was bad blood, Sunnis will say that everything was hunky dory and everyone loved each other and the sky rained gummy bears.

For the least biased account try looking at what non-Muslims have written, since anything written by a Muslim will naturally be biased towards which side they're on. https://www.amazon.com/After-Prophet-Story-Shia-Sunni-Split/dp/0385523947 is a good example and something I think that's right up your alley.

There's a good book (probably many) that talks a lot about BASF in that time period.

The Alchemy of Air

http://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793

What you're looking for is the first book of the Stalin trilogy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-Paradoxes-1878-1928-Stephen-Kotkin/dp/1594203792/ref=sr_1_2?crid=23KDC6NFEEFH4&keywords=kotkin+stalin+volume+3&qid=1573896635&s=books&sprefix=kotkin%2Cstripbooks%2C199&sr=1-2

Yes it's 900 pages but it's amazing. I actually put off listening to Hardcore history because I was reading this and didn't want to be interrupted. I'm about to read the second book, which is about the 1930-41 period and expect it to be just as good.

Yes, that is the one. Here is the book I was referring to.

I didn't "concoct" anything. You just don't pay attention to what your leaders are doing.

Germany tried this before, but was stopped by Britain, and has decided to go forward, anyway, just like it did with the EU constitution.

It's not a "conspiracy" when the actor in question says what they want to do, and then does it.

If he likes WWII nonfiction, I would recommend A Higher Call and The Hiding Place. I also liked this book on submarine Cold War espionage called Blind Man's Bluff.

Or see posts that try to give a reasoned pro-union argument shoot of to -10 whilst a pro-indy get +50?

There is a distinct risk of creating an echo chamber here. You just have to look across the pond to see what could happen. see the now infamous sub of don-the-ald.

Echo chambers aren't good.

Yes Westminster has issues, but so does independence, as does the EU. I caught part of Guy Verhofstadt on Hardtalk and he fully admits that there are problems in the EU. His solution of more integration actually would solve a lot of these, using Brexit to force the EU countries to really get serious and not keep kicking a can down the road, is sensible. How far you actually agree or disagree with the solution is one debate, the other is does Europe get serious or keep kicking the can? What worked for 6 or 12 is becoming unworkable at 27+.

I highly recommend a book called The Clockwork Universe. Not specifically about Leibniz, but discusses him quite a bit (mainly in context with Newton) and is a very accessible read.

It's on Amazon for anywhere from $12.19 for paperback to $27.44 for hardback and $15.99 for Kindle.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484429520&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Napoleon%3A+A+Life%3B+Hardcover%3B+Author+-+Andrew+Roberts

Read the memoir of German fighter pilot Franz Stigler, A Higher Call by Adam Makos.

For those that may want to read further on the topic, Lesley Hazleton has written a book called After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia Sunni Split in Islam.

A copy in MOBI format can be found here

Is this the book? https://smile.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

I just started the book, A Higher Call, this afternoon.

I just read the book... https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

Here's the most recent translation if you decide to give it a go.

This maybe?

reading this rn, about Napoleon

https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853

then on to Adorno
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0745611796/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

The definitive book on Haber-Bosch

https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+alchemy+of+air&qid=1558041717&s=gateway&sr=8-1

The Alchemy of Air

You can read about this battle in this book:

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam by Lesley Hazleton

[New biography of Stalin] (http://www.amazon.com/Stalin-Volume-Paradoxes-Power-1878-1928/dp/1594203792)

That has to be the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler story. Maybe this book?

Apparently Aleister Crowley offered his services to the British Secret Service and was declined. And there's this book, whose veracity and quality I can't vouch for since I haven't read it, that supposedly tells a different story.

The Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian

Interesting! Didn't mean to correct you in a negative way. Here is the version I read:

https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853/ref=asc_df_0143127853/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312021252609&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=416878126582658830&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001934&hvtargid=pla-435230722737&psc=1

I just found out that many of the bombers didn't have the Norden and just bombed when the Norden equipped leader did. If that plane was blown out of the sky....well then thing fell where they may. Also timing/movement/chaos caused errors even when the lead was undamaged. Read that in this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

Well there's been a few western written books about the topic. Ex: After the prophet. Mind you, both sides will criticize this book as being biased towards one side or the other.

I might have to disagree. That song told a tale of a noble deed in the midst of unimaginable horror, and while one could argue it is not exactly sunshine and rainbows, is not quite, well, sad.

The whole story is quite incredible, really. I highly recommend this book.

After a bit of research: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425255735/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_lJJwub0FAWJEN

Jewish stuff aside, I'm currently in the middle of The Alchemy of Air about the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, about the Essex disaster, which inspired Moby Dick.

Regarding the part about not shooting down the victorious plane, if you get the chance, you should definitely read A Higher Call. It's a great book about the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident, where Brown was flying a severely damaged B-17, and Stigler was ordered to shoot him down, but he didn't, and they met 40 years later and died a few months apart.

If you haven't read The Alchemy of Air I highly recommend it. Also worth a mention: The Guano War, a war fought between Chile and Boliva & Peru over the massive strategic reserves of bird shit off the South American coast.

I wouldn't consider myself Shia nor Sunni; just simply a Muslim. But, I am fairly clued up about both sides through going to countries, mosques and engaging in conversations as well as reading books.

I think Shias curse Aisha because of her alleged role in Ali's (the first Shia Imam, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet) so called Dust & Thornes tribulation. She, alongside her half brothers Zubayr and [cant remember] waged the first civil war in Islam (called fitna).

Also, according to Shia lore, every time something turbulent/weird [for lack of a better word] happened, Aisha was either in the middle of it or nowhere in sight. Shia accounts also document the tension and perhaps rivalry between Aisha and Ali - and may ultimately blame Aisha for Ali and his sons' suffering or just fall in line back chose Ali's side.

Of course, this is all my opinion and represents what I believe in the moment in time only. There are so many varying accounts on what happened within the first century of the Prophet's death, and it just so depends on what 'story' you side with.

I'd recommend you to read a book called After the Prophet which i am reading right now and it gives a very good account (from the author's particular bias and perspective obviously) of Aisha and Ali's relationship after Muhammad pbuh.

Peace

You can read the book After the Prophet by Lezley Hazleton. It presents a lucid and readable historical account of how the Shia-Sunni discord happened, from a historical point of view. However, I have two caveats about this book. While written by a Westerner who is apparently not a party to the dispute, the book has appeared to me to be subtly biased in favor of the Shias. Secondly, the doctrinal and cultural differences between Shia and Sunni are perhaps more important in shaping the conflict than any political or historical conflicts. This factor too is inadequately dealt with in the book.

First thing I'd recommend is a blog; More specifically, Derek Lowe's Things I won't work with. Read from the oldest to the newest. It's whimsical, funny, scary and fantastic.

Hager - The Alchemy of Air: About the Haber-Bosch process.

Coffey - Cathedrals of Science - Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry

TOC

1. The Ionists: Arrhenius and Nernst
   
2. Physical Chemistry in America: Lewis and Langmuir
   
3. The Third Law and Nitrogen: Haber and Nernst
   
4. Chemists at War: Haber, Nernst, Langmuir, and Lewis
   
5. The Lewis-Langmuir Theory: Lewis, Langmuir, and Harkins
   
6. Science and the Nazis: Nernst and Haber
   
7. Nobel Prizes: Lewis and Langmuir
   
8. Nuclear Chemistry: Lewis, Urey, and Seaborg
   
9. The Secret of Life: Pauling, Wrinch, and Langmuir
   
10. Pathological Science: Langmuir
    
11. Lewis’s Last Days 293
    
    Scerri - The Periodic Table - Its Story and Its Significance
    
    Kean - The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements 2010
    
    Le Couteur, Burreson - Napoleon's Button (Haven't read it but it gets recommended a bit)
    
    Jaffe - Crucibles - The Story Of Chemistry (haven't read this either but it seems to fit the biography bill)
    
    TOC
    
    
12. Bernard Trevisan (1406-1490)
    
13. Theoplirastus Paracelsus (1493-1541)
    
14. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)
    
15. Henry Cavendish (1731-1810)
    
16. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794)
    
17. John Dalton (1766-1844)
    
18. John Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848)
    
19. Friedrich Woehler (1800-1882)
    
20. Dmitri Ivanovitch Mendeleeff (1834-1907)
    
21. Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927)
    
22. Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934)
    
23. Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940)
    
24. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley (1887-1915)
    
25. Irving Langmuir (1881- )
    
26. Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901- )
    
27. Men Who Harnessed Nuclear Energy
    
    Edit: There is also Ignition! John D. Clarke (link to bad quality pdf) which contains the following paragraph...
    
    > Chlorine trifluoride, ClF3 , or "CTF" as the engineers insist on calling it...is also quite probably the most vigorous fluorinating agent in existence - much more vigorous than fluorine itself...All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water - with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals - steel, copper, aluminum, etc. - because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes
    
    

Because the hyper-availability of conventional fertilizer is a problem.

Conventional fertilizer placed on bare/tilled ground has a high runoff rate, this ends up in the rivers and lakes. The hyper-available nitrogen (and phosphorus and potassium i.e. NPK) is then available to other plants, namely bluegreen algae. This creates a oxygen deficient that destroys fish and other aquatic life. Its what has killed the Chesapeake bay here on the east coast, and damaged other river systems as well.

"Natural" fertilizers that are also spray applied have the same problems.

Natural fertilizers that are more organic mass in nature (looking at you cow shit) have a lower runoff potential, causing less damage to the adjacent water bodies.

It is of course not just this simple. There remains some issues where once the naturally occurring nitrogen is used up, that fields require conventional fertilizer to grow anything. The use of heavy duty fertilizer, without regard to crop rotation also increases the incident of mass mono-culture farming and other practices that degrade soil conditions.


Now if you talking about your back yard garden... there may not be much of a difference, though some heirloom varieties may not do well in the conventional fertilizer after a few cycles because they are adapted for a more complex soil profile, one that pure NPK spray will not provide.

Some recommended reading: The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hagar
https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793