Reddit mentions of Classic Battletech: Inner Sphere (FAS1724)

Depends on what your looking for.

Warriors of Kerensky, and Inner Sphere are always my "go to" recommendations for those that are looking to get into the universe at a macro level without going into any of the novels, but both books really take a "macro" view of the entire story. But offering a very fair and wide reaching look as to what is going on.

Blood of Kerensky trilogy is basically a must read as the place to start with the Clans as far as the novels go (as all other books including Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy will seem like very strange reads unless you understand the clan mindset going into them.)

But the one thing about Blood of Kerensky trilogy that doesn't really make it a good place to start as far as BT fiction is concerned is that it is also a sequel series to the Warrior Trilogy, Wolves on the Boarder, and Heir to the Dragon. Directly going into both characters and plot points that originally where from those books. So there are a handful of "big reveils" in Warriors of Kerensky that will sort of land with a thud if you haven't read Warrior trilogy, Wolves on the Boarder, and Heir to the Dragon.

For the most part I wanted to keep the summery's short and sweet, (And it still meant a big wall of text.) So I know some points got lost in the mix. But I also wanted to keep it more as the long standing "stereotypes" for the factions over the temporary "bullet points" of the era. (As those things can be misconstrued as a faction based quirk rather then a temporary feeling at the time.)

• For Kurita, the merc thing was more due to a temporary rivalry and hatred between the Coordinator and the Dragoons, something that only lasted about 25 years until 3052 not some long standing tradition they've followed for centuries, as there are instances of mercs in the combine like the Shin Legion even throughout the dragoon / coordinator rivalry. (But they are xenophobic towards them anyways for the reasons you mentioned.)
  
  
• Agreed, Davions are not Americans, although many attribute their "warmongering" and "oh way is best" arrogance they impart on everyone to have parallels with the way that American foreign policy is viewed abroad which is more what I was referring to. But "culturally" your are correct, they are not Space America by any means. (In the same ways that Kurita shouldn't be seen as "space Japan.") With their government similar to the UK, but their physical culture more a conglomeration of all of the western European states. With a heavy dose of French and Spaniard decent more then the UK itself (As there is a heavier Irish, and Scottish population more in Steiner space then in Davion space.)
  
  
• There typical Steiner mechwarriors are weak. Graduates from the Nargling are good, but as you pointed out, many of them got in more based on their social status then raw ability. While they have a solid group of elite of MW academies that turn out great graduates, their "boots on the ground" academies are viewed as among the weakest in the IS. The Lyran's close the deficit more by hiring a massive amount of Mercenaries to fill in the gaps. Many of the Mercenaries are the ones of elite caliber not so much the Lyran regulars. While many of this started to change with the unification into the Fed-Com, It was still VERY ingrained in them, and it was one of those things where they benefited more by having Davion units deployed with Lyran units rather then the Lyran units themselves getting much better. (They did, but not by much.)
  
  
• Agree on the Liao front. The china ref is more as a generalization as far as the trimmings of their ruling party and the general attitude of the populace. (Which actually is fairly similar to modern day rift in china as far as the ruling party and citizens compared to the more rural people and how they are treated.) Cappella is known for a large amount of Descendants from all over the Asia continent, with a huge Hindu, Russian, and central Asia descendants. Not to mention a very strong Scottish population with both the Northwind Highlanders, and Mcarron's Armored Calvary being traditional staples of Liao's merc units. (Historically at least.)
  
  
• Marik by this time is stable, but we are talking about "sterotypes" here, so in the grand scheme of things, that is pretty much how they are stereotyped. And while they are stable in 3050, we all know that they are not THAT stable, as their civil wars and internal conflicts between their "city state" like pocket Providences still are the subject of much internal "low scale" conflicts in the era (complicated more once WoB takes refuge there.) And its not like their civil wars STOP at 3050. Only sail through a temporary era of unity and peace before they once again tear themselves apart.
  
  
• "Special" is definatly the word to use to describe Rasalhague's relationship with Comstar. Comstar was the one that shadowy plotted to make them a buffer state for Kurita in exchange for "star-league era mechs" for the impending war with Davion. They didn't give a spit about their people, only wanting to keep Hanse Davion in check and prevented from being the biggest influence in the Inner sphere like the quasi Space Hitler they saw him as.
  They then set up shop in Rasalhauge only once the Tukayyid campaign was thrust on them, not when the entire nation was collapsing in on itself, and then essentially set up shop there to keep the clans at bay before quasi "taking over" the nation when they where kicked out of Terra by the Blakists. They where only welcomed in Rasalhague when they defeated the clans, and they quickly wore out their welcome when they decided to migrate their entire operations over to the struggling state after they got kicked out of Terra.
  
  So yeah, the original descriptions are thin, but I wanted to avoid the even larger walls of text.
  
  For those of you interested in the fiction though, its important to keep in mind that Sarna is nothing more then a "summery" of things without really going into many details or "whys" of anything. If anyone is interested in the "fiction" side of the universe without going into the novels, I strongly recommend these books, as they are ALL good reads, and are all fiction source material:
  
  Innersphere
  
  The Clans
  
  No Board game experience needed to enjoy them.