(Part 2) Best products from r/history

A lot of people here are giving shitty answers and not helping because they disprove of your use of "dark ages."
On behalf on the internet I apologize. They are giving you crap for not knowing something you have expressed interest in learning about.
I am fascinated by the "Dark ages" and I have a history degree and I'm still using the term. I understand it to usually mean "the medieval times" or "the huge time-span that is not usually taught to the average student." Most history in public schools (at least that I've seen) tends to gloss over the time from the Romans to the early renaissance so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that's the era you want. It's my favorite era to study for that reason - most people know so little about this 1000 year span in history.
A good starter book for you would be A world lit only by Fire I loved this book. It's not overly scholarly and is a good read.
Another great one is Mysteries of the Middle Ages... Thomas Cahill is a great writer and if this version of the paperback is anything like my copy it is a visually stunning read. I discovered him through "How the Irish Saved Civilization" which was also great.
Mark Kurlansky's books (Salt and Cod specifically come to mind) are well written, specific histories that cover parts of this time period.
I wish my books weren't still packed (recently moved) because I want to dig through the stack and share them all. :) I suck at remembering names of stuff. I recommend browsing the amazon pages section of "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" for other good recommendations.
Happy Reading!! :)
edit - just remembered this one on the byzantine empire of all the books I've read on the Byzantines, that one is my favorite.

edit I'm getting a lashing for "A World Lit Only By Fire" due to the fact that it contains historical inaccuracies.
Please read this one instead In the year 1000.
I'm not trying to recommend dry scholarly tomes, I am trying to think of books that are fun, interesting, and entertaining to read while still being informative.

I'm going to be lazy and simply repost a post of mine from a year ago. :)

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. :)

American Caesar by William Manchester is an excellent book about MacArthur. Certainly the man had his flaws and even made grave mistakes, but he was a brilliant general and I've actually never read a single source or "serious historian" that says he wasn't or even disputes this. The Inchon landing alone has been consistently praised for its boldness and daring, as was his entire campaign in the South Pacific. He greatly improved up on the theories of triphibious warfare and had immense insight into logistics.

The Central Pacific had a few good victories, but also suffered from horrible casualties; among the worst in American history. In the South Pacific the Americans were actually fighting more battles, against greater numbers, across more territory with fewer casualties. MacArthur's strategy of letting Japanese garrisons "wither on the vine" saved tens of thousands of American lives.

It's not easily thought of that New Guinea would stretch from New York to the Rocky Mountains. Yes, the South Pacific covered a lot of ground. Check out the maps because it's almost impossible to imagine the scope of the military campaigns. In the South Pacific attacks were launched which were comparable to landing in Berlin from London. The distances are almost mind boggling.

MacArthur certainly had his flaws, but they were mostly from arrogance and a lack of diplomacy, not from poor generalship. Yeah, he was kind of a pompous asshole a lot of the time, but he got away with it because he was brilliant. People like Roosevelt don't put up with that behavior unless you're brilliant. MacArthur was basically the Gregory House of the Pacific War.

As for our armchair strategical on the Philippines vs. Formosa, I can only say that I think the US was right in choosing a Philippine strategy. Certainly MacArthur favored this for personal reasons, but I doubt Roosevelt or Nimitz did. Certainly control of the Philippine Sea prevented the transport of resources from now-Indonesia to the Home Islands (again I must give plenty of credit to the US submariners). I think the US did have an important political goal in liberating US territory from Japanese control. After all the goal wasn't only to defeat Japan, but also to set up a good political situation in the Pacific for the post-war.

Whether an invasion of Formosa would have lead to a quicker US victory is pure Monday morning quarterbacking. I think the political objectives, at that stage in the war, were highly important. Americans and subjects of America were being held captive by a foreign power and at that time we were still looking at a victory in 47 or 48, so liberating them was important. I see it as comparable to the liberation of France; yes, the Allies could have invaded Germany proper and defeated the Nazis without liberating France, but there were political as well as military considerations.

Really, I'm not going to convince you and I doubt much can be made from discussion in this form. I've provided you with a few good books that I think, once read, would back up the points I've made. I would enjoy it if you could provide me with the sources upon which you've based your opinions. The Pacific War seems to be of interest to both of us and I never tire of reading about it, so please send me some books you think bolster your version of events. I'll be happy to read them.

I do think Machester's biography of MacArthur is a great read. He doesn't pull any punches on criticizing MacArthur and presents a good portrait of the man as well as the General. It's worth a read if its a subject you're passionate about.

Please let me know if you have any suggested reading on the topic.

All the podcasts already mentioned are amazing, I highly recommed Hardcore History and History of Rome to start. [Western] history begins with the Greeks and the Romans, I personally find the Romans far more fascinating (and History of Rome covers it all, sorta, hooray!). A great read for the Greeks is Persian Fire by Holland (already mentioned and my favorite history author). You can continue learning about Rome by listening to 12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth. If you learn Roman history you follow a timeline from 750 BC to 1450 AD. In Our Time is produced by the BBC and covers a ton of subjects.

Almost every old text is already posted on Librivox, and lots of lesser know works. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and The History of the Peloponnesian War are two very famous ones. I personally enjoy Jacob Abbott with Richard I-III being pretty good. It's all read by volunteers so some tolerance is expected.

You have months if not years of free podcasts to listen to, however I also love Audible for history. One of my favorites is The History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill, all four volumes are on there; it covers mostly British history, but much of Europe and all of American history (his telling of the Revolutionary and Civil wars are amazing) from before Romans to 1900 AD. You can also listen to the whole book if you liked Brownworths podcast on Eastern Rome/Byzantium.

Since you don't know where to start I'll just list some of my favorites. The Vikings influence on history is quite enthralling. The story of the fall of the Roman Republic is the best there is. Hannibal of Carthage is easily one of the most famous generals of all time, so you might as well enjoy the Battle of Cannae.

One of my favorite reads is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, it's like the tv show Band of Brothers...but you're Hitlers brother, and you learn how frighteningly easy it all was (and you get a great understanding of Russia). Honestly though, just listen to all of Dan Carlin's podcasts, my favorites being Bubonic Nukes and Prophets of Doom (this one takes a while to get going, but the decent into madness is fascinating). Understand that not everything is going to be accurate, so enjoy the stories but dont focus on memorizing the details, and if something interests you enough seek out some deeper material on it.

edited some more links.

This question seems to be driving at how wealth & power was organized historically - although I'm not sure that most experts would agree with the claims that
>a hereditary oligarchy has wielded almost all of the wealth & power.

and the claim that
>the decisions they make are almost always for the benefit of themselves & their cronies & not the societies they rule

What follows is an attempt to give an answer framed around how political power has been structured historically.

There are and have always been different power centers in society, and the balance of power among those actors determined exactly who benefited from the state's monopoly on force. Usually one power center was a single executive (monarch, Roman consuls, etc), based on some sort of divinity doctrine, and they usually had enough power to ensure kin inherited the executive authority - and it took civil war/invasion to break the line of succession. But even in monarchies like that there were other power centers that had enough power that the state usually benefited them (examples include the Janisary armies in the Ottoman empire, sometimes the professional bureaucracy in China, the nobles in England and Ukraine, the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe, etc)

India is an interesting example historically in that Hindu religion was dominant over even the heads of state very early in its history (India had lots of them - its current single state (...caveat: Pakistan) is a historic anomaly). So in that case there really wasn't a hereditary oligarchy holding power in most Indian states (monarchy wasn't uncommon and monarchs were usually wealthy, but oftentimes didn't actually hold a lot of power). But the system did create very rigid castes, and society was structured such that the lower casts ended up with the short end of the stick.

It's very difficult to answer your question because it is very difficult to even define what "benefitting the society they rule" even means. Arguably the fascists of the early 20th century did a reasonable job at this by defining society so narrowly that they could treat everyone not part of their definition of society as animals with no rights (to be tolerated at best, killed at worst). Liberal democracies are structured to do this by declaring universal rights enforced by strong courts that bind a democratically elected legislature (and the executive authority, which may or may not be independent of the legislature) - and succeed to differing levels.

I'm fairly confident there is no example in history where every individual in a nation-state benefited equally, so you could make the argument that an oligarchy is always the beneficiary of state power - but there has been a strong trend of making that oligarchy more and more inclusive (in theory, and not necessarily year-to-year, but definitely century-to-century).

Most of the above is based on "The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374533229/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3uMiDbF4CN8EE), which is a dense read but really interesting and covers state power and organization across the world up until the dawn of liberal democracy. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in the history of political organization throughout the pre-industrial era. He also wrote a second volume that focuses on industrial era state organization, bit I found the 2nd volume to be more opinionated and subjective (the author has been involved in US government, and so has a bias when it comes to contemporary political structure that I felt showed in the 2nd volume. But the 1st volume is much less relevant to current government policy and seemed to be pretty objective - although I'm just an interested layman, not an expert).

You might be interested in the audiobook "The Other Side of History" narrated by Robert Garland, a professor of Classics at Colgate. He covers extensively the things we don't pay close attention to in most historical coursework in the ancient world. First, keep in mind that history is only as good as how it is recalled, meaning the sources we have to work with. We know a lot about the Athenians, for instance, because they had a fair number of very detailed writers like Herodotus who documented much of what had otherwise not been documented before. It's not easy to record history, and a lack of knowledge impacts how we see (or obscure) mental illnesses throughout cultures.

Now, regarding mental illness, keep in mind this first fact that "history is only as good as how it is recalled" -- this means if no one covers a particular topic, we'll therefore know less about it. This is why we can see topics like mental illness come and go in conversation, usually only when it afflicts someone historically significant, or due to a significant event, etc.

Furthermore, what we "see" as mental illness was, up until recently, interpreted as otherwise. The Greeks wrote plenty down, but didn't yet identify all mental illnesses as we've done today in the DSM and similar methodologies. Hippocrates himself (though it's disputed if he did really write it) questioned whether epilepsy was a disease of the divine, or in fact the byproduct of an imbalance of our four humours (blood, phelgm, yellow bile, and black bile). Our perception begins with diagnosis, and if we diagnose something as a "divine event" or some fluid imbalance, then we're going to record it differently than if it's part of some study of psychology, or other ways in which we approach medicine in the modern sense.

Here's a useful analogy Garland brings up: We have a lot of art from the ancient world showing the ideal image of a Greek, an Egyptian, A Roman, etc.We do the same today in a lot of our artwork too. Just because that's our record, doesn't change the fact that most people in the ancient world did not look like this.

In the same vein, mental illnesses were prevalent in the ancient world, even if we don't necessarily see them as prevalent as we do today. One major contrast between today and the ancient world is how easy it is to document things. Back then, you had to be wealthy enough not just to buy expensive writing materials (or hire someone,) but also the wealth to spend time doing something other than focus on providing for your family. Today, we take for granted how easy it is to measure every single statistic, the fact that people care enough for us to document it, and that it doesn't get in the way of our everyday survival. Combined with the lack of knowledge (until the 20th century, really) we have had on mental health and psychology, it's easy to see why so little of it is spoken of throughout history.

TL:DR Mental illness was always prevalent in history. What's changed is our ability to easily document events in history, as well as our understanding of what actually causes mental illness (what we'd once call a "divine event" is now epilepsy, etc.)

https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-History-Daily-Ancient/dp/B00DTO5FW2

I've been asking myself that question recently, and after surfing around I've come to three answers that have helped me:

1.) Keep surfing around. Some of the history subreddits are great places for general information, trivia, and links to cool facts, while /r/AskHistory and /r/AskHistorians are great getting answers to specific questions you have.

2.) Read a general world history. While a lot of these seems to be a bit Eurocentric and can't, by nature, go into great depth about any particular place or period, it seems to me that this is a good place to start if you aren't sure what interests you most. This reddit's book list mentions The History of the World by J. M. Roberts as a good world history book, and I've personally enjoyed The History of the Ancient World by Susan Bauer (and the other books of that series). Wikipedia is pretty great, too.

3.) Like another comment said, try to narrow your topic. It's easy to delve into history when you've picked something you find really interesting.

Here is a quote from one of Hernan Cortes soldiers when they aproached Tenochtitlan: "When we saw all those cities and villages build in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. Indeed some of our soldiers asked wheter or not it was all a dream" - Bernal Diaz del Castillo

Bernal Diaz del Castillo also wrote detailed accounts of the expeditions to the New World. The Conquest of New Spain is also a great book. It's amazing how well documented these expeditions are. We are very fortunate.

I posted this a few weeks ago, I hope it helps!!! Its very USSR specific though :\ Sorry!

I had a craving to learn Soviet history a few years ago. These are some of the ones I found. Though its hard finding a good unbiased account in English. Since there are alot of ideological bitterness and disagreements that still hold on to this day.
I found the soviet histories written by Dmitri Volkogonov, a soviet historian and officer, to be quite good. He wrote a trilogy on Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. Which covers alot of the early decades of the USSR.


Volkogonov also wrote Autopsy For An Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime. Which, despite being long and dull at times, Volkogonov clearly was not a trained author. It still shines though as a good read.

I am currently reading though Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age. Which picks up soon after Stalin's death in the 50s and into the 60 and 70s. I found it to be a good inside view on the space race on both sides and the details you rarely hear about in average documentary or Western sided books on the subject.

Though I have not read it yet. Ive heard that The Soviet Experiment, by Ronald Suny, is a fantastic read and account of the Soviet Union. Hes also edited together books of essays, which I have heard is very good.

I hope this helps!!

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.]

lots of people hate him for whatever reason, but strong rival for best with napoleon i think is Douglass MacArthur, from a guy who came from black powder wild west type combat and thinking growing up with his army officer dad fighting indians when combustion engines and smokeless powder werent even invented yet let alone aircraft, to going to conceptualizing and waging super effect air-land-sea combat in the pacific, i think is pretty amazing. no reddit post can justify him or discredit him, so read this book and make your own judgements, it tells it all the good and the bad https://www.amazon.com/American-Caesar-Douglas-MacArthur-1880/dp/0316024740/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0/135-2867325-0853746?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=B17184XHBDZTNXK8R1TQ

Upvoted. The Great Game is a page-turning winner's version whirlwind tour of the geopolitics of the 1800s. It's also my number 1.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312336926&sr=1-1

Reay Tannahill's "Food in History" is completely different but also very very good. She's cobbled together a lively survey of diets through the ages. When you've finished this book, you'll have accidentally learned what happened, who did it and in what order - while you were distracted by recipes, bad and weird.

http://www.amazon.com/Food-History-Reay-Tannahill/dp/0517884046

For historic, hilarious and educational fiction, go for "Flashman and the Redskins" to begin with. (If you like it, I'd go for "Flashman at The Charge" next and then his version of the "Great Game".)

http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-Redskins-George-MacDonald-Fraser/dp/0452264871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312337084&sr=1-1

Not an exact answer, but if youre interested in this you should check out "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene. One of the most interesting books I've ever read, even after reading it maybe 10 or 15 times. The title might seem like it doesnt suit your interests, but for every law there are 2-5 or 6 historical anecdotes that show mistakes and successes administered throughout history. I really couldn't possible "pimp" this book enough.

Not been too many great replies here. I have the perfect book for you. Susan Wise Bauer's History of the Ancient World. It takes you from the dawn of history (~3,000BC) to Constantine, and is a really easy read, in fact it reads almost like fiction. A real pleasure. She also has two more, taking you up to 1453, but you can decide if you want them after you have read the first one.

I'm also going to suggets Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order. This was the book that made me realise I didn't understand history or politics (most people go through life without ever realising this). Its also a history book, but focusing on the theme of the origins of our political institutions. A real good one. BTW ignore the boring cover that makes it look like a dry academic read; it isn't.

Currently working my way through Shelby Foote's "The Civil War", (he's one of the featured narrators of Ken Burn's tv series on the civil war). It's an impressive compilation, three substantial volumes, which may be a little heavy on narrative for you but I've really appreciated how he lays out everything in kind of a 360 degree approach. I highly recommend it!

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Volumes-1-3-Box/dp/0394749138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479537418&sr=8-1&keywords=shelby+foote%27s+the+civil+war+set

I just finished reading Rubicon and Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor back to back. Very enjoyable follow on read.

I'm hoping to read Holland's Persian Fire soon.

I would also highly recommend Lords of the Sea about the birth of the Athenian Navy.

If you like narrative history and are interested in the American Civil War, nothing beats Shelby Foote's trilogy. Historians correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's generally pretty accurate and very entertaining.

Francis Fukuyama's The Origins of Political Order. This is the book I first read before really getting into history and it was a great pleasure reading its finale after I had explored so much more. It's a good starting point in general.

History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer. I'm reading this now and I've really enjoyed it, very clear writing and introductory overviews to cultures all over the world - Europe, North Africa, China, Korea, India, you name it.

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman. This one was highly recommended on /r/medievalhistory

For maps, it’s a little tricky.
Most of the folks living in the Americas were tribal people; they didn’t exactly have countries or defined borders. Closest you’re probably going to get is a distribution of language families.
North America
South America
Within these Language Families there were sometimes multiple tribes & bands
Here’s a link to a listing of many of the tribes, broken up by area. Don’t know how complete it is for all areas, but the listings cover a lot of the tribes.
http://www.native-languages.org/culture-areas.htm
There are quick summaries for each of the tribes & links to more info.

As far as info on large civilizations, technology & Cultures, A good general overview is 1491 by Charles C. Mann. He does a pretty good job of coving several areas, & how the locals organized their societies & impacted the land they lived on. It’s a really broad overview, covering all of the Americas. To get more details, you’re going to have to focus in on a specific region or people.

The "Great Game" period between the Russian and British Empires vying for supremacy in 19th century Central Asia. Really fascinating historical period complete with stories of amateur explorers, pathological fear of Russian encroachment on India, military incursions, domestic, colonial, and foreign politics, eccentric belief in "Empire", chance encounters on the road, psychopath kings and khans, etc. Surprising connections to events today and hammers home the dangers of engaging in Afghan affairs!

Here's the wikipedia for some info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game

My favorite book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223

If you like the ancient world, I found one of the Great Books on daily life in the ancient world really fascinating. It'll fill in a lot of spaces on the individuals who lived in ancient Rome. Here's a link to the audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-History-Daily-Ancient/dp/B00DTO5FW2

A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman

Words don't do it justice. One of the reviews was "real life Game of Thrones" and while it's somewhat trite, it's also true. The subject is an example of the best of the medieval era, and his life touched on many events that shaped western history.

One warning, it's probably going to be a tough nut for a 15 year old to crack. It's accessible as a narrative, but you should expect to have to wiki things, look at maps, and use supporting material to explain the basics.

For a less intense look, one of the "Life in" books by Joseph Gies and Frances Gies (Life in a Medieval City, LIA Medieval Castle, LIA Medieval Village), is a look at the everyday in that time. Medieval Village is the best one to start with. Rather than the names and dates of "big history", they are the traditions, customs, and anecdotes of everyday life, based on specific examples in specific time periods.

I don't see a 15 year old having trouble going through them. They are written plainly and attempt to explain the backdrop of history that those places are in. Additional material will be minimal beyond wikipedia.

I'm not homeschooling, but I'm certainly going to expose my children to these books when they're old enough.

If you're interested in Genghis Khan, you should read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. It paints him in a different light than we are used to seeing him in. When I read this book for a college course, it was the first time I realized how amazing learning about history can be. The author even came to give a talk at my school.

Now to get my history fix, I listen to Dan Carlin - he has a Hardcore History podcast on Genghis Khan that gets mentioned on reddit when he is brought up.

And if you still can't get enough on Genghis Khan, there's a good movie available on youtube worth watching

Confirmed that this is Lars Brownworth of the 12 Byzantine Rulers and Norman Centuries podcasts. Two very excellent podcasts.

12 Byzantine Rulers even pre-dates the History of Rome podcast from Mike Duncan.

Lars homepage and a link to his Amazon page, and his book: Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization.

Thank you for agreeing to do this, sir.

The 48 Laws of Power By Robert Greene is an entertaining read. He kinda sells it as a modern version of Sun-Tzu's "Art of War" but he illustrates each "law" with a handful of detailed historical stories.

For example law 20 is "Do Not Commit To Anyone" and he illustrates this by telling how Queen Elizabeth used her status as an unmarried monarch to manipulate suitors from other nations into doing favors for England, by telling how Isabella d'Este lead the Italian city state of Mantua through a complicated web of alliances by maintaining neutrality, and how Charles Maurice Talleyrand the French diplomat successfully served under Louis XVI, the revolutionary government, Napoleon, and Louis XVIII, without losing his head.

Each story is only a page or two at the most, and the book is filled with them. I like them much more for the historical anecdotes than as some kind of a modern Sun Tzu.

Try The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. It was writen in the early 80's before the fall of the soviet union so it has some dated world views, but it offers a great narrative of how the world power structure we know today evolved over the centuries from the 1500's.

For the medieval period, I found The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England very interesting. Definitely more of a popular book than hard-core history, though.

This book and it's series of books will tell you most you want to know, from what colors you couldn't wear or what kind of birds you were not allowed to eat. Great detail and fun read.

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

IMHO, here's a very good place to start learning about the European history of WW2. Get yourself to a Library, or better yet, just buy the book. It's a good, in depth look at what happened and how it happened.

Boorstin's The Discoverers. http://www.amazon.com/Discoverers-Daniel-J-Boorstin/dp/0394726251

It's a history of science and exploration, with (IIRC) just enough reference to war and politics so you get some context (or at least have your interest piqued). It is formatted as a collection of relatively brief essays, with each essay about a person, place or significant deveopment, so it is good for bathroom reading, or for reading straight through.

Also, Grun's Timetables of History makes a good companion for this or any other reading you do.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Timetables-of-History/Bernard-Grun/9780743270038

It really is just a very large table (hundreds of pages) divided by era and year along the vertical axis, and region along the horizontal axis, so you can see the major events in the world around a specific time. It includes Asian and African history, so it is more than Western European/American-centric. It is NOT very detailed -- its goal is to provide broad context.

I read a pretty comprehensive book on the subject: Persian Fire by Tom Holland. Never completely finished it, but the opening chapters had a lot to say about Cyrus the Great and his role in shaping the Achaemenid dynasty.
http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Fire-First-Empire-Battle/dp/0307279480

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Great-Powers/dp/0679720197

I read this as a freshman in college. Its a good starting point. Feel free to skim the many charts and graphs and just stay with the narrative. Very comprehensive

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Empire That Saved Western Civilization. A great great book that really helped me learn a lot about the Byzantines. Like how we think of the Roman Empire ending in 476AD, but that was only the western half. The Eastern, more Greek half, lived on for 1000 more years! Imagine that! A Roman Empire in the Middle Ages!

Peter Hopkirk wrote a superb book about this, called The Great Game. I highly recommend it.

It will make you very, very angry at US policy in Afghanistan and central Asia.

The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz. Amazing first person account of Cortes and the conquering of Mexico, better than any action movie you'll ever see.

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

http://www.amazon.com/The-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197

It's not exactly what you're looking for but it does give a bit of backstory and context to some of the most influential people in history.

Very Machiavellian in tone which can feel a bit cynical at times but nonetheless a fascinating read...

The New History of the World by J. M. Roberts.



The recommended book list for this subreddit says it is "probably the best single volume history of the world out there." I'm no historian, but I've read it and thought it was very good.

A fantastic book, A Distant Mirror is a detailed glimpse of medieval 1300's French and English life, from royalty to peasantry.

There are some sections in the book that describe mercenary groups, including some interesting bits about groups that don't get paid, and essentially leaderless bands that pillaged 'friendly' countrysides just to survive. Some were as big as standing armies, but without a war to fight, bank to fund them, or often even a purpose just hardend soldiers - and how they roamed pilliaging summer seasons and forcefully occupied random towns for winters .

I highly recommend reading The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz. It's definitely biased, but it was based on the account of a man who was actually there when Cortez invaded the Aztecs. One of the most interesting books I've ever read.

https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-New-Spain-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140441239

I'm surprised this book hasn't been mentioned..
http://www.amazon.com/The-Conquest-Spain-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140441239

A first person account from someone who was there with Cortez. Awesome read.

I don't know about pictures, but the Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson is fantastic and covers US involvement thoroughly.

Also the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Ron Rosenbaum is downright chilling. He actually lived in Nazi Germany.

Also, check out Lost to the West, it's an audiobook by Lars narrated by Lars which covers the East, and it's pretty amazing.

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome-by Alberto Angela was a great read. I like to try to learn about the people a bit when researching history and this was just the ticket. It's easy to get lost in emperors, battles, and dates, and this brings it back to the peoples that were the engine of the empire.

Was going to recommend Keegan as well, so at least that's two random internet strangers who agree this would be a good starting point!

There is also Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It may be a bit massive, but it's a damn good read.
https://www.amazon.ca/Rise-Fall-Third-Reich-History/dp/1451651686

this one has really great artwork and thorough detail and this one blew my mind

1491 http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059 and Tastes of Paradise https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.amazon.ca/Tastes-Paradise-History-Stimulants-Intoxicants/dp/067974438X&ved=0ahUKEwjystjTu7LKAhXHFT4KHbZ8DO8QFggnMAM&usg=AFQjCNEaVOPvnv3ttzbPXAqKv20S9BF-vA are my personal faves.

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
http://www.amazon.com/The-Rise-Fall-Great-Powers/dp/0679720197

In there somewhere.

The Raise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0679720197/

Check out this book. https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Third-Reich-History/dp/1451651686 Written by a corespondent who lived in Germany at the time and who had access to all the Nuremberg evidence and many personal journals of prominent Nazis. The first third of the book takes place before Hitler assumes the Chancellorship of Germany.

TLDR; He played up to peoples hatred of the Versailles treaty, belief that they didn't lose WWI, they were betrayed, mostly by the Jews and the democratic government, and he got support from the military by promising to break the treaty and rebuild the armed forces. Then he won some key elections.

A Day in the Life of ancient Rome does a great job of detailing what it was like for people then. Usually you only hear about the leaders and battles, etc. This book gets into the day to day stuff for ordinary people in Rome.

I'm no expert but I read The New History of the World recently and found it enlightening.

I was a huge fan of:

https://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

A fascinating read: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

This is a classic that I remember enjoying greatly. https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Mirror-Calamitous-14th-Century/dp/0345349571

This is really good:

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Second-Edition-Revelations-Americas/dp/1400032059

It changes your perspective on any history of Native Americans interacting with Europeans. Native Americans were essentially in a post-apocalyptic society.

I really liked "a day in the life of ancient rome". You will learn allot about the ancient romans.
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-Ancient-Rome-Curiosities/dp/1933372710

One of my favorite history books:

http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323218947&sr=1-1

1491 is my favorite history book, pre-colonial america.

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420394824&sr=8-1&keywords=1491

Well, it was an Italian book by Alberto Angela but I don't remember which one exactly... It was either this one:

https://www.amazon.it/life-ancient-Rome-Alberto-Angela/dp/1933372710

or this one:

https://www.amazon.it/Reach-Rome-Journey-Through-Following/dp/0847841286

In any case, they are both worth a read.

PRobably the Cahokia Mounds in IL. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, check out the book "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus."

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

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321907090&sr=8-1

All those things?

That would be a the sizeable part of the entire late antiquity and middle ages.

If there's public library in your neighborhood, I would suggest browsing through their offerings on these periods. There's probably no one book that covers all subjects, especially not one that is accessible enough to non-historians, and doesn't cost a fortune.

On the Eastern Roman Empire, these could be a good introduction:

• A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich, 1998
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Byzantium-Julius-Norwich/dp/0679772693
  
  
• Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization, Lars Brownworth
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969/ref=pd_sim_b_3
  
  Some of the topics mentioned, e.g. the expansion of Islam, are covered on this site, and its numerous links:
  
  http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/index.html
  
  
  

Gonna hijack this comment to recommend a book on this very subject: 1491 New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Daniel Boorstin writes very well about this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0394726251/ref=pd_aw_sbs_b_1

Although Genghis Khan did possibly kill up to 40 million people, the lasting impact of the Mongolian empire and subsequent Great Khans effectively changed the world for the better in the long run. Before him, China and Europe had almost zero knowledge of each other's existence, his empire was one of the first without a nationally imposed religion, and he changed warfare completely.

Source:

40 million deaths: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-genghis-khan (I know this is a terrible source but whatever.)

Effects on the world: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World https://www.amazon.com/dp/0609809644/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_u1LFwbEW9C5SP

The Byzantines had plenty of big beefy guys standing around, so the Varangians weren't too big a problem. They were hired specifically because they were from incredibly far away (Scandinavia, the Byzantines were based mostly in Greece and Asia Minor) and didn't have any ties to the various political factions within the empire.

Source: Lost to the West by Lars Brownsworth

/u/AlienJelly linked Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. What I have learned I learned while I was in Mongolia. You might want to check out this book too.

A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman

Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

Read a book called 1491 opened my eyes to a lot of ideas id never heard.
https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

Read 1491: https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

And: https://www.amazon.com/1493-Uncovering-World-Columbus-Created/dp/0307278247

And: https://www.amazon.com/Columbus-Quest-Jerusalem-Religion-Voyages/dp/1439102376

https://smile.amazon.com/Wars-Roses-Alison-Weir/dp/0345404335

https://smile.amazon.com/Princes-Tower-Alison-Weir/dp/0345391780

https://smile.amazon.com/Reluctant-Queen-Story-Queens-England-ebook/dp/B000VSW7TI

https://smile.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

There's this, albeit a different time period: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/1439112908/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=BKTCY0V8K7XD&coliid=I1B9AZ44XS0SEO

and also this fun desktop background: http://i.imgur.com/zXFY5.jpg

edit: of course a dozen people have already posted this - what was I thinking?

You can try this book : https://www.amazon.it/dp/1933372710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_c_i-GDAbSCWZHJE

or the other book of Alberto Angela

Persian Fire by Tom Holland. Holland is a fabulous writer. His book Rubicon (about the fall of the Roman Republic) is one of my favorites. Persian Fire, which I'm reading now, is about the Greek-Persian War.

> New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

I need to get me a hard copy of this puppy.

That'd be 1491 by Charles Mann.

EDIT: Just to note. This is a controversial book among historians. Much of the info presented can largely be seen as conjecture without a lot of veritable proof behind it. So take it with a grain of salt.

I remember a book that was recommended to me that sadly I never had time to read: Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. I don't know enough about it to say if it includes other horse cultures or not.

I recently read about this in Wiliam Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"

There's a few factors that Shirer notes, but is clear that there is obviously still much dispute as to what happened. It is theorized that Hitler was worried about his generals gaining too much power, thus left it for Göring's Luftwaffe to deliver the deciding blow. However, there were many other factors that weighed into the consideration. Sending in the army would have severely limited the effectiveness of the Luftwaffe. There were concerns about the effectiveness of the Panzer divisions in the marshy soil around Dunkirk, and around the supply lines needed for the advance.

Part of me wants to give Hitler the benefit of the doubt (that feels horrible just to type) that we have the ability to use hindsight to see how horrible of a blunder this was, but the other part reads the (albeit biased) testimonies of several of the generals that knew immediately that this was a ridiculous decision. I do not think for one second that he did it as a sign of sportsmanship. I personally think he was talked into the sharing of the glory by Goring,

Alexander of Macedon 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography

https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Macedon-356-323-B-C-Historical/dp/0520071662

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969

Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War (General Military)

https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Desert-Ancient-General-Military/dp/1846031087

I see. I lost track of the thread. I'm currently reading Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. Amazing read. Quick thumbnail: the Black Death wasn't the only, and may not have even been the worst thing that happened during what sounds like an unusually crappy time to have been alive (in Europe at least). War, famine, rape, pillage, robbery, bandits, a stark contrast between the ideals of courtesy and the actual behavior of mounted knights. Seemingly small value placed on life at all levels of society, but of course especially for the regular people.

Very weak article. If you're interested in this part of the world it would be criminal for you to not read, The Great Game, by Peter Hopkirk.

This has such a long and many faceted answer. Be aware this is just my opinion, if you want an in depth look at how it happened The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is well written and does not read like a textbook, I recommend it.

The heart of it lies in the years following The Great War, WWI, or what your local history chooses to calls the European war from 1914-1918. At the end of that war The Treaty of Versailles drove the German economy into the dumpster. The resulting Germanic generation that grew up in the 20's and 30's were barely getting by. They had little to look forward to or be proud of. Their country was broken up, they were basically allowed no heavy industry, and they were paying billions of Reichsmark in reparations that left them with no working capital and very broken economy. This goes right along with the world experiencing the [Great Depression] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression). No money, no jobs, no hope. This makes for a very unhappy people willing to do almost anything to be proud again.

Along comes a man wanting to "Make Germany Great Again". This man is a great orator, he speaks to the pride of the German peoples. He terrorizes the established political setup and through force of will and quite a bit of jack-boot thuggery finds himself in charge. He tells the rest of the world that he is going to industrialize his nation and in the process make a small army just for their own protection. "Sorry about your treaty but, we're going to ignore it." He then found a scapegoat that they can demonize and blame for their problems.

We now have political machine that knows how to use violence to get into power and keep it. We have a government that has successfully told the rest of the world to go away and let Germany ignore the treaties. You have a scapegoat to blame any remaining problems on. You have a large enough portion of your populace either complacent enough or afraid enough to allow it all to happen. Now they ramp up the industrialization and build a real army.

A large percentage of the German population have spent their lives beat-down, poor, and barely getting by with no hope for the future. But now there is hope! The economy is working again, the German people are strong and proud. They are taking back lands that are traditionally belonging to Germanic peoples with their new army. They are removing their scapegoats from their towns and villages. Pretty quickly this leads to war.

By 1944 Germans know there are massive problems. They can't write it in the papers but, they do whisper it. They are losing the war and they remember what comes of losing wars.

I really feel the slaughter at Oradour-sur-Glane is frustration and fear of what will happen when Germany looses again. The soldiers fear a return to the Germany of the 20's and 30's. They don't want another gutted economy, no luxury items, barely enough to eat, no work, no hope, and no pride. That type of fear is primal. There's a deep seated need for violence and domination of your adversaries in the human brain that goes back to our earliest survival. To survive you must crush your competition and drive them out if not for yourself, for the next generation. I'm not saying that is the only reason but I do believe this animal drive is a significant contributing factor that was satiated through this violence. But, like a lot of violence it only made things worse.

tl;dr Fear is a powerful thing.