History for dummies (or just people who don't like reading history)

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Somehow I've escaped college without feeling I have much of a grasp on European or American history. Spotty knowledge here and there, I guess, more than the average American ignoramus, but not much. Are there any good, engagingly-written overviews of any chunk or chunks of history that you all recommend?

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 31 March 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

I just read quite a fun history of the Ottoman Empire, called Lords of the Horizon by Jason Goodwin. It jumps around a bit but has lots of interesting facts in it.

Also great are the Penguin Atlases of History. I think there are three (we have three) and they show you Great Historical Events laid out on maps, which makes a good reference point for any book you might be reading.

Also, even though it's fiction, I would highly recommend Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy. It's excellent and (apparently) very accurate.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 31 March 2005 05:22 (twenty years ago)

"Medieval Lives" by Terry Jones (yes, that Terry Jones) gets a hearty recommendation.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 31 March 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

A Distant Mirror is another k-classic popular Medieval history.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 31 March 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

seems to me vast overviews would be mostly worthless unless the scopes narrowed ie peoples history o the us, agree/disagree ppl?

― sterlings lover, Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

Well, I don't need an overview in the sense of a three volume history of Europe, just something that's broad enough that it's good for someone who has gaps in his general knowledge, as opposed to something very zeroed in that assumes the reader already knows the basic outline of what it tells.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

A Distant Mirror is another k-classic popular Medieval history.

I disagree. She pushes the mirror analogy to our own times too far. It is a fun read though and you've got to love a guy named Enguerrand.

Hurting, if you can elaborate on why you don't like history and what you do like to read, perhaps we could recommend something tailored to your predilictions.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 31 March 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Or even your predilections.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 31 March 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

predelictions.

― hahahaahaha, Thursday, 31 March 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

'Europe- A History' by Norman Davies is worth searching out. If you want straight narrative it's there, but the layout, including lots of maps and capsules, is obviously influenced by hyperlinking on t'internet and means you can dip in and out at any point. Also, it's very readable.

― snotty moore, Thursday, 31 March 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

John Keegan's The Second World War is one of the best WWII overviews you'll find. And if you're looking for a segment of European/American history, then you can kill 2 birds with one stone by boning up on war. And get some Pacific action while you're at it. Sorry, I'm a war geek, it was the most obvious thing I could think to recommend.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:11 (twenty years ago)

I thought Leckie's "Delivered from Evil" was a really good one-volume history of WWII.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060915358/qid=1112390032/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-7590244-8497760?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

― Curious George Finds the Ether Bottle (Rock Hardy), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

Hurting: I strongly suggest you decide on something small and particular you might be interested in reading about rather than worrying that you won't get the "big picture". Just go for something more "pop" than "specialist". Things will be explained.

Plus, here's the thing: It's not that small events don't make sense without an understanding of the big pictures, it's that the big picture feels arbitrary and doesn't make sense (or at least isn't meaningful/memorable) without the small details. That is to say, if you read a gripping bio of Henry VIII (or whoever) then later on when you're reading a "broad sweep of history" book that mentions Henry VIII, you will be able to see much more clearly how that segment of history fits in.

That said, "A People's History of the United States" is a nice start, perhaps.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 2 April 2005 05:47 (twenty years ago)

small, particular, pop-historical, readable: Longitude by Dava Sobel.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 2 April 2005 11:06 (twenty years ago)

The Byzantium books by John Julius Norwich are good, or you might like Jared Diamond.

― Ray (Ray), Saturday, 2 April 2005 11:36 (twenty years ago)

This is reminding me of how I started writing my own History Of Ireland for Andrew Farrell, after it turned out that he had never heard of the Plantation Of Ulster (a bit like living in American and never hearing of the Pilgrim Fathers).

― DV (dirtyvicar), Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

Peter Mansfield's book "The Middle East" is great if you want to know all about the Middle East. It's small and he has a very more-ish writing style, and he manages to give the impression that he is summarising everything in a handily concise manner but without leaving out anything of consequence.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

In contrast, the Complete Idiot's Guide To The Middle East was actually written by a complete idiot.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

If you want a good, readable overview, then J. M. Roberts' "History of the World" is the book to get. You won't get a lot of detail, but it is superb at showing how all of the pieces fit. He's also written a history of Europe, but I haven't had a chance to get to it yet.

As for some "well-written chunks" of American history, I would recommend the Oxford History of the United States. Four volumes have been published so far: "A Glorious Cause" on the American Revolution, "Battle Cry of Freedom" on the Civil War era, "Freedom From Fear" on the Great Depression and World War II, and "Grand Expectations" on America in the 1950s and 1960s. Though they vary somewhat in terms of readability, they are all excellent in giving a commanding overview of their times.

― Mark Klobas, Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)

Vicar, I want to read your History of Ireland.

Will the PLO figure prominently therein?

― the finefox, Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

eh, no. If I ever finish it I'll mail it to you.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Sunday, 3 April 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

I'm a history ignoramus too! Spinosa's history of Rome is doing something to remedy this -- there must be an English translation available. It reads like a novel, it's perfect. Hopefully it's not all WRONG...

― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Monday, 4 April 2005 01:52 (twenty years ago)

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