History ? |
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History ? |
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Dec 22 2012, 06:35 PM
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Denmark... Bacon... Nothing more I need to know
-------------------- Guitar
Suhr S4 Pro Series Bengal Burst |
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Dec 22 2012, 07:10 PM |
Avebury!!!!! Right next to Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow!! I think Avebury is actually the oldest, is it not ? |
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Dec 23 2012, 04:29 AM |
I read about 30 or 40 books dealing with History in some form a year. One of my favorite authors is your Sir Max Hastings. Well I believe he lives in Kenya, but he is a Brit. My favorite is his is this, on the final year of WWII in the Pacific theater.
http://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Battle-J...ds=max+hastings I have also read his book on the Korean War and on Churchill. Hastings has the unusual quality of being able to put himself in the context of the time and place he is covering. Few can do that, even most who call themselves professional "Historians". To do that you have to be able to forget everything that has happened since the events occurred, and also grasp the cultures of the parties concerned. This is very difficult to do even if you try, and many don't try, they just want to look on the past as if it were occurring in today's modern world, and judge it accordingly. If you want to listen to an interview, here is one on his most recent book, "Inferno". I forgot that I had read that, I read so much that I forget what I have read sometimes. He is very eloquent, I look for that in any author. Without that they are always crap peddlers, eloquence and understanding go hand in hand. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MaxH My favorite book on American History is "The Ascent of George Washington" by John Ferling. http://www.amazon.com/Ascent-George-Washin...orge+washington Some Americans don't like this book, they don't like to see their hero's mythology debunked, the marble men knocked off their pedestals. I will throw one more at you, that I am reading now. An unusual perspective on WWI. The author is American, but he mostly writes about Britain. http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebelli...to+end+all+wars I've recently been inspired to learn more about the history of Britain and its settlement by Celtic and then Germanic tribes from Europe. At school, History & Geography were my 2 favourite subjects but I never really kept studying anything particularly. I'd really like to know more about what made this island what it is, I think we kind of owe it to ourselves to know more about our countries.
I just wondered if anyone else has ever been inspired to learn more about the history of their own country and, if so, what have they found out ? This post has been edited by fkalich: Dec 23 2012, 05:27 AM |
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Dec 23 2012, 10:57 AM |
I will throw one more at you, that I am reading now. An unusual perspective on WWI. The author is American, but he mostly writes about Britain. http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebelli...to+end+all+wars Those books all look really good. For me, I'd definitely be most interested in the final one.. the Amazon interview was good and this Q & A showed an interesting perspective on the war: Q: What are you trying to do in To End All Wars that makes it different from other books about the First World War? A: Most books about any war, including this one, tell the story as a conflict between two sides. Instead, I’ve tried to tell the story of 1914–1918 as a struggle between those who felt the war was something noble and necessary, and those who felt it was absolute madness. |
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