[pablomakaveli]

id recommend Barbarians by Terry Jones (he was one of the Monthy Python guys). its a fascinating book and shows how roman propaganda gave people the view that the civilizations they defeated were backward when in fact this is completely untrue.

[thejamescaird]

my last 2 books

guns germs and steel
jared diamond

he explains how better availabilty of good strains of wheat and barley etc as well as the big five animals for domestication in eurasia which were not available on other continents led to europeans and chinese being much more advanced than native americans and africans and australians

long but fascinating

generation kill
evan wright

sickening real life description of trigger happy marines in iraq slaughtering as they go. lowered my estimation of the usa sadly for me.

[MarchDub]

For a great new insight into WWII I recommend:

Patrick Buchanan : "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War."

Really compelling new insight into the war and what went into making it and how propagandized it has become. OUtlines the work of many contemporay historians who are attempting to de-mythologize this period.

Diarmaid Ferriter : Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the Life and Legacy of Eamon De Valera.

Dev has been too demonised and this is an excellent reassessment. Recently many of Dev's private papers have been made available to scholars and Ferriter's work reflects the new insight that they give to the study of Dev's time.

Carmel McCaffrey: In Search of Ireland's Heroes.

Great overview of Ireland since the twelfth century. Very readable. Same author did In Search of Ancient Ireland for the RTE/PBS series.

[mr kilo]

are there any books which cover the IRA escape attempts of the Curragh.

[thejamescaird]

Originally Posted by MarchDub

For a great new insight into WWII I recommend:

Patrick Buchanan : "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War."

Really compelling new insight into the war and what went into making it and how propagandized it has become. OUtlines the work of many contemporay historians who are attempting to de-mythologize this period.

Diarmaid Ferriter : Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the Life and Legacy of Eamon De Valera.

Dev has been too demonised and this is an excellent reassessment. Recently many of Dev's private papers have been made available to scholars and Ferriter's work reflects the new insight that they give to the study of Dev's time.

hey is that the pat buchanon former republican politician in usa?

also does it mention the money collected in america from irish american people for the republican movement during devs tour which later he more or less stole.

[mr kilo]

Originally Posted by thejamescaird

hey is that the pat buchanon former republican politician in usa?

also does it mention the money collected in america from irish american people for the republican movement during devs tour which later he more or less stole.

ya thanks alot u just blocked my comment...lol.

[MarchDub]

Originally Posted by thejamescaird

hey is that the pat buchanon former republican politician in usa?

also does it mention the money collected in america from irish american people for the republican movement during devs tour which later he more or less stole.

You have to read work critically - not take one point that irks you [no matter how justified] and refuse to see anything else.

These books are excellent and thorough which is why I recommend them. They are not "popular histories" aimed at supporting any particular prejudice but more explorations based on original source material. If you have any training in critical thinking [?] you will know what I mean and I do stand by them as good recommendations. Well written and scholarly.

[97i9y3941]

some personal faves of mine

Stalin the court of the red tzar

young stalin *a prequel to stalin court of red tzar*

mao the unknown story*best book i ever read*

Fall of berlin 1945*intresting cause it contains personal accounts

Hitler and stalin*best selling 1992 book,been reprinted so many times

The Dictator's Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet *i recently acquired and finished that book,ordered it from the states,found it excellent,as far as i know its the most up to date bio about the man,contains some personal photos and alot of info about his crimes against humanity

[ilkhanid]

A book I enjoyed greatly is "Bararossa" by the late Alan Clark,a history of the German-Russian struggle in the Second World War. It has to be treated with caution as much of it is out-dated,it deals with the Russian side in much less detail than the German and it has a ferocious anti-german bias,but it is incredibly gripping, has wonderful pen portraits of the principal protagonists and is well written. Clark's account of Stalingrad is among the best, as good as Beevor or Craig.
Another excellent work is "Peter the Great, his life and world" by Robert Massie, an extraordinarily detailed and beautifully written work populated by amazing characters which covers a whole region and era and tell you an enormous amount about Poland, Charles the king of Sweden, Turkey...about much more than just Peter himself.

[zesman]

Three I read recently were:

The Nazis: A Warning from History by Laurence Rees

Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor

All of which I'd highly recommend to anyone interested in Hitler, Stalin and World War Two

[97i9y3941]

young stalin,great book,morbid feeling way his poetry was included in the book

[Denerick]

I've done an awful lot of reading of Irish history recently, patricularly the war of independence/civil war period. For the war of independence there a lot of good, well researched and interesting books out there, such as Hopkinsons book of the same name, Fitzpatricks 'The Two irelands'. Memoirs are good in this period and equally plentiful. Tom Barry, Liam Deasy, Ernie O'Malley (By far the best written, most readible) Dan Breen and Michael Brennan have all written accounts of their experiences. I'm a bit of biography/memoir whore anyway and there are several good bios on Michael Collins (The most obvious been Tim Pat Coogan, but you really need to overlook some of his amateurish ramblings sometimes) and de Valera. Even Séan Mac Eoin and co. have good bio's written about them.

The Civil War unfortunately is less well written about, probably because of a lack of sources. Michael Hopkinson's 'Green against Green' is virtually a textbook, a monument to historical writing. O'Malleys 'The Singing Flame' is a number one must read, as is Liam Deasy's 'Brother against Brother'. Again I'm rambling with the memoir whoring but Tom Garvin, the UCD political scientist wrote a great wee book, '1922, the Birth of Irish democracy'

So yeah, if you can get through that and take a look at the bibliographies you'll still probably realise who much reading you would still have to do!

[DublinDes]

Originally Posted by Denerick

I've done an awful lot of reading of Irish history recently, patricularly the war of independence/civil war period. For the war of independence there a lot of good, well researched and interesting books out there, such as Hopkinsons book of the same name, Fitzpatricks 'The Two irelands'. Memoirs are good in this period and equally plentiful. Tom Barry, Liam Deasy, Ernie O'Malley (By far the best written, most readible) Dan Breen and Michael Brennan have all written accounts of their experiences. I'm a bit of biography/memoir whore anyway and there are several good bios on Michael Collins (The most obvious been Tim Pat Coogan, but you really need to overlook some of his amateurish ramblings sometimes) and de Valera. Even Séan Mac Eoin and co. have good bio's written about them.

The Civil War unfortunately is less well written about, probably because of a lack of sources. Michael Hopkinson's 'Green against Green' is virtually a textbook, a monument to historical writing. O'Malleys 'The Singing Flame' is a number one must read, as is Liam Deasy's 'Brother against Brother'. Again I'm rambling with the memoir whoring but Tom Garvin, the UCD political scientist wrote a great wee book, '1922, the Birth of Irish democracy'

So yeah, if you can get through that and take a look at the bibliographies you'll still probably realise who much reading you would still have to do!

" Dan Breen and Michael Brennan have all written accounts of their experiences. " I see you've mentioned this guy Micheal Brennan quite a bit in various postings. I've done a google ( Micheal Brennan IRA etc ) and I cannot find very much references to him. Certainly if he wrote a book it must be out of print a long time.

Can you give me any information of what he wrote ?

[Denerick]

Yeah, its called 'The War in Clare, 1911-1921.'

I think its out of print (Last edition I think was in 1980)

Do you have access to one of the bigger public libraries in Dublin? They have good access to most major books of the period (Don't know if Brennan's would be there, worth a look though.

If your interested in the war in Clare then David Fitzpatricks 'Politics and Irish Life' is a must read. It should be available in most big bookshops (Like Hodges and Fidges, Chapters etc.)

[conchubhar1]

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/site...student_view0/

America: The unfinished nation



the best read book i have ever read - plenty of detail - easy to read - concise and the website is great for primary sources also.