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Recommended Reading

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Comments

  • #122
    deise go deo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,677 ✭✭✭deise go deo


    Denerick wrote: »
    I have that book sitting at home, would you recommend it? I've read the Vauliulus biography on Mulcahy but this book by his son does seem very interesting.


    Well It depends on what your looking for, It dosent go too deaply into his time dureing the War for Independnce. More about his relationships with the main players at the time than information about what he did dureing the war. It spends a good bit of time on his life as a polition after the war. Overall though its a good enough read although I got a bit bogged down at times. If you have it anyway you may as well give it a look.:)


  • #123
    ReacherCreature
    Registered Users Posts: 4,500 ✭✭✭ReacherCreature


    Made this post over in the Military forum's 'Military Books' and thought it might be useful to slip it in here too as it's relevant.

    The Influence of Air Power upon History: see here


  • #124
    onlyrocknroll
    Registered Users Posts: 750 ✭✭✭onlyrocknroll


    The National Security Archives

    http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/


    "About the National Security Archive

    An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act..    ."


  • #125
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    http://www.chaptersofdublin.com/
    (directory listing http://www.chaptersofdublin.com/books/) has loads of content on the history of Dublin from about a century ago.


  • #126
    ValJester
    Registered Users Posts: 329 ✭✭ValJester


    For US History, in particular the Antebellum,Civil War and Reconstruction, I cannot recommend the following highly enough.

    http://docsouth.unc.edu/ Documenting The American South, basically everything you could ever want indexed.
    http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moagrp The Making Of America, really good collection of 19th Century reports.


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  • #127
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,659 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    The legislative acts of the Irish State since 1922:

    http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_act/


    British Equivalent: http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/


  • #128
    brianthebard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,165 ✭✭✭✭brianthebard


    http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/index.htm

    The Princess Grace Irisih Library. Fantastic resource for checking names, dates of publications, etc. It seems to still be under construction however so searching can be difficult. I use it mostly to find out about author's in newspapers, it usually has any pseudonym's listed too. Usually I search it through google but worth letting people know where it is.


  • #129
    sporina
    Registered Users Posts: 6,776 ✭✭✭sporina


    i want to buy a book about the british empire - something to help me understand how it all started and how it lead to how it stands today. Anyone read any good books? One that is not too heavy - more informative rather than critical. I have looked on Amazon but I would like to get some opinions.. thanks in advance, s


  • #130
    who the fug
    Registered Users Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    Corcaigh wrote: »

    The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. True story about the author who was conscripted to the German Army in WW2 when he was 17 because he had a German mother. Touches all the feelings of war i guess, hate, fear, love, desperation and emptyness on the Eastern front.


    There is a major on going debate about his account of the war, best to treat it as a work of fiction


  • #131
    who the fug
    Registered Users Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    sporina wrote: »
    i want to buy a book about the british empire - something to help me understand how it all started and how it lead to how it stands today. Anyone read any good books? One that is not too heavy - more informative rather than critical. I have looked on Amazon but I would like to get some opinions.. thanks in advance, s



    Neil Ferguson is a good start.

    Also recommend the Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham, how a few powers took over Africa in a space of 50 years


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  • #132
    who the fug
    Registered Users Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    Looking for books on the following

    William Martin Murphy



    Also a book that covers what happened in detail from May 1916 till January 1917, explaining who was organizing things and what they were up whilst the leadership was in Gaol


  • #133
    sporina
    Registered Users Posts: 6,776 ✭✭✭sporina


    who the fug wrote: »
    Neil Ferguson is a good start.

    Also recommend the Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham, how a few powers took over Africa in a space of 50 years


    thanks - I am going to go for "how britain made the modern world... read niall's bio and a few reviews so i think this would be a good one to start with,


  • #134
    Jennie.Walker
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭Jennie.Walker


    Did you read this book by Bartlett? I'm planning to relocate and would really like to read a couple of history books before I go... it won't be until next year, so I'll have plenty of time to read. Any more recommendations of books spanning from ancient all the way to present day? Or maybe dividing up into half, ancient and modern?


  • #135
    jonniebgood1
    Registered Users Posts: 3,577 ✭✭✭jonniebgood1


    2 of the most engaging books on WWII that I have read both detail the life of scotsmen who ended up in the asian arena of the conflict.

    The railway man -by Eric Lomax.

    The forgotten highlander -by Alistair Urquhart.

    Anyone with an interest in WWII will enjoy these with the forgotten highlander in particular a story that is hard to comprehend that the man is still alive.
    Urquhart was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He was a POW on the famous bridge over Kwai and further down the railway for years, as the allies neared he was on death march and then put on a ship to Japan which was torpedoed. Nearly everyone else on board died and Urquhart spent 5 days alone on a raft until picked up by a fishing boat. He was taken to Japan to another POW camp. The camp was in Nagasaki........


  • #136
    supersaintpats
    Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭supersaintpats


    very useful list; looked at the eppi site for parliamentary papers and the reproductions are excellent, though sometimes difficult to search - keep them coming!
    http://www.eppi.ac.uk/eppi/digbib/home (British papers on Ireland, 1801-1922)


  • #137
    edolan
    Registered Users Posts: 233 ✭✭edolan


    Rebels by Peter De Rosa is the best novel i've read about the 1916 rising.


  • #138
    Sergeant
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,362 ✭✭✭Sergeant


    Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt.

    An astonishing work. I was sceptical that a single book could do justice to such a complex place and period of time. 60 years, an entire continent, a multitude of conflicts, political and social changes. Judt manages to make it one of the readable books I've read on any subject. A perfect introduction to modern European History. It is enormous, my Penguin paperback edition is over 960 pages long, and in very small print! But worth every moment. As ambitious a book as I've ever had the pleasure to read.


  • #139
    Einhard
    Registered Users Posts: 6,920 ✭✭✭Einhard


    I'm in the midst of an American Civil War buzz. I'm about to finish Team of Rivals, and plan to follow it up with the imaginatively titled documentary on the conflict, The American Civil War. Would anyone have an further reading suggestions. Team of Rivals is a fairly dense work, and I'm looking for something more concise, and more focused on the cause and course of the conflict than the personalities. Suggestions greatly appreciated!


  • #140
    Denerick
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,488 ✭✭✭Denerick


    Sergeant wrote: »
    Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt.

    An astonishing work. I was sceptical that a single book could do justice to such a complex place and period of time. 60 years, an entire continent, a multitude of conflicts, political and social changes. Judt manages to make it one of the readable books I've read on any subject. A perfect introduction to modern European History. It is enormous, my Penguin paperback edition is over 960 pages long, and in very small print! But worth every moment. As ambitious a book as I've ever had the pleasure to read.

    It really is fantastic. +1.


  • #141
    WilcoOut
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,778 ✭✭✭WilcoOut


    pavb2 wrote: »
    Recently read Voyage of the Catalpa detailing the true story of the attempted rescue of Fenians from Australia (posted on literature but no one else seems to have read this). "

    an amazing story

    fit for a hollywood blockbuster!

    A must read for any student of Irish History or any lover of prison breaks and adventure


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  • #142
    lebowski11
    Registered Users Posts: 102 ✭✭lebowski11


    Einhard wrote: »
    I'm in the midst of an American Civil War buzz. I'm about to finish Team of Rivals, and plan to follow it up with the imaginatively titled documentary on the conflict, The American Civil War. Would anyone have an further reading suggestions. Team of Rivals is a fairly dense work, and I'm looking for something more concise, and more focused on the cause and course of the conflict than the personalities. Suggestions greatly appreciated!

    Is it Ken Burns American Civil War that your watching? Quite possibly the best historical documentary series you'll ever watch.

    'Battle Cry of Freedom' by James Macpherson is very highly rated. I've only used it as a reference but I read two of his books on civil war soldiers and both were excellent.

    If your interested there are lots of soldiers diaries from the civil war that are great reads, and at times very moving.
    'Co Atych' - Sam R. Watkins
    'All For the Union': The Civil War Diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes'
    'Hard Tack and Coffee' - John D. Billings
    'Hard Marching Everyday': Civil War Letters of Wilbur Frisk'
    ...to name but a few.


  • #143
    WilcoOut
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,778 ✭✭✭WilcoOut


    lebowski11 wrote: »
    'Battle Cry of Freedom' by James Macpherson is very highly rated. I've only used it as a reference but I read two of his books on civil war soldiers and both were excellent.

    .


    +1 on the above

    an essential text for any student of American Civil War history

    other great books that spring to mind are 'The American Civil War' by Winston Churchill. Very concise, about 130 pagea are so. its illustrated also

    I also recommend 'The Civil War and the wars of the nineteeth century' by Brian Holden Reid. details the strnghts and weaknesses of both armies and also gives a flavour of what was happening both sides of the atlantic


  • #144
    spider guardian
    Closed Accounts Posts: 884 ✭✭✭spider guardian


    IrishGraveyards.ie

    Site allows for extensive search of graveyards throughout Ireland. Useful tool for tracing ancestry or simply browsing for local interest. Graveyards are being added all the time and it is completely free to use.


  • #145
    moonsun12
    Registered Users Posts: 87 ✭✭moonsun12


    I have just finished reading 'Hidden Cork' by Michael Lenihan. I really enjoyed this book and was wondering if any boardsies know of other books about Cork city or if the author does talks. Also if there is anyone that does walking tours of Cork city.


  • #146
    Bodhidharma
    Registered Users Posts: 942 ✭✭✭Bodhidharma


    I would strongly recommend The Atlas of Cork City by Crowley, Devoy, Linehan and O’Flanagan. It is as thorough an account of the city as any there is. Each chapter is written by specialists in that area so it is very well informed. Its an expensive book at around 60euro but a great reference.

    I'm not sure about walking tours of the city however, i'd say you'd need to get on to the library or county council maybe.


  • #147
    moonsun12
    Registered Users Posts: 87 ✭✭moonsun12


    Excellant, will see if I can get a copy from my local library and check out of they know of any tours while Im there!


  • #148
    Pablo Sanchez
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,207 ✭✭✭Pablo Sanchez


    sporina wrote: »
    i want to buy a book about the british empire - something to help me understand how it all started and how it lead to how it stands today. Anyone read any good books? One that is not too heavy - more informative rather than critical. I have looked on Amazon but I would like to get some opinions.. thanks in advance, s

    Try the Decline and Fall of the British Empire by Piers Brendon, takes you from the very start through to the Hong Kong handover, excellent read.

    Two good books on the remaining empire include Outposts by Simon Winchester or The Teatime Island by Ben Fogle, facinating stuff.


  • #149
    blue banana
    Registered Users Posts: 337 ✭✭blue banana


    +1 The Atlas of Cork is a beautiful book, with lovely maps, photos as well as details etc.

    I did one of these walking tours last September during Heritage week and found it very interesting. Definetly reccommend it.

    http://www.walkcork.ie/index.html


  • #150
    Ponster
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,911 Mod ✭✭✭✭Ponster


    Didn't see a sticky for interesting links so I hope this will do !

    http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/index.html
    Euratlas Periodis Web shows the history of Europe through a sequence of 21 historical maps, every map depicting the political situation at the end of each century.


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  • #151
    dragon_wannabee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11 ✭dragon_wannabee


    Hey Guys,

    Can anybody recommend a good book which focuses on the background and forces behind Ireland's move from Free State to Republic?

    Thanks in advance!


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