Best belgian history books according to redditors

Not even the camps, just the regular extermination as the army moved through towns. When Allied nations took back land, they were met with fanfare and parades. When the Germans moved through a town, they started killing civilians.

Like during the bulge. When the allies were pushed out of the Ardennes and the Germans started controlling some towns again, what did they do? They took the opportunity to start massacring some Belgians again! Right there on the spot. No need to ship then across Germany, they didn't have the time so they took what they were given, and made the best of it before the allies returned. The Germans were efficient if anything. These weren't just those tricksy SS units going around doing some bad stuff all sneaky like. The regular military regularly did horrific things when they had the chance. There was no soldier in the wehrmacht who didn't have an idea of what was required of him when asked, and what was routinely asked for.

The worst the allies ever did was occasional bloodthirsty soldiers shooting POWs. But these are memorable and recorded specifically because they would try to stop each other, they know about the Geneva Conventions, and the people were prosecuted afterwards.

Hey r/Badhistory!

Next year I am taking both Ap Gov and Ap Euro.

My AP Gov summer reading is The Price of Civilization

My Ap Euro summer reading is to End All Wars

Have any of you read either of them? Are they good books? Is there something specific which I should be thinking about while reading either?

Has Pascal Verbeken ever been translated? Or Eric Min? I see that this is on Amazon.com, I haven't read it but I usually enjoy the work of the authors mentioned, so it can't be terrible. ;)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061995207

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307743756

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/186046789X

https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Trader-Ballantine-Readers-Circle

It sounds to me like you have enough interest for a longer visit, 4 days isn't much time to cram in everything you're mentioning. A cheap bike(50-100 Euro) can be had at the far end of the Waterlooplein market. ( Unless its changed ) He will buy it back for half or so when you leave. Buy a good lock there and take it home with you, they have good locks at better prices than North America.

I would pass on the Iamsterdam card, perhaps more appropriate if you were there longer.

The nice thing about going to Amsterdam in the off season is that the lines are shorter or non-existant for museums and tours. Seating is available right away most of the time at Restaurants as well. Not as big a hurry to flip the table, you can stay longer.

The Rijksmuseum is a good choice, but it is big and deserves the better part of a day, get there early if you go. My personal favorite is the Amsterdam Historical museum.

The cities you mention are close by, but I'll be honest if its just 4 days and that includes your arrival and departure days, I would spend the whole time in Amsterdam, its a big city. More than enough to capture your heart and have you planning your next trip on the flight home.

I recommend 3 weeks or more to explore this gem of a Country (and perhaps a neighbor or two for day trips) A tour of the Port of Rotterdam is in order at that point.
This book DK Eyewitness guide Netherlands is worth every penny, order it now in time for your trip. If you make it to Haarlem try the poffertjes near/next to the train station.

You may want to check out Russell Shorto's Amsterdam knowing him it will explain the goevernment of the city. I can't give you a sourced answer yet (this book is currently on it's way to my house), but what I remember from my school years government in the Dutch Republic was still the way it was in the Middle Ages. In the case of Amsterdam that would mean a council of free "poorters", citizens in English. These were elected by the free poorters from amongst themselves, of course there were some requirements to become a poorter, mainly financial and religious.

That council would chose a number of "burgermeesters", mayors in English and other magistrates. These would be the daily government. The council would also choose the cities representatives in the States of the Province, and ultimately the representatives in the States General, which governed the Republic. Amsterdam was of special importance, because on it's own it held the majority in the States of Holland, and since the States of Holland had the majority of votes in the States General, Amsterdam was very influential on the Foreign policies of the Republic. Please use this not as fact, this is what I remember from school some thirty years ago, but it may aid in your research.

I'd say these two for starters:

Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City - Russell Shorto

Amsterdam - Geert Mak

Haven't read Mak yet but comparable I assume is Russell Shorto with Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City

Are you looking for general history? I enjoy Cornwall's book on the battle of waterloo - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MMFCEDC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

and the Black Count is pretty good as well. It's a biography on General Alexandre Dumas https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OLYPA4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Just finished another book on the Battle of Waterloo. Waterloo: The French Perspective, I thought I couldn't learn anything new about the battle and the events surrounding it - how wrong I was! I would guess most of you historians with an interest in the Napoleonic era have read it, but it makes a great read if not!

Four recent books (one of which I haven't looked at personally) have addressed this matter in varying capacities, and while none of the three I've seen is perfect all four each have considerable merits.

Adam Hochschild's To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 (2011) is an admirable attempt to integrate the story of objectors, resisters, pacifists and the like into the already well-established tableau of the war's history. It is a less than objective work, to put it mildly -- the tone is often one of outrage rather than dispassionate provision of facts. Still, the war seems to bring this out in people in a way that others do not, so this is scarcely a surprising feature. Still a good start, though; broadly focused on Great Britain and British colonies.

Louisa Thomas' Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family (2011) examines the tensions involved in non-combatant decisions on the American home front, with particular focus upon her great grandfather, Norman Thomas, who refused to fight at a time when two of his brothers had chosen otherwise. More of a meditation than an outright history book, but still quite interesting.

Peter Englund's fascinating narrative history, The Beauty and the Sorrow (2011), contains about twenty interwoven accounts of the war from a variety of perspectives, many of them on the home front. It's more determinedly international than the other two books I've mentioned, but may be less completely useful to you in that it jumps around considerably to provide a wider view.

For a specifically Australian view (albeit in a work I've not yet read, and probably won't be reading), check out Philip Payton's Regional Australia and the Great War (2012), which focuses on soldiers from a specific part of Australia and how both they and their home front contemporaries fared. If any book is likely to have at least something in it that will specifically help you, it's probably this one!

I love David McCollough's writing style - that book is definitely a monster (I've gotten part way through it). That wouldn't be a bad suggestion except I packed a lot of my books away when we moved here and not moved it here with me. I'll have to take a look!

I really love books written by journalists about historical events. For instance, I love Adam Hochschild's books, like To End All Wars, it's just my attention span is horrible right now.

Adam Hothschild's To End All Wars is another excellent overview of WWI...you might consider that as well.

To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0547750315/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_86QFub0Z4DQHB

If i'm being perfectly honest most of my research has been done online, but I will take a look on Amazon and see if I can find the book. Thanks!

^ninja ^edit: Richard Andersons Cracking Hitlers Atlantic Wall is probably the best book I have read on the subject.

"The Spirit of the Lion - Orders of Belgium"

​

https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Lion-Orders-Belgium/dp/1475262248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541111296&sr=8-1&keywords=spirit+of+the+lion+belgium

The best book (in English at least) about the French at Waterloo is Alan Field's Waterloo - The French Perspective https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterloo-French-Perspective-Andrew-Field/dp/1781590435

There is a terrific history of the antiwar movement before and during the First World War with this same name.

Here is the graphic anthology

I am going to have to buy it.

link to the book


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MMFCEDC/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_14_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-12&pf_rd_r=S4MQV0W3906NXK3M2BXE&pf_rd_r=S4MQV0W3906NXK3M2BXE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=c1c45598-a866-4102-acf7-67859367e8df&pf_rd_p=c1c45598-a866-4102-acf7-67859367e8df&pf_rd_i=7533915011