(Part 2) Top products from r/history

I'm going to be lazy and simply repost a post of mine from a year ago. :)

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is a well deserved winner of the Pulitzer Prize. A combination of history, science and biography and so very well written.

A few of my favourite biographies include the magisterial, and also Pulitzer Prize winning, Peter the Great by Robert Massie. He also wrote the wonderful Dreadnaught on the naval arms race between Britain and Germany just prior to WWI (a lot more interesting than it sounds!). Christopher Hibbert was one of the UK's much loved historians and biographers and amongst his many works his biography Queen Victoria - A Personal History is one of his best. Finally, perhaps my favourite biography of all is Everitt's Cicero - The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician. This man was at the centre of the Fall of the Roman Republic; and indeed fell along with it.

Speaking of which, Rubicon - The Last Years of the Roman Republic is a recent and deserved best-seller on this fascinating period. Holland writes well and gives a great overview of the events, men (and women!) and unavoidable wars that accompanied the fall of the Republic, or the rise of the Empire (depending upon your perspective). :) Holland's Persian Fire on the Greco-Persian Wars (think Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes! Think of the Movie 300, if you must) is equally gripping.

Perhaps my favourite history book, or series, of all is Shelby Foote's magisterial trilogy on the American Civil War The Civil War - A Narrative. Quite simply one of the best books I've ever read.

If, like me, you're interested in teh history of Africa, start at the very beginning with The Wisdom of the Bones by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman (both famous paleoanthropologists). Whilst not the very latest in recent studies (nothing on Homo floresiensis for example), it is still perhaps the best introduction to human evolution available. Certainly the best I've come across. Then check out Africa - Biography of a Continent. Finish with the two masterpieces The Scramble for Africa on how European colonialism planted the seeds of the "dark continents" woes ever since, and The Washing of the Spears, a gripping history of the Anglo-Zulu wars of the 1870's. If you ever saw the movie Rorke's Drift or Zulu!, you will love this book.

Hopkirk's The Great Game - The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia teaches us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I should imagine that's enough to keep you going for the moment. I have plenty more suggestions if you want. :)

The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes is one of my favorite books of all time, of any genre. I have yet to encounter any work of history that comes close to it.

• It reads almost like one of the great works of literature, even though it is grade A 100% history through and through (~800 pages of history in addition to almost 100 pages of notes and bibliography).
  
  
• It documents not just the scientific process that went into The Bomb, but the geo-political factors, a half-century of scientific development that made it even conceivable, and most importantly, reveals the humanity of all those involved so you see the interplay of personalities and how all that culminated in what actually happend.
  
  
• It pulls no punches when it comes to the effects of the bomb on people. Tongues of Fire was, without a doubt, the most painful chapter I have ever read in any book, history or no. My first reading I had to put it down multiple times, my body shaking, before I could continue. Even recalling that chapter as I type sends a chill through my body.
  
  And if you don't want to take my word for it, you can try...
  
  Carl Sagan - "A stirring intellectual adventure, and a clear, fast-paced and indispensable history of events on which our future depends... the book is surprising and revealing."
  
  Isaac Asimov - "Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb is the best, the richest, and the deepest description of the development of physics in the first half of the century that I have yet read, and it is certainly the most enjoyable."
  
  The back cover of my copy has praise from a number of Nobel Prize winners as well.
  
  tl;dr If you enjoy history, this is simply a must read. Political, scientific, military, and intimate personal history all in one incredibly epic tomb surrounding one of mankind's greatest and most terrible achievements.

A PEACE TO END ALL PEACE by David Fromkin. In my opinion, you should start with this before anything else. Well researched, respected in the academic community, well written. It's absolutely one of the best books on the subject, and the first place I would go.

Bonus FYI: the "redrawing" period went on from 1918-1922.

Also, this book is primarily focused on the Middle East, so you won't get as much on post-war Germany, or the African continent. But it will give you tons of context for what happened during the peace conference.

A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805088091/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zs7iDb51WDZHF

Edit spelling.

I've been asking myself that question recently, and after surfing around I've come to three answers that have helped me:

1.) Keep surfing around. Some of the history subreddits are great places for general information, trivia, and links to cool facts, while /r/AskHistory and /r/AskHistorians are great getting answers to specific questions you have.

2.) Read a general world history. While a lot of these seems to be a bit Eurocentric and can't, by nature, go into great depth about any particular place or period, it seems to me that this is a good place to start if you aren't sure what interests you most. This reddit's book list mentions The History of the World by J. M. Roberts as a good world history book, and I've personally enjoyed The History of the Ancient World by Susan Bauer (and the other books of that series). Wikipedia is pretty great, too.

3.) Like another comment said, try to narrow your topic. It's easy to delve into history when you've picked something you find really interesting.

Here is a quote from one of Hernan Cortes soldiers when they aproached Tenochtitlan: "When we saw all those cities and villages build in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. Indeed some of our soldiers asked wheter or not it was all a dream" - Bernal Diaz del Castillo

Bernal Diaz del Castillo also wrote detailed accounts of the expeditions to the New World. The Conquest of New Spain is also a great book. It's amazing how well documented these expeditions are. We are very fortunate.

What are the best books on Hannibal (particularly ones that may have been overlooked)?

Personally I like Lazenby's Hannibal's War (for the academically inclined) and Dodge's Hannibal (for a general audience).

EDIT:

For those interested in learning more about Hannibal, here are my top picks from books actually on my book shelf:

1. Hannibal's War by J. F. Lazenby (little dry, but well documented history)
   
2. The First Punic War: A Military History by J. F. Lazenby (can't really understand Hannibal without the prelude)
   
3. The Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy (dude knows more about the Roman Army than anyone)
   
4. Hannibal by Theodore Ayrault Dodge (Dodge was a Union officer in the Civil War and wrote some great books on Hannibal, Caesar, Alexander, etc. ... probably the best companion to primary source material on a first read through -- and it's out of copyright so you can find free copies online)
   
5. Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B. H. Liddell Hart (was Scipio the real, and somewhat overlooked, genius of the Second Punic War?)
   
   And recommendations and from /u/gevemacd :
   
   
6. Hannibal A Hellenistic Life by Eve MacDonald (/u/gevemacd herself!)
   
7. Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War by Gregory Daly (I haven't read this, but the slow trapping and butchery 70,000 men on a hot day seems like a fascinating topic for history as it was actually experienced)

As a matter of fact, yes! David Fromkin wrote a wonderful book on the subject, "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East." It is engaging and very informative!

http://www.amazon.com/Peace-End-All-Ottoman-Creation/dp/0805088091

I see a lot of great books already listed. I'll offer a few lesser-known books that haven't been mentioned yet.

Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe series is brilliant for general readers of almost any age.

I see William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has been mentioned, but I find his book on France - The Collapse of the Third Republic - equally compelling.

For those who love Barb Tuchmann's Guns of August,
Dreadnought by Robert Massie and The Lions of July by William Jannen are excellent additions in covering the lead up to WWI.

For Roman History, I'd recommend Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus and Anthony Everitt's Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

I read two history books this year that were excellently written and very-well researched. One is "Augustus: The life of Rome's First Emperor" by Anthony Everitt and The First Crusade: A New History: The Roots of Conflict between Christianity and Islam. Both great books and they'll keep you engaged the whole time. I truly recommend them.

Complete novice? Extra Credits.

Seconding the Podcasts from Carlin, "Punic Nightmares" and Duncan's History of Rome and Born Yesterday. Seriously, Duncan is amazing. Major history hard-on.

Also, the History Channel has a pretty fun website, and there aren't any pawnshop aliens American Trucker-Pickers.

And if you want to read something that was written a tad earlier, Appian's histories cover the Second Punic War in several sections: The Spanish Wars, The Hannibalic War in Europe, and The Punic War and Numidian Affairs about Scipio in Africa (he also writes about the First Punic War), Livy deals with the Second Punic War in chapters 21-25 and 26-30, Polybius uses the Punic Wars to extol (and for us, explain) Roman virtues and institutions, and Plutarch gives two Generals treatment in his Parallel Lives, Fabius and Flaminius.

Modern books, I liked Adrian Goldsworthy's [The Punic Wars] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Punic-Wars-Adrian-Goldsworthy/dp/0304352845), and had WAY too much fun reading this book about Scipio and this book about Hannibal in tandem.

Oh... after you're done with all/any of that you might want to go buy Rome Total War and play as the Scipii. Extra points if you download Europa Barbarorum. Rome 2 is out and presumably awesome (and EB2)

Upvoted. The Great Game is a page-turning winner's version whirlwind tour of the geopolitics of the 1800s. It's also my number 1.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312336926&sr=1-1

Reay Tannahill's "Food in History" is completely different but also very very good. She's cobbled together a lively survey of diets through the ages. When you've finished this book, you'll have accidentally learned what happened, who did it and in what order - while you were distracted by recipes, bad and weird.

http://www.amazon.com/Food-History-Reay-Tannahill/dp/0517884046

For historic, hilarious and educational fiction, go for "Flashman and the Redskins" to begin with. (If you like it, I'd go for "Flashman at The Charge" next and then his version of the "Great Game".)

http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-Redskins-George-MacDonald-Fraser/dp/0452264871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312337084&sr=1-1

Not been too many great replies here. I have the perfect book for you. Susan Wise Bauer's History of the Ancient World. It takes you from the dawn of history (~3,000BC) to Constantine, and is a really easy read, in fact it reads almost like fiction. A real pleasure. She also has two more, taking you up to 1453, but you can decide if you want them after you have read the first one.

I'm also going to suggets Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order. This was the book that made me realise I didn't understand history or politics (most people go through life without ever realising this). Its also a history book, but focusing on the theme of the origins of our political institutions. A real good one. BTW ignore the boring cover that makes it look like a dry academic read; it isn't.

I just finished reading Rubicon and Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor back to back. Very enjoyable follow on read.

I'm hoping to read Holland's Persian Fire soon.

I would also highly recommend Lords of the Sea about the birth of the Athenian Navy.

If you like narrative history and are interested in the American Civil War, nothing beats Shelby Foote's trilogy. Historians correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's generally pretty accurate and very entertaining.

I come from no expertise on the subject (besides a college course on Europe in the High Middle Ages) but I picked up Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and found it to be a fascinating read. ]

The author mostly draws from Arab chronicles to build an idea of how contemporary Arabs viewed the events of Crusades. Overall it was refreshing to read about one of the most controversial events in European Medieval history in a book that was almost completely derived from the Arab historiography. By not focusing on European sources and interpretations of the events, it was really interesting seeing the crusaders as this looming alien threat within the Muslim world.

That perspective made it all the more interesting to see how difficult it was for the Arab world to unite against what appeared to be a common threat, and how that political fragmentation allowed for alien European-Christian Kingdoms to exist within the Arab world for so long. Ultimately it was great read for a great vacation!

The "Great Game" period between the Russian and British Empires vying for supremacy in 19th century Central Asia. Really fascinating historical period complete with stories of amateur explorers, pathological fear of Russian encroachment on India, military incursions, domestic, colonial, and foreign politics, eccentric belief in "Empire", chance encounters on the road, psychopath kings and khans, etc. Surprising connections to events today and hammers home the dangers of engaging in Afghan affairs!

Here's the wikipedia for some info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game

My favorite book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223

I recommend "Peace to end all Peace" By David Fromkin http://www.amazon.com/Peace-End-All-Ottoman-Creation/dp/0805088091

For the medieval period, I found The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England very interesting. Definitely more of a popular book than hard-core history, though.

This book and it's series of books will tell you most you want to know, from what colors you couldn't wear or what kind of birds you were not allowed to eat. Great detail and fun read.

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

I read "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" in College, that was a pretty good book. I can also recommend: "Muhammad, a prophet of our time" I read this also in college.

I read a pretty comprehensive book on the subject: Persian Fire by Tom Holland. Never completely finished it, but the opening chapters had a lot to say about Cyrus the Great and his role in shaping the Achaemenid dynasty.
http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Fire-First-Empire-Battle/dp/0307279480

The best thing to do is to start searching for "eugenics." For some reason that stuff hasn't been buried as much and you can see more of it. And, since links in English are favored by the web over links in German, you get more of an allied perspective on it. You can start here, move on to here, spend a little time here and then dip in here for a little light reading before going down the rabbit hole for ever and ever.

Peter Hopkirk wrote a superb book about this, called The Great Game. I highly recommend it.

It will make you very, very angry at US policy in Afghanistan and central Asia.

Soldat ... if you have any interest in WWII this is by far the BEST account I have ever read from the German perspective.

Also, I believe someone else mentioned them, but anything by Cornelius Ryan - I've read The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far and The Last Battle and all three were absolutely fantastic ... the historical detail that are in those books are UNRIVALED

The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz. Amazing first person account of Cortes and the conquering of Mexico, better than any action movie you'll ever see.

Came here looking for Frederick. I'm reading Iron Kingdom now and I'm finding him to be an especially fascinating figure. I think I'll look for a good biography after I'm through with the other book.

If you're interested in WWI, have you read Paris 1919? Definitely worth picking up if you haven't.

First, the city of Rome is quite different from the empire. For hundreds of years, Rome was first a kingdom, then a republic, but it became an empire under Augustus (who ruled from 30 B.C to 14 A.D.).

Traditionally, the founding of the city of Rome was dated to 753 B.C. Two brothers, Romulus and Remus (who were allegedly left by the riverside and nursed by a she-wolf) grew up and decided to found a city. They quarreled over where the site should be, and fought. Romulus killed his brother Remus, founded the city, and became the first king of Rome. Seven kings ruled Rome from 753 B.C. until 509 B.C., when the last king Tarquin the Proud was overthrown and Rome became a republic.

Now, our primary source for the early history of Rome is Livy, who lived from 59 B.C. to 17 A.D. and wrote a 142 book history of Rome. 35 of these books have survived, and books 1-5 cover Rome from its founding up to 390 B.C.

Here is his Wikipedia article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy

And here you can buy his early history: http://www.amazon.com/Livy-Early-History-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140448098

However, a lot of questions have been raised about how reliable Livy is. He was writing hundreds of years after the beginning of Rome, and we don't know very much about his sources. Did he have access to historical records from the era of the kings and the early republic? Was he simply relating myths and folk tales about early Rome? We don't know for sure, and a many historians have argued (and are still arguing) about this.

To add to this, recently archaeologists have found evidence of a Roman wall and pottery fragments that date from 850 B.C. or even before that. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/13/archaelogists-find-rome-century-older-than-thought

Rome was probably originally just a good place for traders and travelers to cross the river. As commerce grew, a village sprang up on a couple of the hills, and that village slowly grew into a town, which then grew into a small city.

Sources: Livy's "The Early History of Rome."

Anthony Everitt: "The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire."

http://www.amazon.com/Augustus-Life-Romes-First-Emperor/dp/0812970586/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320917363&sr=1-1

Highly recommended, a little embellished at times but an excellent read

I liked Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949 by Siegfried Knappe, and Red Road from Stalingrad by Mansur Abdulin.

Edit: Sorry, I gave you the Canadian Amazon links. I'm sure you can find them on the regular Amazon.

I highly recommend reading The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz. It's definitely biased, but it was based on the account of a man who was actually there when Cortez invaded the Aztecs. One of the most interesting books I've ever read.

https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-New-Spain-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140441239

I'm surprised this book hasn't been mentioned..
http://www.amazon.com/The-Conquest-Spain-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140441239

A first person account from someone who was there with Cortez. Awesome read.

No it doesn't prove anything of the sort. The original budget was not $6000, the letter Szilard convinced Einstein to write to Roosevelt about the possibility of developing an fission bomb was sent in 1939 - you don't write the president if you think you need $6000. It was clear from very early on that the project would be astronomically expensive.

Excellent book on the whole story -

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/0684813785

Christianity: I've heard that Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch is fantastic. I haven't read it. It's called "Christianity", not "Catholicism", but it might work for you given that Catholicism pretty much was Christianity until (relatively) recently.

French Revolution: Citizens by Simon Schama.

Can't help you with Zoroastrianism.

https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Magic-Ancient-Egypt-Rosalie/dp/0140262520 This book i found to be very interesting when talking about old egyptian history. It gives a look into early society and how they went from scattered communities to a kingdom, but it focuses on the religious aspect.

I would think a book on Napolean would be a good start, and also a book on the French Revolution.
https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-Andrew-Roberts/dp/0143127853

https://www.amazon.com/Citizens-Chronicle-Revolution-Simon-Schama/dp/0679726101/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TS49J5H345TC8T3XXSS5

I enjoyed Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon.

For those interested in a good read about The Somme, check out John Keegan's The Face of Battle.

https://www.amazon.com/Face-Battle-Study-Agincourt-Waterloo/dp/0140048979

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome-by Alberto Angela was a great read. I like to try to learn about the people a bit when researching history and this was just the ticket. It's easy to get lost in emperors, battles, and dates, and this brings it back to the peoples that were the engine of the empire.

this one has really great artwork and thorough detail and this one blew my mind

Well, you could try Livy's first few books. Livy is pretty readable.

It’s heavy on the ancient; before the Greeks & Romans, though at the peak of Egypt. But, 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is a really cool book about the really ancient world, & how the different civilizations interconnected & dealt with each other & how the whole thing came crashing down during the Bronze Age collapse.

The author has also done a video giving the short hand account of things if you want a kind of preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRcu-ysocX4

http://www.amazon.com/On-Killing-Psychological-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932

Great book, even if it's not exactly what you're looking for.

A Day in the Life of ancient Rome does a great job of detailing what it was like for people then. Usually you only hear about the leaders and battles, etc. This book gets into the day to day stuff for ordinary people in Rome.

Wonderful book. https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691168385

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild is really good. Its about the Belgian King's rule over the Congo.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevich is an account of the Rwandan Genocide of '94.

That's more recent history, but the fact is little is written about pre-colonial Africa (not dealing with Egypt). I haven't read much, but I'm sure theres some decent readings about the Mali Empire (maybe start with Mansa Musa?).

https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Crusades-Critical-International/dp/0742538230

Also a very good read

This book, by Susan Wise Bauer, covers the earliest periods of (known) human civilization, across multiple civilizations (Middle East/Asia/Europe/etc.). Volumes 2 and 3 take you right through to 1453.

I really liked "a day in the life of ancient rome". You will learn allot about the ancient romans.
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-Ancient-Rome-Curiosities/dp/1933372710

Simon Schama's Citizens is OK.

Well, it was an Italian book by Alberto Angela but I don't remember which one exactly... It was either this one:

https://www.amazon.it/life-ancient-Rome-Alberto-Angela/dp/1933372710

or this one:

https://www.amazon.it/Reach-Rome-Journey-Through-Following/dp/0847841286

In any case, they are both worth a read.

I liked Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark.

If you want to get more in depth into the "Europeans carving up the Middle East" and have your mind blown by the direct implications for what we are now facing almost 100 years later, I strongly recommend the book "Paris 1919".

In addition to being fascinating, well written and full of colorful characters, it's a refreshing departure from your typical war history book discussing troop movements and precursors. It's unbelievable to learn about the circus of the post war Paris 1919 talks which shaped so much of the world as it emerged from colonialism.

Link: Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375760520/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OEqZxbNARKF2M

Scipio , he face HANNIBAL and defeated him and Carthage. Also, I recommend book by B.H Liddell Hart http://amzn.to/2l4sw1S which goes to an in-depth analysis of the tactics and strategies of Scipio. IMHO, Scipio is better.

Not an article, but King Leopold's Ghost is a great book, as is The Congo: From Leopold to Kabila

Or if you have an hour to kill White King, Red Rubber, Black Death is a very well made documentary.

The classic go-to book for the Christian period of Rome seems to be Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, covering the years 98-1590. I suggest an abridged version though, I didn't read much of it but it tends to draaaaaag at parts. Main thing is that Gibbon is criticized for having an overly anti-Christian slant to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Decline-Roman-Empire-Everymans-Library/dp/0307700763/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426051623&sr=8-2&keywords=rise+and+fall+of+the+roman+empire

kindle version
http://www.amazon.com/HISTORY-DECLINE-EMPIRE-COMPLETE-VOLUMES-ebook/dp/B00BFFY6T0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426051623&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+and+fall+of+the+roman+empire


For a more general viewpoint, Susan Wise Baur gives an account of many ancient civilizations throughout the world in her book, The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome. I did read all the way through this one and it's what I recommend for anyone needed a basic crash course of ancient world history.

http://www.amazon.com/History-Ancient-World-Earliest-Accounts/dp/039305974X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426051683&sr=8-1&keywords=susan+bauer+history+of+the+world

Robert Massie has 3 amazing books about WWI. Dreadnought about Anglo-German naval rivalry, Nicholas and Alexandra, about the last Czar and the russian perspective, and Castles of Steel, about the naval war. All of them are fantastic and read like novels.

Another excellent book is Paris 1919, about the end of the war, and how Woodrow Wilson ruined everything.

This might be worth a look. It's pretty much limited to political history (with limited focus on, say, cultural elements), but it's a one-volume history of the period.

http://www.amazon.com/History-Ancient-World-Earliest-Accounts/dp/039305974X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320666835&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Face-Battle-Study-Agincourt-Waterloo/dp/0140048979

You'll never go wrong with John Keegan

You can't go wrong with Livy:

http://www.amazon.com/Livy-Early-History-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140448098

I highly recommend reading the Agincourt chapter of John Keegan's "The Face of Battle". Keegan talks about what a French soldier would have experienced on an individual level, something that was largely absent from discussions of warfare before Keegan wrote this book in the early 1970s.

If you want to get the perspective of the crusades through the Arabs this is great read.
http://www.amazon.ca/Crusades-Through-Arab-Eyes/dp/0805208984

There's this, albeit a different time period: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/1439112908/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=BKTCY0V8K7XD&coliid=I1B9AZ44XS0SEO

and also this fun desktop background: http://i.imgur.com/zXFY5.jpg

edit: of course a dozen people have already posted this - what was I thinking?

https://smile.amazon.com/Wars-Roses-Alison-Weir/dp/0345404335

https://smile.amazon.com/Princes-Tower-Alison-Weir/dp/0345391780

https://smile.amazon.com/Reluctant-Queen-Story-Queens-England-ebook/dp/B000VSW7TI

https://smile.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112908

Try the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Kingdom-Downfall-Prussia-1600-1947/dp/0674031962/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319601019&sr=1-3

Obviously: http://www.amazon.com/Crusades-Through-Arab-Eyes-Essentials/dp/0805208984/

"Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier""

Doesn't really line up 100% but could be Soldat by Siegfried Knappe.

https://www.amazon.com/Soldat-Reflections-German-Soldier-1936-1949/dp/0440215269

After the collapse of Bronze Age civilization in the Med basin, there was an interregnum that lasted until about 900BC. Athens and other Greek communities were part of an area-wide renaissance and though Athens proper was small it eventually had an outsized impact as it became an economic powerhouse that ruled over a wide area. As the economies of the area recovered, Athens succeeded more than most and money is what pays for a wide range of elevated arts and sciences such as those you listed.

Eventually, War and Pestilence came for mighty Athens but by then the histories had been written.

You can try this book : https://www.amazon.it/dp/1933372710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_c_i-GDAbSCWZHJE

or the other book of Alberto Angela

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Kingdom-Downfall-Prussia-1600-1947/dp/0674031962/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1484263214&sr=8-4&keywords=german+empire

This one takes you through the 30 years war all the way to the downfall and dissolution of the Third Reich. Pretty Prussia-Centric, but still damn good.

Persian Fire by Tom Holland. Holland is a fabulous writer. His book Rubicon (about the fall of the Roman Republic) is one of my favorites. Persian Fire, which I'm reading now, is about the Greek-Persian War.

Eric Carle wrote 1177 BC; The Year Civilization Collapsed. He covers a lot of history leading into and resulting from the collapse. In those discussions, he relates a very interesting theory on the sacking of Priam's Troy and why.

I read that civilians came around at night after the battle of Waterloo looting corpses and the wounded and even murdering some of them first.

I suggest reading this for anyone interested in first hand accounts from the Napoleonic wars

As far as being hesitant about killing fellow countrymen there is an interesting section of the book "On killing" that deals just with that.

The book said the accuracy of shots in battle was something like 60% less accurate than the norm. It also talked about the increasing accuracy and willingness to kill over the years as the military progressed to targets that looked more and more human-like.

Not all history but very interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psychological-Cost-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932

The translations are well written. I read a couple of his books on the early history of Rome for one of my college courses. This is one of the ones we read. He died shortly after the reign of Augustus (the first), and into the beginning of Tiberius.

Citizens by Simon Schama well written and a compelling read, though with a somewhat anti-Jacobin slant
a good but less thorough book is Paris in the Terror by Stanley Loomis

TLDR: as General von Blumenthal, Chief of Staff of the Prussian I Army, put it about the austro-prussian war of 1866, ‘we just shoot the poor sods dead.’ This is repeated all over from Frederick the Great till unification of Germany.

read : Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947

Very weak article. If you're interested in this part of the world it would be criminal for you to not read, The Great Game, by Peter Hopkirk.

There's a book called: A Peace to end all Peace
http://www.amazon.com/Peace-End-All-Ottoman-Creation/dp/0805088091

It was a great book and helped me have a decent understanding of how the West screwed over rebelling Muslims during WWI which eventually led to the conflict we see today. It doesn't directly reference Hamas but it talks about why the Middle East is screwed up and tensions between the Jews and Arabs following WWI.

https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psychological-Cost-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932
This book talks about the natural aversion we have when killing another human and the study they did after WWII and how they learned to train today's soldiers to kill more effectively. The main method is the use of life-like targets from silhouettes to mannequins. Also the use of video like games for training, they learned this from the kids who played "Duck Hunt". The kids who grew up playing "Duck Hunt" significantly cut the learning curve how to shoot a pistol and hitting the target.

I will just refer you to The book "On Killing" it's 400 pages long. I tried to get a digest of the main points.

Here is a link

On Killing is required reading at the FBI Academy and is on the United States Marine Corps' recommended reading list. If you don't want to - Here is a short review with counter-points.

For World War 1 I would say the best book to read is Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan.

She is specifically a World War 1 historian specifically on the causes of World War 1. Her book on the Paris Peace agreement that ended World War 1 is a bit more unique than most World War 1 history books. In it she explains the conflicts and problems that all of the parties involved had with the agreement and the discussions that were going on.

People often think of World War 1 as this battle between five powerful nations but there were in fact a large number of minor nations who were at the peace talks and unhappy with the outcome. The result of World War 1 was the disintegration of the Russian and Ottoman Empires (two historic enemies) and the creation of a vast number of micro states across their borders.

Good Resources is King Leopold's Ghost. http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/0618001905

To get more into it. It was the Age of Colonization and the Carving up of Africa. As the major powers took chunks for the nation for themselves King Leopold decided he wanted a part of the action.

He paid explorers to chart of the Congo River and claimed a large swath of land along it. He was competing with France to his North, and Germans to the East.

It is important to note that the Congo Free State started not as a Belguian colony but as King Leopold's personal colony. He exploited the lands for Ivory and later Rubber by essential enslaving the natives in their own homeland. Those that didn't make quotas had their hands cut off. The population in the Congo crashed, and it is general considered the 4th worst destruction of human life after the Holocaust, Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's Communist China

The book Heart of Darkness is written about what Joseph Conrad saw when he visited.

Eventually as people learned of the atrocities King Leopold was forced to turn it over to the Belgium nation. When they took over Missionary school and other more "civilized" systems were set up, but the exploitation continued in a slightly less extreme way.

Since we were breaking their codes, we knew that Japanese high command believed that "since it took us 4 years to build the first nuclear weapon, then it would take 4 years to build the second one." They knew that Hiroshima was hit by a nuclear weapon because they had 2 separate nuclear weapon programs. When they surrendered, the 3rd nuclear bomb was being flown from San Diego to Honolulu.

I recommend reading the 2 books by Richard Rhodes:
The Making of the Atomic Bomb which describes the various nuclear bomb projects underway during WW2 and after.
Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. While more about the separate hydrogen bomb projects, it includes details from what used to be the Soviet Union's archives after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The first book described how the Japanese knew Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb - the head of the Tokyo based bomb project was rushed to Hiroshima later that day and he recognized what was going on, especially when confirmed by radioactivity.