# History books **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2000, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406 "2000-08-07T12:28:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/41 "2000-08-11T13:19:18Z")
> [@](#): > > : every book I’ve read on WWI could have used more maps. You may want to check for a WWI atlas that you can refer to alongside the book Good idea… suppose I’ll have to buy one online because I don’t recall ever seeing one at a book store. I have four of Keegan’s books, but only have had the time to finish _A History of Warfare_. I mentioned that one because it seemed to fit the OP a little. I’ve read a good portion of his _The Second World War_ and liked it, but _The First World War_ seems much more detailed than either of those, and it’s likely most casual American readers would prefer the former two to the latter. _The Face of Battle_ and _Mask of Command_ are also on my reading list… As I’ve posted in Great Debates, I have my own reservations about Diamond’s book, but since I’ve not yet finished that one either, I’ll keep them to myself. So many books, so little time. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/42 "2000-09-15T17:42:26Z")
A little “hint from Heloise” for this particular book: Get yourself a pack of Post-It “Tape Flags.” Those are the little flags that are 2/3 clear, 1/3 color and feel like Scotch tape. They’re great for text. Put one by each map so that you can flip back easily. I found that although (with one or two exceptions) every location Keegan discusses is actually on a map somewhere, it could well be three maps ago and that wasn’t convenient. The flags make the flipping back and forth less tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/43 "2000-09-15T20:37:45Z")
I would recommend [_The Fifties_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449909336/o/qid=969049809/sr=2-1/104-8463239-2464767) by David Halberstam. He writes about everything from the birth of the Cold War, Civil Rights movement and Beat literature, to the birth of Rock and Roll, McDonalds and Holiday Inn, with coverage of the space race, birth control, and the TV quiz show scandals thrown in. I find it to be a fascinating survey of a decade that most consider boring. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2000, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/44 "2000-09-16T05:11:32Z")
I’m no serious history reader, but I recommend Tuchman’s _March of Folly_. Not only will it change the way you look at history, it will change the way you look at the present world. Really. Well, at least it did for me. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/45 "2000-09-16T18:13:06Z")
“From Dawn to Decadence”! Great book! it was my staff pick at work last month. And I’m happy to say I won for most books sold.It’s nice to hear people talking about it, I was afraid all those people bought it to have on their shelf. If you liked that, Barzun certainly has enough other books to choose from (although a lot of them are out of print. I checked.) I can’t think of any other SURVEY type books, other than the ones mentioned. But I just read “King Leopold’s Ghost” about the Belgiun Congo. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/46 "2000-09-18T02:11:17Z")
I highly recommend “We were soldiers once and young” and “blackhawk down.” For a look at how war really is. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/47 "2000-09-18T12:17:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Get yourself a pack of Post-It “Tape Flags.” Thanks for the hint, but you’re a bit too late–I’ve already ordered a WWI Atlas and it’s on its way. That’s OK, though–it will go well with my WWII Atlas and my European History Atlas. The part that had really frustrated me was the Austrian-Russian campaign, which I had a hard time reconciling between the map and his prose. Unfortunately, my free-time “indoor sports” constantly waver between DVD movies, books, and computer strategy games, and I’ve recently moved off books and back to Starcraft. I’m about halfway through Brood War (w/o cheating this time), so it’ll be a couple weeks before I get back into some serious reading. Back on topic, I’d also second the nomination for _Blackhawk Down_, but be aware it’s not a survey history–it’s a grunt’s eye view of the tragic Somalia battle in 1993. FWIW, I think those types of detailed histories are far more interesting once you’re familiar with the basics. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406/48 "2000-09-20T12:59:55Z")
Well I can’t reccommend it because i haven’t read it, but I just read a review of “Twentieth Century:The History of the World 1901 to 2000” by J.M. Roberts that sound like if you liked Barzun you’d like this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-books/28406.md?page=2)