I’ve been playing “Medieval II: Total War” lately, and as always happens, I’m starting to get interested in the Medieval time period, particularly Franch and England (dude, the French were bad ass until Waterloo). When I was playing “Rome: Total War” I was really interested in ancient Greece.
But yeah, overall, I’m a history nerd and I can find any European or American history book interesting. So yeah, although my original intent was for medieval history, if you know any good books about Napolean (I know next to nothing), colonial history, or either revolutions, I’m all ears.
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman is pretty readable. It follows the life of a French nobleman whose father-in-law was the King of England. I’ve read one copy to tatters and replaced it!
It will have to wait until tomorrow morning, when I can peruse the shelves of my classroom. Can you narrow the area any? I have about 30 shelf-feet of books on European history.
Honestly, I know so little about that time period that I still don’t know what I’m interested most of all. Basically, whatever you’re interested in the most.
My favorite medieval history book is The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History by Colin McEvedy. It’s not detailed, but it provides an excellent overview of the period through a series of maps that show the ebb and flow of all the major political powers over a thousand years.
Most of Professor McEvedy’s other historical atlases are also wonderful. There are four that cover Europe (The Penguin Atlases of Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Recent History) as well as one for North American and one for Africa.
The only disappointment in the series is the Penguin Atlas of Pacific History. The scale of the map makes it difficult to read. It would have been a much more effective if it had concentrated exclusively on Asia and ignored Polynesia and North America.
I couldn’t remember who wrote The Sunne in Splendour but having Googled, apparently it was Sharon K Penman. It’s another take on the life of Richard III from his boyhood until his death, and gives an interesting angle on him and on the Wars of the Roses. Not much of an international aspect, though.
An easy and fun read, but not necessarily very historically accurate, are the detective series by Ellis Peters featuring the medieval monk and herbalist Brother Cadfael.
Anything by Frances and Joseph Gies is good such as This book They have a wonderfully clear and relevant writing style that provides a very readable narrative while still getting the point across.
For Napoleonic history, try Looking up Rory Muir, Digby Smith or Phillip J. Haythornthwaite. Their focus seems to be mainly millitary, however.
Following on from the Cadfael suggestion, may I recommend two highly enjoyable fiction series that are meticulously researched:
George McDonald Fraser’s ‘Flashman’ series
‘The first instalment of the Flashman Papers sees the fag-roasting rotter from Tom Brown’s Schooldays commence his military career as a reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan. Expelled from Rugby for drunkenness, and none too welcome at home after seducing his father’s mistress, the young Flashman embarks on a military career with Lord Cardigan’s Hussars. En route to Afghanistan, our hero hones his skills as a soldier, duellist, imposter, coward and amorist (mastering all 97 ways of Hindu love-making during a brief sojourn in Calcutta), before being pressed into reluctant service as a secret agent. His Afghan adventures culminate in a starring role in that great historic disaster, the Retreat from Kabul.’
C.S. Forester’s ‘Hornblower’ series
‘Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the prequel to the Horatio Hornblower series. Written as the sixth book chronologically, it covers the very first times when Hornblower served in His Majesty’s navy. My recommendation is that you read it first, so that you can follow Hornblower chronologically along over his career as it develops.
Since much of service aboard a naval vessel is routine, C.S. Forester gives us the high spots of Hornblower’s first years in the form of short stories beginning at age 17 when he entered the navy.
Each story is nicely balanced among the following qualities: Hornblower’s inexperience; the rapid shift of circumstances that can occur at sea; Hornblower’s physical and psychological weaknesses and courage to overcome them; the demands of honor; the importance of thinking clearly, getting good information, and making a swift decision; the benefits of discipline; and the brotherhood of all seaman before the dangers they face.
Those who are interested in the war between Britain and France after the French Revolution in 1789 will find the material to bring those events to life in a vivid way. I learned a lot about the details of naval warfare as it was conducted then.’
Another vote for Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror. Good stuff, well-researched and interestingly-told.
Michael Crichton’s Timeline is a decent novel set (through the high-tech wonders of time travel) in France during the medieval period. Drawing upon recent scholarship, Crichton argues that Western Europe was a much more dynamic place - socially, politically, economically, technologically - than we usually think.
In The Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture - Alister McGrath
Success Is Never Final: Empire, War and Faith in Early Modern Europe - Geoffrey Parker
The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade - Charles Corn
Gold & Spice: The Rise of Commerce in the Middle Ages - Jean Favier
The Final Act: The Road to Waterloo - Gregor Dallas
Europe at Home: Family and Material Culture 1500-1800 - Raffaella Sarti
All of these are well-written and delve into areas not greatly covered by standard texts.