Hello y'all, I just finished a Nixon Biography and it really piqued my interest about 20th century US politics, so I wanted to ask if there's any recommendations. I'm European and usually read books about European history, but I have a solid base when it comes to American history. I'm especially interested in elections and Party politics. stuff like nixons southern strategy or the party switch, failed presidential candidates as well as third party candidates and things like the new deal coalition. Also social issues like segregation or economic ones like the rise of neoliberalism. All of this in the time frame from including FDR to including Bill Clinton.

If anyone can recommend me books that touch on as many as these topics as possible, even if they initially don't go in depth, I would be very thankful. I can always look for a specific topic later if I find something that really interests me, but right now I would like to get a broad overview first.

Thank you very much and I hope all of you have a nice day

Team of Rivals — a complete and detailed history of the Lincoln era. Doris Kearns Goodwin

Killing the Mob — A look into the infectious influence of the mob/corruption. Bill O’Reilly

I am interested in learning more Belgium history. Any good resources on this topic?

Just started reading Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis. It's an average length book but god damn it puts a lot of information in that short length, have to keep rereading paragraphs as its overwhelming my brain.

Bought my dad the book The Road Not Taken by Max Boot for his birthday, it's a HUGE book! Wouldn't be surprised if he'll finish it and then it'll be his next birthday!

I want to learn more about early cultures like andronovo (and especially about andronovo). Can anyone suggest readings on them? Thanks.

I've hit a rut in my Ancient Roman history. I've read everything by Goldsworthy, Holland, Mary Beard, and Anthony Everitt. I have been reading some academic papers (not my field, but like them) and am trying to get recommendations that:

• Are by academic historians along the lines of Mary Beard. Any topic.
• Roman military historians writing about specific rather than broad topics (Particular campaign, or era, etc)
• Any really interesting academic publications you've come across (DOI please?)

I’m looking for books about daily life and material culture in pre-20th century America. Anything about the boring day to day stuff that political biographies miss. How did normal people live/love/eat/sleep/hang out? Or diaries from that era. I love the journal of Nicholas cresswell for example

I guess it doesn't hurt to see if anyone has recommendations for Marxist reads. Also academic historiography on fascism, specially fascism in South America, I intend to study fascism in Brasil. Not sure if it will happen but who knows, new doc new pills.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Just wrapped up King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia l, and it was fantastic. The book does an excellent job conveying the Selassie's biography, from as close to an objective perspective as I've seen. Highly recommend this one!

Hmmmm, maybe Roman Art by Donald Strong and Roman Art and Architecture by Mortimer Wheeler?

King Leopold’s Ghost is more African history than Belgian history but it still may be of interest.

I highly recommend Hannah Arendt's The Origins lf Totalitarianism and Federicho Finchelstein's From Facism to Populism.

A couple that stand our for me:

April 1865 - The authors thesis is that one month represented a "fold" in history. A focused take on the events rather than a general history. I had read many books on the U.S. Civil War and related persons, but this offered new insights that I had not considered previously.

Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace - From a historical perspective, it is really interesting and places some world events in context. Great histories of both men and their relationship. For senior military officers, I expect you may agree with me that the author got it wrong by describing Marshall as Eisenhower's "commander". Eisenhower eclipsed Marshall, but respected him as a mentor and friend and valued his input. It highlighted the amazing impact that Marshall had on the Army and the Department of Defense. Despite what I considered a significant shortcoming of the book, I think the rest redeems the book and makes it a worthwhile read.

In addition to A Concise History of Belgium by Guy Vanthemsche, I highly recommend King Leopold's Ghost for a great, though tragic, read on Belgium's colonial management of the Congo. It's a must-read.

May not be exactly what you’re looking for but Last of the Blue and Gray: Old Men, Stolen Glory, and the Mystery That Outlived the Civil War by Richard A. Serrano may still be of interest.

Highly recommend. Hardcore stuff if you're into that. Also would suggest following it up with Heart of Darkness (fiction)

'The Poison King' by Mayor is a fun read about one of the most enduring Roman antagonists: Mithridates of Pontus.

On the podcast front: The Rest is History podcast just did a really good multi-part series on Ronald Reagan.

David Halberstam - The Best and the Brightest. Looks at members of the US government that came into office with JFK in 1961 (and continued to serve with LBJ after 1963) and their failure to come to grips with the Vietnam War.

Edwin Black - War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race.

Eric Rauchway - Why the New Deal Matters.

Landon R.Y. Storrs - The Second Red Scare and the Unmaking of the New Deal Left.

Robin D.G. Kelley - Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression.

Hi! Thomas Segrue’s Origins of the Urban Crisis looks at how and why Black migrants from the South became concentrated in the Northern inner cities and what led to the 1960s and 70s riots in cities like Detroit… It’s a great overview of the politics and economics of segregation in the 20th century in the north. If you’re interested in segregation in the south, you really still can’t do better than Woodward’s classic The Strange Career of Jim Crow, which is also incredibly readable (it was written in the 50s, so it’s a little old-fashioned, but Woodward was trying to combat the argument of the south that segregation was natural and had always existed, and instead to explain its history).

Lisa McGirr’s Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New Right is also a great book, she looks at the emergence of the new right from Goldwater through the southern strategy to Reagan, although she focuses more on the sort of grassroots side of it.

McGirr and Segrue are both academic writers, but very readable imo.

Alan Brinkley’s Voices of Protest: Coughlin, Long, and the Great Depression was written for a popular audience and has a lot on Huey Long’s run for president versus FDR. Overall it’s really good, although I think he isn’t really fair to the Irish-Americans, but that’s probably partly because my grandparents were Irish-Anerican and they despised Coughlin.

I really enjoyed James Rives’ Religion in the Roman Empire, which is academic but very well-organized & readable.

depends on when you’re looking at— four quick recommendations :)

if you’re interested in just before the 20th century, Victorian America: Transformation ls in Everyday Life 1876-1915 is fascinating and has everything you want, while the murder of Helen Jewett is a nonfiction exploration of a famous murder case and has a lot of day-to-day information.

If you’re interested in colonial, Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale is all about the daily life of a colonial midwife, mostly her diary. I just finished Malcolm Gaskill’s Ruin of All Witches which is about the witchhunt in 1651 Springfield Massachusetts and it is absolutely packed with information about daily life, what people did, what their lives were like, what they eat, all the stuff you sound interested in!

A podcast that I like is Literature and History, by Doug Metzger. It's about the history of English literature! He covers stuff chronologically, starting off with cuneiform, since you can't talk about literature without talking about the birth of writing. I've just finished up the season where he talks about Roman literature! It's very cool, he has his PhD in American literature of the 1800s (I think, don't quote me) and it is peer-reviewed! Amazing educational podcast.

I just finished Malcolm Gaskill’s Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World. It’s the story of the witch hunt in Springfield Massachusetts in 1651, but it starts with the founding of the plantation and it’s an incredible exploration of what life was actually like there in the 1600s. He perfectly captures the hothouse atmosphere of exhaustion, boredom, anxiety and gossip that led to the witch accusations, but I also don’t think I’ve gotten a better portrait of what life was like for the Puritans.

It really well written too, and sometimes unexpectedly funny. Somehow I did not expect >!the most damning accusation to be based on a pudding!<

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A list or various books that I recommend.

A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility by Taner Akcam

The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust by Heather Pringle

The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War by Lynn H. Nicholas

The Dancing Plague: The Strange, True Story of an Extraordinary Illness by John Waller

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew Graham-Dixon

Bernini: His Life and His Rome by Franco Mormando

The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty by G. J. Meyer

Rembrandt’s Eyes by Simon Schama

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age by Simon Schama

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King

India: A History by John Keay

China: A History by John Keay

Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich

wonderful book. i’m not biased.

Does anyone have particularly good books/podcasts on pre-Columbian North American tribes such as the Mississippi?

Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England. Mother of empires, by Sara Cockerill. I was disappointed to learn that alot of the "white myth " stories are just that. Stories. She lived a remarkable life, but she was far from the Amazonian warrior queen that many of us have been told about. Excellent read and expertly researched.

I'll throw in War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals, also by David Halberstam. It is a very insightful look into the policies and pitfalls that came out of the early '90s.

The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. It’s a history told from a populist perspective, starting with the first Spanish explorers and carrying all the way through the military dictatorships in Argentina, Brazil and elsewhere in the 70s.

There’s also an audiobook version read by Isabel Allende.

Finished 2 books. Reviews copied and pasted from Goodreads -

When Money Dies: The Nightmare of the Weimar Hyper-inflation by Adam Fergusson

>3.5/5 being harsh rounding down for Goodreads.

>Good at describing the causes and societal impact of hyperinflation during early 20s Germany. Not too heavy on the economic terminology and doesn't overload you with numbers. But the writing is a bit dry and I was sort of disappointed in that regard. Could've had more focus on the impact on normal people. Also has some stuff on Austria and Hungary. The main argument is that inflation on such a large scale damages the morals and structure of a society, leading to distrust between different groups. a loss of faith in democracy, aids extremists on the left and right, etc and basically traumatises a society. It also argues that the German hyper-inflation wasn't done deliberately to avoid paying the Versailles reparations but instead was done by a mix of incompetence and attempting to avoid unemployment (edit - plus to support the resistance to French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923). The book came out in 1975 and I haven't read that much on Weimar Germany yet so I don't know if the way it is presented here still holds up well academically.

Just finished Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz

>4/5 I feel like I got a lot out of it.

>Not much to say about it. Solid overview of the Weimar Republic. Mix of political, economics and cultural chapters. Well written and enjoyable to read. Personally I preferred the political chapters more, especially on the political right and the 'enemies of the republic'. The economics chapter was also good as it focused more on what the economic conditions meant for normal people instead of just a load of numbers about industrial production. The book is very good at giving a feeling of what the time period was like. My main criticism is that I found it to be a bit heavy on the architecture and the intellectuals at times, but that is more my personal taste than an objective negative. Overall a good introduction to Weimar Republic era Germany and despite it not being the cheapest book (at least on UK Amazon) I would recommend it for anyone interested in the topic, whether you've read other books on it or not.

Recently finished On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides about the Korean War, specifically the Chosin Reservoir battle. I thought it was a great book that really showed the genius of Incheon and the following mistakes made from hubris that led to the Chosin battle, and the suffering and courageous determination that resulted in the survival of the majority of the US forces. Obviously didn’t focus very much on the larger context, or the Chinese side much, but for the focus it had, it did a great job.

It’s fiction but if you’re interested in alternate history I really enjoyed Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale. The synopsis is below, but it doesn’t mention the twist: the author was inspired by the Mississippian mound culture and the idea that maybe just maybe they built them as platforms to jump from…and fly/glide! Hence their military prowess in this series:

Perfect for fans of action-adventure and historical fiction—including novels by such authors as Bernard Cornwell, Steve Berry, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove—this stunning work of alternate history imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has not fallen and the North American continent has just been discovered. In the year 1218 AD, transported by Norse longboats, a Roman legion crosses the great ocean, enters an endless wilderness, and faces a cataclysmic clash of worlds, cultures, and warriors.

Ever hungry for land and gold, the Emperor has sent Praetor Gaius Marcellinus and the 33rd Roman Legion into the newly discovered lands of North America. Marcellinus and his men expect easy victory over the native inhabitants, but on the shores of a vast river the Legion clashes with a unique civilization armed with weapons and strategies no Roman has ever imagined.

Forced to watch his vaunted force massacred by a surprisingly tenacious enemy, Marcellinus is spared by his captors and kept alive for his military knowledge. As he recovers and learns more about these proud people, he can’t help but be drawn into their society, forming an uneasy friendship with the denizens of the city-state of Cahokia. But threats—both Roman and Native—promise to assail his newfound kin, and Marcellinus will struggle to keep the peace while the rest of the continent surges toward certain conflict.

I really enjoyed Ghosts of Cannae if you haven't read that one yet. Highly recommend.

Read Taking Berlin by Martin Dugard, but didn’t enjoy it as much as Taking Paris. The parts about Patton and Martha Gellhorn were super interesting I’ve never read about Gellhorn before and she’s a fascinating individual. The rest was very disjointed and it was almost Russia, Russia, Russia bait with the Russiagate conspiracy thrown in at the end. I hate communism, but the Soviet contribution was barely there and what was seemed thrown in as an after thought. Which makes no sense because the Soviets actually capture Berlin. Altogether, a little disjointed but a solid read.

Nixonland by Rick Perlstein

George Wallace: American Populist

Also, totally unrelated to the historical era in which you specified, but if you want a great general overview of 1810-50 American politics “Heir’s to the Founders” by H.W Brands covers Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John Calhoun’s careers. The book goes through the 1812 era right up until 1850.

Just listened to a podcast episode talking about the history of the FBI and liked one part how LBJ had the FBI take down the Klan. Is there anything more in depth on this?

Not specific to indigenous American peoples, but the first few chapters of The Dawn of Everything lays down an important perspective to consider in studying these types of people.

William Leuchtenburgs ,In the Shadow of FDR:From Truman to George W. Bush , shows how every President has been influenced since FDR.

Would love some recommendations on social or fashion history in the Regency/early Victorian period in the UK!

The Unfinished Journey: America Since World War II by William H. Chafe

Hello, people! I would be very interested in books about the social history of europe and would also really love to read about a history of the nordic countries. All suggestions are welcome!

A few years ago, I bought Harden’s book King of Spies. Not spectacular, but worthwhile, and gave a few fascinating insights into Korea from 1945 to 1950.

That sounds fascinating. Adding it to my list.

Currently reading Bruce Catton's The Army of the Potomac trilogy. The beautiful Library of America edition. I'm such a sucker for those books.

I need a hand finding sources for the Serbian Black Hand terrorist group.

I’m currently in the process of writing a university research paper on the Serbian Black Hand as a terrorist group, but I’m having serious difficulties finding scholarly sources that discuss them SPECIFICALLY - as most sources just discuss the origins of the First World War and the role the group played. Any help would be appreciated. If any of you know of specific articles or sources that I can use, please let me know. Thanks!

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Great question! I can't think of any books, but maybe your university/college has an online database of academic publications? Maybe try your local library as well!

Hey! Definitely check out Victorian Fashion by Jayne Shrimpton. I also liked Ruth Goodman's How to be a Victorian!

Hey there, I don't have a recommendation but am hoping someone else does! Do you happen to know the podcast's name? Sounds really interesting!

I have, and I’ve scrounged online. But I’ve managed to find very few sources talking about them specifically.

Hey there! I really enjoyed John Conelley's From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe! As for Scandanavia, Iam mostly familiar with the Viking age. If that interests you, I highly recommend Children of Ash and Elm, and River Kings!

Thanks for the recommendation!

Sounds like a great read, thanks for recommending it!

These sound really interesting. Definitely picking them up for a friend. Thanks!

This sounds really interesting actually! Hoping someone has a recommendation or two.

Will check it out, thanks!

Gave me a good chuckle.

I HIGHLY recommend Uniforms of the Roman World. It's fantastic! Also, check out Legions of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins. It's a great book on every single Roman legion, and their respective campaigns and symbology.

Definitely picking this up, thanks!

I respect your opinion on the book ,but disagree with speaking for other senior military officers ,they may entirely agree with you or only partially agree,or even may agree with the author.But that depends on each officers personal experiences not all are the same,I say this with great respect.

How does your dad find Max Boot's writing style? Been sitting on buying that book for a while!

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There's a few hidden treasures here. Thanks a bunch for sharing!

Try Gaddis's biography of George Kennan it is brilliant

Sure thing. PBS American Experience Battle of Chosin is available on Prime Video right now so I’m watching it; it’s a nice visual companion to put faces to names of major players and really show the awful conditions.

Hey there, the most comprehensive book i've foind on this was Native Americans State by State although not an entire account of each, it's a great encyclopedia-type read!

Added to my watchlist. Thanks again for the recommendations, really appreciate it!

Have you tried r/askhistorians?

It was episode 104 of the History Extra podcast by BBC.

I think its 11 years old now.

Thanks a bunch! You may want to try posting on r/askhistorians

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If you're looking for Marxist reads, you can go to https://www.marxists.org/index-mobiles.htm

They have a LOT of free ebooks on the topic. They have works by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, and many others. They have histories about the Russian Revolution like John Reed's ten days that shook the world, all kinds of books that have analyses of socialism, communism, and history. All the books are public domain, and this older. But its everything you could want about the earliest writings and analyses of Marxism. And you can read everything there for free.

The Real Lincoln: Thomas DiLorenzo

DiLorenzo criticizes Lincoln for the suspension of habeas corpus, violations of the First Amendment, war crimes committed by generals in the American Civil War, and the expansion of government power. He argues that Lincoln's views on race exhibited forms of bigotry that are commonly overlooked today, such as belief in white racial superiority, against miscegenation, and even against black men being jurors. He says that Lincoln instigated the American Civil War not over slavery but rather to centralize power and to enforce the strongly protectionist Morrill Tariff; similarly, he criticizes Lincoln for his strong support of Henry Clay's American System economic plan. DiLorenzo regards Lincoln as the political and ideological heir of Alexander Hamilton, and contends that Lincoln achieved by the use of armed force the centralized state which Hamilton failed to create in the early years of the United States. DiLorenzo's negative view of Lincoln is explicitly derived from his anarcho-capitalist views. He considers Lincoln to have opened the way to later instances of government involvement in the American economy, for example Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, of which DiLorenzo strongly disapproves. DiLorenzo objects to historians who described Lincoln as having carried out "a capitalist revolution", since in DiLorenzo's view protectionist policies such as Lincoln strongly advocated and implemented "are not true Capitalism." In DiLorenzo's explicitly expressed view, only free trade policies are truly capitalist –a distinction not shared by most economists and political scientists. DiLorenzo declares protectionism and mercantilism to be one the same, using the two as interchangeable and frequently talking of "Lincoln's Mercantilist policies". In general, academics do not regard protectionism and mercantilism as being identical, at most regarding the two as having some common features. In the foreword to DiLorenzo's book, Walter E. Williams, a professor of economics at George Mason University, says that "Abraham Lincoln's direct statements indicated his support for slavery," and adds that he "defended slave owners' right to own their property" by supporting the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Blacklisted by History: M. Stanton Evans The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies is a 2007 book by author M. Stanton Evans, who argues that Joseph McCarthy was proper in making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason within the US State Department and the US Army, showing proper regard for evidence.

Hence the "may". My point was that my issue with the book may not resonate with many people, and maybe only senior officers. I don't speak for anyone but myself. Take my opinion for what it is worth or ignore if. No worries

Sorry I'm a little over sensitive in belief over years Marshall has started to get overlooked by more and more students of the war.

This sounds really interesting actually! Hoping someone has a recommendation or two.

As in the history of the Nation itself or of the region/people of Belgium? As we have a rich and developed history that are much older thar this mistake of a construction called Belgium

Haven't managed to give it to him yet. I was lucky enough to buy it for £3 so it wasn't as much of am expense.

Thank you so so much!

Not a problem, happy birthday to your dad! Wishing you and him many years of health, happiness, and blessings.

If you can wait a little while, Tom Holland has a third book about Roman history out in July: Pax.

I am more interested in understanding the modern Belgium. To do so, i believe that it is imperative to learn about its history and culture.

Thanks!

Read it when it first came out. Agree 100%>

He’s a wonderful writer! When I encountered him, I didn’t know history could be written that way & it really opened my eyes.

One thing I always do is to look through the stuff that author’s cite. Look through the notes and bibliographies of these books and articles you are reading and you will for sure find amazing academic works!

I agree. It's such an engaging read, and so many interesting, humanizing details about the people. And such a cutting wit when he talks about McClellan's many flaws.

I am looking for a 21st Century history of Venice. The John Julius Norwich one I am reading is horribly outdated with terms and sensibilities strait out of the mid-century British aristocracy.

I’m interested in learning more about Iranian history. Any good resources?

I’m looking for resources on the history of the communist party in the Philippines under the leadership of Jose Maria Sison, would greatly appreciate journal articles, newspaper articles, and scholarly books/chapters

For Fascism, some of the cornerstones in the historiography of Comparative Fascism are:

Fascism - Comparison and Definition by Stanley Payne

A History of Fascism 1915-1945 by Stanley Payne

The Nature of Fascism by Roger Griffin

The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert Paxton

The Birth of Fascist Ideology by Zeev Sternhell

Neither Right nor Left: Fascist Ideology in France by Zeev Sternhell

António Costa Pinto is my favorite author writing in the field still. He has some great books on the Portuguese Fascist movement, Estado Novo, and Corporatism as a system of economic organization (both with and separate from Fascism political organization) in the 20th century. I haven't read it yet, but he has a newer book on Latin American fascism that may cover Brazil. Some of my favorites by him (including edited volumes) are The Blue Shirts: Portuguese Fascists and the New State, Rethinking Fascism and Dictatorship in Europe, and Corporatism and Fascism: The Corporatist Wave in Europe.

Edit: Costa Pinto has two on Latin America, Latin American Dictatorships in the Era of Fascism: The Corporatist Wave, and Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Europe and Latin America: Crossing Borders.

What a treasure trove! Thanks! Since you study this subject you should checkout Brazilian integralismo and it's leader, Plínio Salgado. He had connections in Portugal, his books were printed there and he went into exile there after the Getúlio Vargas coup and creation of the authoritarian Estado Novo.

Ahh awesome, I'll put him on my list! I didn't even think about it, but since you read Portuguese one I recommend a lot is Salazar's Como Se Levanta Um Estado. It was released in 1937, it is a really interesting insight into his worldview and the regime leading up to WW2. Available here on the internet archive: https://archive.org/details/como-se-levanta-um-estado-salazar_202104

Looking for a book which covers the Congo wars