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Original poster

Need readable history recommendations please!

29 replies

drspouse · 16/11/2018 21:24

I'm reading Alexander Hamilton and while I am liking it I'm not going to be reading anything of that volume ever again I reckon!
But I've really got interested in the French Revolution and after, I read Tale of Two Cities recently too, so I'm looking for something very readable on that.

Also we're watching both Peaky Blinders and Berlin Babylon - both 1920s so anything about that time?

And finally my dad got me the largest ever book on Bletchley Park but I'd prefer something a bit easier to read!

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cdtaylornats · 11/12/2018 21:48

I like the Liza Picard books

Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840-1870
Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London
Dr. Johnson's London
Restoration London: Everyday Life in the 1660s
Chaucer's People: Everyday Lives in Medieval England

lucydo · 10/12/2018 14:42

Can any Mother Help Me? by Jenny Bailey is really interesting. It's about a correspondance group set up between women in the mid 20th century, so alleviate isolation. Absolutely fascinating and made me so grateful to have MN

TonTonMacoute · 08/12/2018 15:45

For the 1920s, a book called Singled Out is a very good read. Link It is about the effect on that generation of women of the loss of so many young men, and how it changed their life chances, and opportunities, for good and bad.

TonTonMacoute · 08/12/2018 15:35

Simon Schama's book on the French Revolution is fantastic. I think it's called Citizens.

Chickenpie9 · 06/12/2018 22:36

Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking by Deborah Cadbury was one I enjoyed this year .

anne1483 · 30/11/2018 22:31

Anything by Elizabeth Chadwick.

BookWitch · 24/11/2018 22:59

My favourite non-fiction historical read this year was ''The Strangest Family" about George III , very interesting and readable.

aconcertpianist · 20/11/2018 23:49

Liberty: the Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France by Lucy Moore is excellent.

XingMing · 20/11/2018 16:19

@dottierichardson, Thank You for the Five books tip... 90 minutes later...!

WhyDidIEatThat · 20/11/2018 13:21

The Secret Token - Myth, Obsession and the Something Something Lost Colony of Roanoke. Real life history mystery (is there a less rhyming phrase for that?) thing.

GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 19/11/2018 22:31

I second the biography by Antonia Fraser of Marie Antoinette, quite hefty but definitely readable.

Excellent tip @Dottierichardson I think I'll be spending a bit of time on that site from now on Grin

niska · 19/11/2018 22:24

Wow, Dottie, thanks.

BinRaidingRaccoon · 19/11/2018 22:18

Ravenmaster is a great read

MercedesDeMonteChristo · 18/11/2018 22:34

Biog of Marie Antoinette by antonia Fraser was very good.

Original poster
drspouse · 17/11/2018 16:39

Boardwalk Empire was great- I had no idea it was a book!

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Dottierichardson · 17/11/2018 15:58

Also I've enjoyed history books recently by the following: Mark Mazower, Timothy Snyder (not his latest though, 'Bloodlands' is the best one), Anne Applebaum (although don't always agree), Ian Buruma, Catherine Merridale, Frank Dikotter, Christopher de Bellaigue. David Reynold, Yasmin Khan, Isabel Wilkerson and Justin Marozzi. Jill Lepore's new history of the U.S. looks as if it's worth trying. I also like Caroline Moorehead's more general studies.

Dottierichardson · 17/11/2018 15:49

If you don't know it the 'Five Books' site is useful, they take a topic, you can search by keyword, and invite an expert in the area to recommend the five books that are the best overview/introduction to that topic. You should find a range of interesting history books on various topics. Here's the link to books on the French Revolution, I liked the Simon Schama when I read it.
fivebooks.com/best-books/french-revolution-lynn-hunt/

Also if you're interested in the 1920s, you might like the book that the series 'Boardwalk Empire' (if you haven't seen it and you like 'Peaky Blinders' then you will probably find it interesting, although some quite violent passages as was on HBO so not much censorship compared to BBC guidelines) as it looks at key aspects of the 1920s with a focus on Atlantic City....it's just called 'Boardwalk Empire' by Nelson Johnson.

parietal · 17/11/2018 12:17

for the french revolution, Hillary Mantel's book 'A place of greater safety' is very good.

Original poster
drspouse · 17/11/2018 11:01

I'm quite into medieval murder mysteries but I think non fiction this time.

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FadedRed · 17/11/2018 10:31

Have you read the Matthew Shardlake novels by C J Sansom? Set in the Tudor period, excellent read?

brizzledrizzle · 17/11/2018 07:56

A time travellers guide to medieval England by Ian Mortimer is excellent.

Original poster
drspouse · 16/11/2018 22:48

Hmmm those look not really my thing!

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FadedRed · 16/11/2018 22:41

Anything that Bernard Cornwell has written.

Original poster
drspouse · 16/11/2018 22:09

That looks good too!

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hermesgrrrr · 16/11/2018 22:01

The lost king of France by Deborah Cadbury.

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