Best historical books categorized

[cottontail]

If you want to know more about Roman society and politics, I would reccomend I Claudius by Robert Graves as a good historical fiction book. I don't know how true to history it is, but it gets the feel of the Roman politics right. It is about the early life of Emperor Claudius before he becomes emperor, during the riegn of Augustus, Tiberius, and ( my favorite emperor) Caligula, told in his perspective. If anyone likes it, the sequel is Claudius, the God and it is about him as emperor.

[Thor's Son]

Major Battles/Wars

"Battle" and "Sea Battles" by R. G. Grant are both awesome DK books. full of tactics and strategy from the last 3000 years. i put them to immediate use in ETW.

[Carl von Döbeln]

I'll check them out!

[Switch]

If you want to know more about Roman society and politics, I would reccomend I Claudius by Robert Graves as a good historical fiction book. I don't know how true to history it is, but it gets the feel of the Roman politics right. It is about the early life of Emperor Claudius before he becomes emperor, during the riegn of Augustus, Tiberius, and ( my favorite emperor) Caligula, told in his perspective. If anyone likes it, the sequel is Claudius, the God and it is about him as emperor.

You'd probably be better off just reading Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars. Graves based a good deal of I Claudius on Suetonius' accounts of the Julio-Claudians. They're nice and gossipy, though don't take for granted anything that's said of the emperors, their habits and court life, obviously - Suetonius wasn't entirely concerned with accuracy if it got in the way of a juicy story.

That said, I Claudius is still a fun read. And the TV series is superb!

On the subject of historical fiction, I'd really recommend Robert Harris' Imperium, a fictional adaptation of the rise of Cicero in Roman politics. It'd told from the perspective of a slave of Ciero (I forget the name) and, if I remember correctly, starts around the time of the Verres scandal and finishes after the Catiline conspiracy. It's incredibly well written.

And since I'm making a post, for those interested in a general introduction to the Roman Empire, The Roman Empire by C. Wells (part of the Fontana History of the Ancient World series) is excellent. Accessible, comprehensive and well referenced. It also has an extensive further reading section. And of course everyone should read H. Scullard's From the Gracchi to Nero.

[SSJPabs]

I'm looking for a non-Norwich book (his bias is kind of funny actually) detailing the administrative and agricultural practices of the Byzantines during the Macedonian dynasty. I'm not particularly interested in the military aspects right now, more the country running aspects. If something like this came up in the thread then my searches failed to turn it up, thanks.

[Antigenes]

I'm looking for a non-Norwich book (his bias is kind of funny actually) detailing the administrative and agricultural practices of the Byzantines during the Macedonian dynasty. I'm not particularly interested in the military aspects right now, more the country running aspects. If something like this came up in the thread then my searches failed to turn it up, thanks.

Treadgold? He might just be an overview, but you should check for footnotes. (Offhand, from the relevant chapter I remember Lemerle's Agrarian History.)

[Switch]

It's come to my attention that I really know appalling little about European history c. 1600-1800. Can anyone recommend some decent general introductions to the period? I'm primarily interested in the significant political developments to begin with, though economic and social overviews are also welcomed. No geographic area in particular, but I suppose it's worth dealing with events in central Europe separately from the development of the colonial powers.

I'm aware that's a very broad topic I'm appealing for information on, but my knowledge really is something of a black hole for the area and period. Which is why only a broad/shallow introduction will suffice to begin with. I can then persue areas that take my fancy in greater detail.

I'm perfectly happy to read several introductory books.

Edit: I inadvertently stumbled across 'The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815' earlier. Has anyone read this or any scholarly reviews of it? While it seems firmly pitched at the general reader (something I usually shy away from a little. I'm not sure why, but while the likes of Tom Holland are writers of undoubted quality, they always leave me hungering for something more. I prefer *slightly* more scholarly introductions than those aimed at getting five stars from The Spectator) it also seems undeniably comprehensive, perusing society, economics and military history as well as political. And there is overwhelmingly positive feedback from Amazon reviewers, so I suppose at the end of the day I might enjoy it even if there are moderately more acacemic alternatives (which I would still love to read!).

Further more I think I might try out Iron Kingdom, as it's been recommended by a few people here. While restricted to Prussia in scope, it sounds thoroughly interesting.

[Switch]

I felt this was needed. A collection and rough categorisation of all books listed so far. I will endeavour to keep the list as up to date as possible. Where possible, I have the title, followed by the author, and any comments made by the person recommending it if I felt they were relevant.

I've only used broad geographical/chronological groupings for now. I've been a bit haphazard in where I felt a single period would suffice for lumping books together, and where I felt I should let individual regions have categories to their own. Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome. If people want to make suggestions for other categories, please let me know! I will return to the 'Miscellaneous/Other' section tomorrow to try and separate some of the books out into sections of their own. There will generally be rejigging soon enough, when I can bear to edit this list one more time.

I'm only one man so inevitably I'll have omitted or miscategorised a few things. Furthermore I've only read a fraction of these, so I'm having to decide an appropriate category based on the titles and the context of the post. So again, let me know if I've erred and I'll make corrections.

Obviously several books straddle more than one category. I've generally opted to list it in the category appropriate to the focus of the book, but in some instances you'll see a work in more than one list. I've tried not to duplicate too much, but as a lot of books were mentioned several times some may have been listed twice in the same category. Again, I apologise.

The list follows the format: Title, Author - "Relevant comment by original poster".

(Note that comments are solely the opinions of whoever recommended that particular book, not my own or any authoriative judgement on a book's worth!)

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Britain

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Empire - How Britain Made the Modern World, Niall Ferguson - “A great book about the British Empire, its rise and its fall, and everything in between”
Empire; The Pity of War (1914-18), Niall Ferguson - “Very good at approaching 'established' theories and pointing out flaws”
Pax Brittanica trilogy, Jan Morris - “It's a great narrative take on the British empire and well worth a look”
British - A History of the English Speaking Peoples - Winston Churchill

Byzantine Empire

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Byzantium: The Early Centuries by John Julius Norwich
Byzantium: The Apogee by John Julius Norwich
Byzantium: The Decline and Fall by John Julius Norwich
A Short History of Byzantium, Norwich

India

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The Mughul Empire by Majumdar et al - “About 1000 pages long, all you need to know.”

Ottoman

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The Pursuit of Power, (ambassadors reports from the Ottoman empire), edited by James C. Davies

Prussia

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Iron Kingdom: the Rise and Fall of Prussia 1600-1947, C. Clark

Russia

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Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia, Orlando Figes
The People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924, Orlando Figes
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia, Orlando Figes
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, Simon Sebag Montefiore

Seleukids

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From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, by Susan Sherwin-White and Amélie Kuhrt
The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns by Bezalel Bar-Kochva.

Roman (general)

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In The Name of Rome, by Adrian Goldsworthy
The Roman Revolution, Ronald Syme
Rubicon, Tom Holland
The Emperors of Rome, Michael Grant
The Roman History, Mommsen
The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
The Fall of Rome: And the end of Civilization, Dr Bryan-Ward Perkins - “I can't recommend this enough for anyone with an interest in the nature of the transition between Ancient and Medieval/Dark Age Europe. Well written, focused and interesting.”
The Fall of the Roman Empire, P. Heather
The Day of the Barbarians, Alessandro Barbero - “Gives much info on the events that led to Adrianople, the battle, and the aftermath with mindsets on how barbarians and Romans felt about each other. Along with how the barbarians played a part in the empire, specificaly Goths.”
Unlimited Power, Fik Meier - “Rise and fall of Rome”
The Roman Empire by Colin Wells - "Great overview and introduction to the Roman Empire"
From the Gracchi to Nero by H. Scullard - "Essential."

Greek (general)

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The Spartans, Paul Cartledge
The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others, Paul Cartledge
Democracy and Classical Greece, JK Davis
The World of Athens: An Introduction to Classical Athenian Culture - J.A.C.T
Persian Fire, Tom Holland - “I recommend Persian Fire to anyone with a more passing interest. It's a lot more readable than the others (although Cartledges is almost as much so in my opinion). It encompasses a history of Persia, Athens, Sparta, and the Persian Wars. I recommend it highly, and it has helped greatly with my basic knowledge for my Ancient History degree thus far”
Alexander the Great Failure: The Collapse of the Macedonian Empire - “Ignore the retarded reviews authored by nationalists--it's a very good book on the confused state of things following the death of Alexander. The author's claim isn't as revolutionary as the reviews or the title might make it seem--he just states the facts about Macedon's collapse. Most of the book covers the rise of the Diodochoi--you'll like the bits involving Seleukos, I'd think. Very fascinating.”
The Wars of Alexander's Successors 323-281 BC Vol. 1. Commanders and Campaigns - "Good (and affordable) literature on the wars of the diadochii is so scarce, still for the price I think they shouldn't have split it into two(or more) volumes.”
The Greek World After Alexander 323 - 30 BC by Graham Shipley.
The Legacy of Alexander. Politics, Warfare and Propoganda under the Successors by A.B. Bosworth.

Ancient (other, general)

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The Classical World, R.L. Fox - “EXCELLENT book spanning c.500 BC to c.120 AD”
De Oude Belgen - Ugo Janssens - “I don't know if it's translated”
Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Baktria
A History of the Ptolemaic Empire
Ancient Near East C. 3000-330 BC, by Amelie Khurt - “A great introduction to the political history of the Ancient Near East. Anyone who wants to know about Hittites, Assyrians, Sumerians, Babalonians, Egyptians, Persians and so on should read this first. There's a great deal more scholarship in this two volume work that there is in any of the popular introductions to these topics.”
International Relations in the Ancient Near East, 1600-1100 BC by Antonio Liverani - “Another book of the Ancient Near East, and my favourite history book ever. A great meta-historical account of the Armarna period's international politics.”
Strange People, Fik Meier - “Xenophobia and racism in ancient Rome and Greece”

Mediaeval

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The First Crusade, Thomas Asbridge - “Awesome read! The first chapters you get introduced to the situation in Europe and after that it takes off from the first footsteps of the crusades till the last one. You learn all about the military leaders that went on campaigning and you get an in-depth view of all the military stuff like battles against the Seltjuqs, the battles around Antioch and the siege of that city and a lot more. People who love military history will definitely love this book.”
The Normans and their Myths, R. C. H. Davies
The Renaissance of the 12th century, Charles Homer Haskins - “Quite old, but classic”
Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms by Alistair Moffat
God's War - A New History of the Crusades, C. Tyerman - “Very Good & detailed”
The Murder Of Charles The Good - "A must read for anyone interested in Medieval European” history.
The Inquisition by Michael Baiget and Richard Leight
The Northern Crusades, by Eric Christiansen - “It is a full survey from the early beginning wars between the Danes, Saxons, HRE and the pagan Wends, Obotrites and Rugians, etc. to the later Papacy-sanctioned crusades conducted by the by various groups up to and inclusing the later Teutonic Knights and the political struggles between them and the Popes as well as those of Poland and Lithuania and more. A nearly 500 year period beginning in roughtly 1000 or so. A very well done history of the period which tries to cut through all of the accumulated nationalistic propaganda by one group or another, beginning with the writings of Saxo and Adam of Bremen among others. No group comes off as the blameless hero and none as the complete villain. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in knowing more than just bare bones usually discussed regarding those wars.”
Ghenghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford
The Teutonic Knights: A Military History, William Urban
Knights of the Black and White, by Jack Whyte
Standard of Honour, by Jack Whyte
The Crusade by Robert Payne - "The author gives an account of all crusades. Very good read. The author does not focus on military aspects that much, but is very good at bringing the people and events in the perspective of the period/entourage/circumstances. Very interesting portraits (I mean descriptions) of many key figures of crusades is given. There is, of course, the whole Wordsworth Military Library series, in case it wasn't mentioned. I have not tried many of those books though.”

Early Modern

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The Foundations of Early Modern Europe 1460-1559
(See above for the British Empire, Prussia, Russia and the Ottomans

Modern (including World Wars and Cold War)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.
To Lose a Battle, by Alistair Horne - “Considered to be the best account ever written on the Battle of France, 1940. Engaging, detailed, accurate, and based off the accounts of literally dozens of generals who took part, it is truly a masterpiece.”
The Price of Glory, by Alistair Horne - “While not the element of perfection that is 'To Lose a Battle,' this is Horne's treatment of the battle of Verdun. With a gripping storyline (er, duh), wonderful prose, and impeccable accuracy, it's a great read.”
Nemesis, Max Hastings
Armageddon, Max Hastings
Overlord - D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, Max Hastings
Das Reich, Max Hastings
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Antony Beevor
The Coming of the Third Reich
The Third Reich in Power, Richard Evans
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives, Alan Bullock
Barbarossa, Alan Clark
A Writer at War: A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army, 1941-1945, Vassily Grossman
Panzer Leader, Heinz Guderian
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, Tony Judt
The Cold War: A New History, John Lewis Gaddis
The Second World War - Winston Churchill
Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War - Chris Bellamy
The Second World War - Winston Churchill

Military

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In The Name of Rome, by Adrian Goldsworthy
The Complete Roman Army, by Adrian Goldsworthy
Armageddon and Overlord by Max Hasting
The Atlantic Campaign by Dan Van Der Vat - “Very good read with lots of good stats & I never once got bogged down”
Warfare in the Ancient World and Warfare in the Medieval World, Brian Todd Carey - “Very comprehensive works covering western and near eastern war during those time periods, focusing on the evolution of the usage of light and heavy infantry and light and heavy cavalry. Stunning tactical maps too, the major battles are all covered in surprising detail.”
Battle Tactics of Napoleon by Brent Nosworthy
Military Experience in the Age of Reason, Christopher Duffy
On War by Carl Gottlieb von Clausewitz
The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David Chandler - “Note, only read if you are truly, truly engaged in Napoleonic politics, tactics, and are immersed with everything he has ever done. Not for the faint of heart.”
1812, by Adam Zamoyski - “It's a wonderfully detailed book about Napoleons campaign to Russia in 1812. It's a rather big book, but a wonderful source about Napoleon.”
Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. - “It's an inexpensive book that has a good overview of what drove Greek (and later, Roman) warfare. Always good for those interested in the Hellenistic world.”
Engage the Enemy More Closely, Corelli Barnett - "Naval"
A Companion to the Roman Army By Paul Erdkamp - “Much better than the complete Roman army by Goldsworthy, as the author describe the Roman army in the mid and late Empire in depth as well.”
The Imperial Roman Army, by Von Yann Le Bohec - “Perhaps the best historian when it comes to the military history of the Romans.”
Battle and Sea Battles by R. G. Grant - “Both awesome DK books. full of tactics and strategy from the last 3000 years. i put them to immediate use in ETW.”

Battles

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15 Decisive battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo by Sir Edward Creasy
The Battle: 100 by Michael Lee Lanning
Carnage and Culture by Victor Hanson
Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World, by Paul Cartledge
Battles of the Medieval World: 1000-1500, by various - “It is richly illustrated displaying military tactics and about 6 pages on each battles.”
Cannae by Gregory Daily - “It is the best book I have read about the battle, from the preparetion, leadership, army, the actual fight to the result, it gives all details of both sides. It is really a must have for all part time historian of ancient world”
100 Decisive Battles, Paul. K. Davis - “A definite read for people who love military history. The book gives a detailed account of 100 battles that changed the course of history. The writer explains how many soldiers were involved, what went on before the battle, after the battle and while the battle was still going on. It gives an account of what exactly changed the outcome of history. For sure a great book for people who like 15 decisive battles.”
Knightly Art of the Longsword, Sigmund Ringeck
Battle, by R.G Grant
Constantinople: The last great siege 1453 by Roger Crowley
Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
The Fall of Berlin 1945, Antony Beevor
Agincourt, Juliet Barker
The battle of Pavia by Jean Giono
From Armageddon to the fall of Rome : Battles that Changed the World, Megiddo to Cannae, Erik Durschmied
Poltava, by Peter Englund.
War Without Hate: The Desert Campaign of 1940-43 by John Bierman and Colin Smith
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Anthony Beevor
Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War by Rodric Braithwaite
Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome - 1944 by Lloyd Clark
D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climatic Battle of World War II by Stephen Ambrose
Convoy: The Battle for Convoys SC.122 and HX.229, Martin Middlebrook
The Battle of Hamburg: Allied Bomber Forces Against a German City in 1943, Martin Middlebrook The First day on the Somme, Martin Middlebrook

Wars

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Fall of Carthage:the Punic wars 264-146 B.C by Adrian Goldsworthy
The Peloponnesian War, Donald Kagan
Wars of the Ancient Greeks by Victor David Hanson
The English Civil War, Peter Young and Richard Holmes
The Second World War by John Keegan
The Punic Wars, N. Bagnall
A War Like No Other (The Peloponnesian War), VD Hanson
The Landmark Thucydides, edited by Robert B. Strassler
The Thirty Years war Europe In Fire, by Lars Ericson Wolke,Göran Larsson and Nils Erik Villstrand

Biographies

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In The Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
Churchill and America by Martin Gilbert - “Title says it all - churchill's relationship with america, its leaders, his personal life, etc etc.”
Caesar: Politician and Statesman, Matthias Gelzer
William the Conqueror, David C. Douglas
The Emperors of Rome, Michael Grant
Alexander, Fritz Schachermayer
Caesar, A. Goldsworthy
Helen of Troy, Bettany Hughes - “Simply put, a brilliant investigation and presentation of life in Bronze Age greece/Aegean while recreating Helen's life."
Generals by Mark Urban - “An assesment of 10 British Generals from Monck in the 17th century up to Montgomery, and there are some interesting choices.”
Alexander by Theodore Ayrault Dodge
Hannibal by Theodore Ayrault Dodge
Tamerlane, Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, by Justin Marrozzi
Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon, B.H. Liddell Hart
Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor, Anthony Everitt
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives, Alan Bullock
Emperors don't die in bed, Fik Meier - “Overview of Roman Emperors and how they died, quite interesting”
Alexander- The Conqueror. The Epic Story of the Warrior King by Laura Foreman - “An interesting attempt to portrait Alexander, but also show the difficulties related to this task. Well illustrated. Well written.”

Miscellaneous/Other

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Samurai Invasion - The Other Korean War, by Steven Turnbull - “Gives a huge, in depth analysis of probably the most ignored major conflict in world history, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea”
The Fall of the Byzantine Empire, Georgios Phrantzes
The Knight Templars, Stephen Howard
Citizens, a Chronicle of the French Revolution, Simon Schama
Chariot : The rise and fall of the World's first War Machine, Arthur Cottrell - “Amazing discursive read about the history and use of chariots from the Middle East, West Asia, Egypt, India, China to Britain, plus lots of great stuff about chariot racing.”
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond - “A fascinating (if controversial) Idea on why things happen, instead of what happened .”
Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn - “A hippy-dippy, super environmental take on human history. Just a bit of warning: it can be hard to take it seriously at first, chiefly because it is published as fiction and the title character is a gorilla with psychic abilities. But remember that is also how Galileo Galilei first published the idea of Heliocentrism (as fiction, no gorilla).”
Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-Of-The-Century New York
Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World - "Stephen Greenblatt is, for all intensive purposes, the premier authority on the English language and demonstrates this in this wonderful book."
The Middle Sea by Norwich - “A "brief" history of the Mediterranean Sea. It's an excellent read because the nature of it alows him to skip all the boring parts of certain empires by jumping to another in the same timeframe. Also, useful for a brief overview on things not normally written about, like the pirate kingdoms of Tripoli etc.”
A History of Venice by Norwich - “I just finished this and I swear I'd of never understood anyone else's version. So many names and places, but Norwich's writting style captivates even in times of utter confusion”
Pursuit of the Millennium, Norman Cohn - “Explores every whackjob cult through history that practiced millennarian thought, from Jewish times, to the flagellants, to modern times. Good stuff.”
Montaillou: Promised Land of Error by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie - “Years after the cathar purge in southern france, a small village held onto their heresy. Bishop Fournier (sp) came in to purge their heresy and was obsessed with record keeping, and wrote down every word the peasants said, including who slept with who, who had warts, etc. This account got dredged up from the vatican in the 70's. Extremely informative, almost a little too much information, id say, but very interesting."
The Colony, by John Tayman - “It's a very human account of a now embarassing topic”
An Ordinary Man, Paul Rusesabagina
Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
The Killers in Rwanda Speak, Jean Hatzfeld, Linda Coverdale. - “Incredibly morbid but insightful read. The farmers were notified by local authorities that their jobs from then on would be to "kill Tutsis". They were picked up at 9am in the morning and transported to their work sites on trucks. Many relate that after the initial shock it became just like farm work. Many compared it to slaughtering livestock. I could not read the whole thing, the morbidity was wearing on me.”
The Gladiators, Fik Meier
Chariot Races, Fik Meier
The Rosicrucian Enlightenment by Frances Yates
Ancestor of the West: Writing, Reasoning, and Religion in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Greece by Jean Bottero
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn

Primary Sources

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Prince and the Discourses by Niccollo Machiavelli
The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
Annals, Tacitus
History, Tacitus
Germania, Tacitus
Gallic Wars, Caesar
History, Herodotus
History of the Franks, Gregory of Tours
The Later Roman Empire, Ammianus Marcellenius
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
The Campaigns of Alexander the Great by Arrian
The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius

Historical Fiction

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Sicilian Vespers, Steven Runciman
The Crusades I-III, Steven Runciman
First Man in Rome, Colleen McCullough
Count Belisarius, Robert Graves
Shield of Thalos, Valerio Massimo Manfredi “A really beautiful novel settled in Sparta during the Persian invasion”
Alexandros, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi - “A trilogy about the life of Alexander
Tyrant, Valerio Massimo Manfredi - “About Dionisus of Siracusa”
Archer's Tale trilogy by Bernard Cornwell
The Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell
I Claudius by Robert Graves
Imperium by Robert Harris - "Cicero's rise to fame"

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Hope that's helpful to everyone. Now excuse me while I collapse in a quiet corner somehwere.

[masliko]

I throw in everything written by:
- John Keegan
- Antony Beevor
- Stephen Ambrose
- Adrian Goldsworthy
- J.F.C. Fuller

Yes,these are very good.I like J.F.C Fullers work.

[Selifator]

I'm interested in books regarding the Sassanid Empire. I'm looking for all sorts of info, culture, military, religion, history, leaders etc.

[The Unknown Knight]

Very good books thanks

[Hetairoi]

This would fall under Leaders
The Life of Belisarius by Lord Mahon

Though written in the 19th century, it does not fawn over the accomplishments of Belisarius (in fact lists his vices side by side with his virtues). I really didn't know that Belisarius was such a money grubber.

Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt

Gives a short background on the youth of Augustus. Deals primarly with his reforms and battles. Also goes into some detail about the people around him, especially those informally called "amicii principii"

Caesar: A Biography by Chritian Meier

A very detailed book about the life of Caesar.

I don't know how to catogorize this probably under miscellaneous
Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome
by Stephen Dando-Collins

Gives you the history of the 10th Legion under Caesar,and how it differed in orginization from the other legions due to Caesar's influence. The author even went into detail about Ceasar's relationships with the various Centurions. Very good.

[Ojf]

Does anyone recommend http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalingrad-A...8751205&sr=1-2

[Switch]

Does anyone recommend http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalingrad-A...8751205&sr=1-2

Several people have recommended this, yes (see the Battles section of my post above..).

[Ojf]

I guess it will be my next read then, thanks!

Also does anyone have any books on the history of Iraq in the 20th century

[Doctor]

Anyone know off a good historical fiction book about William Marshal?

[Ojf]

Nvm

[Gromovnik]

I just took from the library a book by Oxford professor Robin Lane Fox titled "The classical world: an epic history of Greece and Rome". Did anyone here read that book, and if you did, what's your opinion of it? Is it good?

[Ojf]

Can someone recommend any books on Alexander the Great, about his life, his campaigns and his death and the division of his empire? Also, I am looking for a book on the Athenian Empire, if anyone has any ideas?

I know nothing about these two things, so you could say i'm a beginner on these subjects

[Fingy]

Can someone recommend any books on Alexander the Great, about his life, his campaigns and his death and the division of his empire? Also, I am looking for a book on the Athenian Empire, if anyone has any ideas?

I know nothing about these two things, so you could say i'm a beginner on these subjects

I would recommend Robin lane Fox's Alexander the Great and Mary Renault's The Nature of Alexander. Also check out Peter Green. Ignore Victor Davis Hanson when it comes to Alexander. His book on the Peloponesian war is fantastic though. Also check out Aubrey de Selincourt's translation of Arrian, it's a wonderful read. You will find some historians loath Alexander and will paint a Hitleresque portrait of him. Other historians nearly worship him. I am in the worship category myself so I am biased but I think Peter Green and Robin lane Fox give a balanced picture. Tarn is famous for writing a glowing history of Alexander. To be honest one has to choose which Alexander to believe in. If you want a quick overview of the Diadochi era, read Peter Green's 'The Hellenistic World".