Highly Recommended History Books.

[slaptast!ck]

it may be noted that I didn't title this thread something like "Top Five History Books of All Time!?" ...

Just looking for some essential books to read, hopefully from those who are really "in the know" when it comes to what is the best history out there.

as far as subject or time period, I don't really have any specifics... there are so many areas of history I don't know much about... and I love knowledge.

critiques and discussions of the books is great, imo.

for my part, I will recommend A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Niel Sheehan, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer in 1989. this amazing and eye-opening book is an excellent read, and an amazing achievement in investigative journalism. absolutely essential for anyone who wants to understand modern American as well as Southeast Asian and Vietnamese hisory.

[Exarch]

for a new complete and concise history on the crusades, i highly recommend oxford historian, christopher Tyerman's 'God's War'.

[Delta228]

The Face of Battle, by John Keegan