The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread suggested by Michael.

We are sure that everybody had a list of wonderful books that have been completed last year. Out of all of these wonderful reads, could there be one book which stands out among all of the rest and one that you would recommend highly to the group membership.

Since this is the History Book Club - for this recommendation, try to focus on the one book which is non fiction or has some historical significance (historical fiction is fine too).

We originally started this out as a thread related to 2010; but have decided to now add the best books of 2011 to the same thread. That way folks can flip back and forth and search for those books of greater interest to them.

Bentley

Great thread Bently and good suggestion Michael but a damn hard one to do! So many good books in a year and very hard to select that stand out title but for me it would have to be "The Anzacs: Gallipoli to the Western Front" by Peter Pedersen. I found this book so easy to read, well written and presented and the memories of the fallen soldiers stayed with me for months so for me this was one of the better books for 2010.

by Peter Pedersen

This is a tough one, I read some great books last year. But I have to go with one that I have never seen mentioned by anyone but me:

by Judith Carney (no photo available)

This book combines two of my favorite topics: history and food. It looks at the many food crops (both large-scale and subsistence) in the Americas that arrived during the slave tried; their establishment; and their importance both then and now. Many of these crops are considered "American" (e.g., peanuts, watermelon). Others are common in Brazil and the Caribbean but virtually unknown in North America. Fascinating book.

A read so many great many books last year and like everyone else it was a hard choice.

Firstly I wrote down the first three books that came to mind. Then out of those books I chose the one that captivated and taught me the most. The book I chose was also the one I talked to me friends about the most (bored them to tears I am sure). The book also lead me to try something new.

The winner is by Sarah Rose.

Who would guess a book about tea would captivate me so much. To this day I am still searching out and trying some of the tea mentioned in this book.

Also two great books 'Aussie Rick' and Dree I have added both to my books to read list.

I am going to cheat slightly. Although I read several good straight history books, my favorite historical encounter was London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World by Robert Bucholz(no photos), a lecture series from the Teaching Company. Best taken in small chunks.

I think my most enjoyable one was by Mary Beard. Despite the title, the book didn't really talk much about Vesuvius. It was more about what life was like before the eruption, with lots of pictures and floor plans of houses. She describes in detail the daily lives of various people we know lived in the houses. A really interesting read.

This is a great thread, thank you. It is making my tbr shelf even larger :)

My favorite of 2010, and near the top, if not the top, of my all time list, is
Wallace Stegner

Not Non-Fiction, and techically not historical fiction. Still, it is based on the life of Mary Hallock Foote, probably the finest illustrator of the 19th Century. It also described exquisitely life in the west during this time.

My favorite for 2010 - I think is - Unbroken

Laura Hillenbrand

This is sort of unfair as I only started it very late in the year and finished in this year.

But that said it was also almost unstopable to read.

Well written interesting etc. - lots of action and interesting characters.

And, having finished this year, I guess I can use it again for 2011 if I have nothing as exceptional -

This does not make less of the other great books read in 2010.

Hi Vince, I've heard many good things about "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and it sounds like you had a hard time putting it down :)

by Laura Hillenbrand

Vince wrote: "My favorite for 2010 - I think is - Unbroken

[author:Laura Hillenbr..."

Another one for the to read list or should I say the to-read compendium

My favorite of 2010 is marketed as historical fiction but is very closely based on real experiences of the author and his father. I found it stunning.

In Our Strange Gardens [no photo] Michel Quint

This is really hard and I can't really come up with a number one, but one of the top five, relevant here, would be
Hilary Mantel

I am happy to see it's in the lineup here and, though I may not remember enough specifics to contribute to the discussion (and to do so spoiler-free!), I will certainly be reading everyone else's comments!

your accessment is 100% correct

Thanks

The Red Queen
by Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory, The Red Queen, Simon & Schuster UK & US (2nd in Wars of the Roses series traces the life of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII)(I read this book before joining the club so i have no review on it but i have my 2nd choice as one of my 50 reads.


The Countess and the King
by Susan Holloway Scott
Susan Holloway Scott, The Countess and the King, NAL (novel of Katherine Sedley, mistress of James II)

Now my review
This is the story of the countess of Dorchester and King James II. In this amusing novel we see Katherine Sedley an outspoken girl for her times become the Duke and then later named King's Mistress. James becomes a Catholic much to the dismay of his people who are mostly Protestant. He is married to the Pope's Niece of Italy Mary Beatrice. but for some reason he is madly in Love with Katherine who is protestant. His priests and catholic council would rather he get rid of the Countess. We see her life from when she is a child to when she becomes mistress her father warns her it is a dangerous path but she still follows it. She has two kids with the Duke but the boy infant dies (he was named after his father). but her daughter Katherine thrives in the court of the duke's/King's daughter Mary and her Husband William of Orange(after James II dies, this was stated in the epilouge)
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org...

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Vince, I've heard many good things about "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and it sounds like you had a hard time putting it down :)

Eugene B. Sledge

Will be in the running this year for me.

If I had a fiction and non fiction the Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin

would probably get that spot - but others could contend as being "greater" books but this is a real enjoyment.

Heppy Holidays (unless you also take 11 months to read this)

Vince

Hi Vince, Merry Christmas :)

I think you will also find; "With the Old Breed" hard to put down, well I hope so anyhow as it's an excellent book.

by Eugene B. Sledge

Now that 2011 is almost over . . . I went back and reflected on the books I read in 2010 and there were a few powerful ones, but the one I enjoyed the most was The Big Burn by Tim Egan. He is a terrific author, tells history so it reads like a novel, you really get to know the characters and this book had both characters and a nail biting story involving one of the country's most horrific forest fires. It goes into details about the birth of the US Forest Service, Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and William Howard Taft. Real page turner.
by Timothy Egan

That does sound like a great book Alisa, I will have to consider adding a copy to my ever expanding library :)

Nice, Alisa, it is on my TBR list.

Timothy Egan

My favorite book of 2011 was the story of Jonestown and the Reverend Jim Jones - A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres.
Julia Scheeres

It's an incredibly sad book to read. I knew how it would end, but wanted to read more stories of hope and escape and many of the tales Scheeres relates left me slightly depressed. But it was still a book I couldn't put down. And I guess the connections between Jones and other aspects of American history in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s were also quite interesting to me. You can actually connect Jones to the Civil Rights Movement and to the Cold War and that's something I wasn't familiar with before reading the book.

My favorite book of 2011:

David McCullough

It's an amazing comprehensive recap of the life and times of John Adams starting with his push for independence in the late 1700's and ending with his retirement back to his simple life as a Massachusetts farmer. By far, the best biography I've ever read. I highly recommend it!

Have you ever wondered what happened to the plane that killed General Zia ul-Haq, dictator of Pakistani. Why did it crash? Oh you haven't been lying awake nights pondering that question? Well, fortunately for us, Mohammad Hanif has. From his wild imagination, he wrote about the conspiracies swirling around the General Zia right before his death. His book, A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif is hilarious, horrifying and imaginative. I read this in January and still think it is one of the best of the year. It is historically based, but is pure fiction. Even Osama bin Laden passes through the novel, but you have to be sharp to realize it.

Vince wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Vince, I've heard many good things about "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and it sounds like you had a hard time putting it down :)

Robert Leckie

another book by one of the fellows used for the HBO series the Pacific as a character

It was a tuition dividend - I pad the tuition and my daugther had it in a class and I got the book at the end of the semester.

With the old Breed I am giving to folks regularuly now and I think it better illustrates the "horror of was" better than All Quiet on the Western Front

Eugene B. SledgeErich Maria Remarque

Oh goodness, narrowing down to two? Well, I'll link my two favorite history novels this year

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time byJohn Kelly. It was a bit dry, but I can forgive it because I learned so much! It was really quite amazing. As a student of European history I felt that I knew quite a bit about the Black Plague, but he coveres not only the European outbreak, but subsequent Eurasian ones as well. He draws on quite a few primary sources to depict despicable cowardice but also the beautiful and heroic bonds in friendship. I couldn't put it down.


My second favorite history book this year woudl have to be A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom I only recently started enjoying women's history, and this book was fantastic. It covers what historicans can glean about cave-dwellers and neandthrals relationships to the modern day, though it does mostly focus on Western history. I've been married for four years, and this book shed a lot of light on the societal/cultural influences on my relationship, and especially those of my mother and my grandmother. I highly recommend it, and have gifted a copy at every wedding (along with soemthing else so they dont just roll their eyes at me, haha).

If I had to pick another book that isn't historical, but certainly related I would say Moll Flanders . I really thought that this book was fabulous, as well as scandalous for its time. Great quotes and Moll is a fantastic character.



I apologize for the book covers coming at the end- GoodReads was having a bit of a tantrum this morning.

Becky, great post, and thanks for sharing your perspective. They all look like terrific choices.

Thank you inserting the book covers, but also remember to add the author photo (when available) and the author links. Like this:
Daniel Defoe
John Kelly
Marilyn Yalom

You eventually got most of it in (sorry you were having trouble.) I know you are relatively new and getting the hang of it so if you need any help feel free to ask any of the moderators.

Thanks so much for your contributions. Great stuff.

2011 winner for me was Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand