A while ago I created a post about books we could all read now that the main series of the Green Ember has ended. Would you guys like a list of nonfiction works that I would recommend to read?
This book examines the dark side of the American Civil War. Many Americans tend to think of the Civil War was more glorious, and less awful, than it really was. The Civil War has been sanitized as millions of tourists flock to battlefields their perceptions of the war shaped by reenactors and movies that cannot simulate the mutilation, madness, chronic disease, advanced physical decay caused by combat, campaigning, and living in field encampments. In Living Hell, Adams tries a different tack, clustering the voices of myriad actual participants on the firing line or in the hospital ward to create a virtual historical reenactment. This really is one of my favorite, and one of the best historical works I have read. This book really brings to life the true horrors of war, that really need to be realtered as often as possible.
2) Fatal Colors by George Goodwin
This book is a political and military history of the War of the Roses up to the battle of Towton. If you followed a discussion on this site a few months ago about the best weapons for rabbits to employ in battle many of the ideas I presented came from this work. It’s a vary interesting work that explores the political issues that led to this conflict and a good overview of medieval battles.
Two none military history works that might be interesting:
3) Farmers and Fishermen by Daniel Vickers
This work analyzes and contrasts the economic roles of farmers and fisherman in early New England communities in Essex County Massachusetts. In the book, Vickers examines how a patriarchal system that relied on the unpaid labor of dependent sons transitioned gradually to an economic system in which these sons found work outside of the family farm. For fishermen, he explores the shift from client-patron economic relations to a free market system, noting the difficulties fishermen faced in achieving economic independence in both systems.
If you find this book interesting, Meetinghouse and Counting House by Frederick Barnes Tolles does much the same thing for colonial Pennsylvania
4) Witch Craze by Lyndal Roper
A good book for October, focuses on the century of witch trials in Germany between 1550 to 1650. Drawing on hundreds of original trial transcripts and other rare sources in four areas of Southern Germany, where most of the witches were executed, Lyndal Roper paints a vivid picture of their lives, families, and tribulations. She also explores the psychology of witch-hunting, explaining why it was mostly older women that were the victims of witch crazes, why they confessed to crimes, and how the depiction of witches in art and literature has influenced the characterization of elderly women in our own culture.
I will have a few more, later this week to finish off my suggestions.
Last two military history books:
1) Living Hell by Michael C C Adems
This book examines the dark side of the American Civil War. Many Americans tend to think of the Civil War was more glorious, and less awful, than it really was. The Civil War has been sanitized as millions of tourists flock to battlefields their perceptions of the war shaped by reenactors and movies that cannot simulate the mutilation, madness, chronic disease, advanced physical decay caused by combat, campaigning, and living in field encampments. In Living Hell, Adams tries a different tack, clustering the voices of myriad actual participants on the firing line or in the hospital ward to create a virtual historical reenactment. This really is one of my favorite, and one of the best historical works I have read. This book really brings to life the true horrors of war, that really need to be realtered as often as possible.
2) Fatal Colors by George Goodwin
This book is a political and military history of the War of the Roses up to the battle of Towton. If you followed a discussion on this site a few months ago about the best weapons for rabbits to employ in battle many of the ideas I presented came from this work. It’s a vary interesting work that explores the political issues that led to this conflict and a good overview of medieval battles.
Two none military history works that might be interesting:
3) Farmers and Fishermen by Daniel Vickers
This work analyzes and contrasts the economic roles of farmers and fisherman in early New England communities in Essex County Massachusetts. In the book, Vickers examines how a patriarchal system that relied on the unpaid labor of dependent sons transitioned gradually to an economic system in which these sons found work outside of the family farm. For fishermen, he explores the shift from client-patron economic relations to a free market system, noting the difficulties fishermen faced in achieving economic independence in both systems.
If you find this book interesting, Meetinghouse and Counting House by Frederick Barnes Tolles does much the same thing for colonial Pennsylvania
4) Witch Craze by Lyndal Roper
A good book for October, focuses on the century of witch trials in Germany between 1550 to 1650. Drawing on hundreds of original trial transcripts and other rare sources in four areas of Southern Germany, where most of the witches were executed, Lyndal Roper paints a vivid picture of their lives, families, and tribulations. She also explores the psychology of witch-hunting, explaining why it was mostly older women that were the victims of witch crazes, why they confessed to crimes, and how the depiction of witches in art and literature has influenced the characterization of elderly women in our own culture.
I will have a few more, later this week to finish off my suggestions.