Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Name your favorite history books...

I found US History and Geography very interesting in jr. high, high school and college with World History a distant third but my grades did not reflect my interest. I have bought a few books over the last decade but my reading has been almost 100% on the internet.

The topic was posted on another forum in regards to Texas and I bought one of the top picks and started reading a few nights ago, Lone Star - A History of Texas and Texans by T.R. Fehrenbach. I really like this book and it illustrates how much I have forgotten or never absorbed.

What are your top picks?

Will & Ariel Durant's "History of Civilization" series is tops in my opinion. Others I like are a number of books I have pre-and-post American Revolution, including how and why the U.S. Constitution came into being.

History books regarding the Lewis And Clark expedition, and the early days of the fur trappers, both U.S. and Canada, are favorites of mine.

Mary Chesnut's Civil War" is excellent as a different presepective of the "War Between The States."

No matter what, everything in life up to this second is connected in one way or another, or "history." I find that interesting.

L.W.

"Blood and Thunder" The Story of Kit Carson by Hampton Sides

Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples.

[i]Out of Revolution: The Autobiography of Western Man[/i] by Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy

Hands down top pick for me is Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon.

Take notes while you read it, as when you're halfway through you will be kicking yourself for not having done so from page one. Modern Library Classics abridged edition is the one I like. The full seven volume unabridged book is too much for most.

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming...!

The History Of The Peloponnesian War, by the latest craze in Greek history authors named Mr. Thucydides.

Much relevance to our own times. I like the Penguin Classics edition.

My favorite histiry book is my Great Grandmother, that she used in High School. It's Swintons Outlines of the Worlds History, published in 1874. I found it a facinating insite into the minds of the late Victorian Era as well as a great outline of the history perternant to Western Civilization. It's definatly better then the tripe our kids are using now.

That's for sure.

EFW, and i agree winston churchills, history of english speaking people. rio7

Undaunted Courage (Lewis and Clark expedition)

On page 501 of 548, I'm just finishing Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence, which Churchill called one of "the greatest books ever written in the English language."

If you've seen the movie, Lawrence of Arabia starring Peter O'Toole, you roughly know the story. The book is Lawrence's boots-on-the-ground account of the Arab revolt against Turkish rule, their alliance with Britain, and Lawrence's role in the affair during WW I.

Part autobiography, part military history, part first-rate adventure story and much, much more, the book is worth reading and is available from Amazon. Written less than 100 years ago, it should be required for anyone wanting insights into Middle Eastern religion, sociology, and history.

I didn't realize it but I had the Kindle app on my phone so I purchased a few of the books mentioned in the thread. The phone is not a great substitute for a dedicated e-reader but it's really convenient to read a few pages at lunch and a hellava lot better than carrying 790+ page book with me.

Any more suggestions for history books?