What is your favorite part of history to read/learn about? (3 Viewers)

[guidomerkinsrules]

Just looked that up and I'm going to start reading on that as well. I love watching Cold War movies from the 50's. I also listen to old time classics on siriusxm and the old radio shows were awesome. The best is "I was a communist for the FBI"

if you want some shortcuts, "Goodnight and Goodluck" tries a fairly even and at the McCarthy era HUAC, and "The Front" was written and directed by artists who had been blacklisted (it shows their side, naturally)
"Cradle Will Rock" is very polemic but mostly factual showing of the initial HUAC chaired by Dies

moreso than just HUAC my focus is on the 20th century collision of culture and politics as shaped by US vs Russia/USSR
(one of the lingering fallouts from HUAC is that later 20th century art is highly abstracted (vs social or allegorical) mostly b/c artists want to avoid the real possibility of being blacklisted - and then when art did start making strong cultural statements the NEA got (essentially) shut-down

there are so many odd little moments in the 20th century where one small choice might have diverted huge calamities
one of the most striking is the tale of Maxim Gorky - he was 2nd to Chekhov as russia's leading playwright but was much more of a national art/political figure (essentially he was Bono)
he had landed in the US in 1906, after winning over Europe in his and other cultural figures' attempt to win a velvet revolution in russia
he was enthusiastically greeted as a statesman and and appeared all but certain he was going to raise enough money to overthrow the Tsar
HOWEVER on the evening of his arrival the tsar's propoganda ministers fed the american press the news that the woman gorky was travelling with (Maria Andreeyva - actress from the Moscow Arts Theatre - easily the world's most prestigious theatre company) was NOT his wife
while technically true, russia did not recognize divorce in any manageable way - gorky had been separated from his wife for many years and Maria was essentially his commonlaw wife
but as we like to do, we got our puritan feathers all ruffled, and Gorky woke up to screaming headlines accusing Gorky of trying to destroy american families with his sin
angry mobs - the whole 9 yards - and actually it was Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain who had to secret the 2 of them out of NY and back to europe

it's crazy to wonder if WW1 & 2, Korea, Vietnam and all ancillary Cold War dust-ups might have been avoided if the american press wasn't such a reactionary school marm

 

[saintmdterps]

It's really a tragedy what's become of the History Channel...like MTV but a thousand times worse given the potential for it.





The above covers it for me. As with saintmdterps, wooden ships and iron men are at the top of my list and have been since I first read C.S. Forester when I was 12 years old.

Hey saintmdterps, have you read Six Frigates? Really excellent. Boutros, you might like it also. My next book is one on Cochrane -- trying to find the time to get to it.

Six Frigates is excellent! if you liked Six Frigates, you may also like Broadsides: The age of Fighting Sail by Nathan Miller.

 

[saintmdterps]

if you want some shortcuts, "Goodnight and Goodluck" tries a fairly even and at the McCarthy era HUAC, and "The Front" was written and directed by artists who had been blacklisted (it shows their side, naturally)
"Cradle Will Rock" is very polemic but mostly factual showing of the initial HUAC chaired by Dies

moreso than just HUAC my focus is on the 20th century collision of culture and politics as shaped by US vs Russia/USSR
(one of the lingering fallouts from HUAC is that later 20th century art is highly abstracted (vs social or allegorical) mostly b/c artists want to avoid the real possibility of being blacklisted - and then when art did start making strong cultural statements the NEA got (essentially) shut-down

there are so many odd little moments in the 20th century where one small choice might have diverted huge calamities
one of the most striking is the tale of Maxim Gorky - he was 2nd to Chekhov as russia's leading playwright but was much more of a national art/political figure (essentially he was Bono)
he had landed in the US in 1906, after winning over Europe in his and other cultural figures' attempt to win a velvet revolution in russia
he was enthusiastically greeted as a statesman and and appeared all but certain he was going to raise enough money to overthrow the Tsar
HOWEVER on the evening of his arrival the tsar's propoganda ministers fed the american press the news that the woman gorky was travelling with (Maria Andreeyva - actress from the Moscow Arts Theatre - easily the world's most prestigious theatre company) was NOT his wife
while technically true, russia did not recognize divorce in any manageable way - gorky had been separated from his wife for many years and Maria was essentially his commonlaw wife
but as we like to do, we got our puritan feathers all ruffled, and Gorky woke up to screaming headlines accusing Gorky of trying to destroy american families with his sin
angry mobs - the whole 9 yards - and actually it was Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain who had to secret the 2 of them out of NY and back to europe

it's crazy to wonder if WW1 & 2, Korea, Vietnam and all ancillary Cold War dust-ups might have been avoided if the american press wasn't such a reactionary school marm

you may like The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington. You'll be struck by the different feel in politics and politicians then vs now, they seemed much more genuine if just as conniving back then

 

[HoustonSaint68]

if you liked Six Frigates, you may also like Broadsides: The age of Fighting Sail by Nathan Miller.

Excellent -- thanks for the steer.

 

[ld_in_sc]

the bible

 

[HoustonSaint68]

Six Frigates is excellent! if you liked Six Frigates, you may also like Broadsides: The age of Fighting Sail by Nathan Miller.

Also, there are some old illustrated Time-Life books that are really cool (if not historically weighty or significant) -- I have the Fighting Sail and Men of War titles -- nice blue cover -- great for coffee table browsing.

You can get them really cheap on Amazon (although mine are original so I don't have any idea of the used quality there).

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I'm shocked Reb hasn't posted yet.

These were my areas of work while I completed my history coursework:

1. Constitutional history (likely to be my doctoral work if I get off my *** and get to it)
2. Civil War (especially the constitutional issues surrounding it)
3. Louisiana/New Orleans
4. Racial issues (it's a smorgasbord ranging from racial classification to the development of whiteness in the country)
5. Tie between the French Revolution (1789) and the European Revolutions of 1848

I need a life

 

[parlorcitysaint]

For those who like to read, I recommend Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's" series. He wrote about a British soldier who rose through the ranks during his countries initial occupation of India. Once the war was won there, his unit was transferred to face off against Napoleon's troops through Spain and France.

It's historic fiction, but the majority of the historic facts are accurate.

I also like Jack Higgins who wrote about the WWII Europe and the OSS's ministrations there.

If you prefer the pacific theater, I recommend W.E.B Griffin.

 

[wnelson]

The civil war and both world wars.

 

[saintmdterps]

HoustonSaint68, have you read any of the "Flashman" books? Historically accurate fiction with the same character popping up. The WWI book is entertaining, But Flashman and the Seawolf is based on the Exploits of Thomas Cochrane. Very entertaining also.

 

[LafourcheSaint]

War things. WW2 eastern front in particular.

But my favorite subject is the American Mafia, specifically the 70's to early 80's when things started to fall apart for them. I just find it insanely fascinating.

I also go crazy on google earth. Especially now that it lets you go back in time on the maps. It's great to see how things change over time.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

HoustonSaint68, have you read any of the "Flashman" books? Historically accurate fiction with the same character popping up. The WWI book is entertaining, But Flashman and the Seawolf is based on the Exploits of Thomas Cochrane. Very entertaining also.

No, but thanks again for the different steer. There was a time that I started with the Shaara Civil War books and really liked those so I moved on to the Turtledove books. After a few of those though I lost the taste for the alternate history stuff.

I like the sound of trying the "historically accurate" Flashman stuff. I've always had to be very picky about what I chose to read because of limited time but I am retiring at the end of the year so I'll be ready to take on all comers -- thanks again!

 

[superchuck500]

Who here has seen the Imitation Game? I think the whole enigma/Bletchley Park story is really great history - but you never know how things turn out when Hollywood gets to it.

Is it worth seeing?

 

[JLL]

Civil war memoirs are my favorites.
One of most interesting I've read on civil war is "Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg--and Why It Failed." Well conceived theory on disastrous third day's battle.

 

[Sandman]

Civil War. I loved studying the battles. I bought a bunch of battle board games, and the ones from the Civil War were my favorite (Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and Antietam).

I love studying all history, but the Civil War battles were the best.