I need a history book!

September 3, 2012 6:45 PM

I need help with a book suggestion! All my particulars found within, within, within..

Started off with Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and With the Old Breed and Helmet for my Pillow and then had my fill of World War 2 for a little while. However, I was enticed to move backward, and so read The Guns of August about World War 1. And then I was compelled by history to go back even farther, so I could understand root causes and also because it was very interesting, so then I read The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune about the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Well, now I've finished with that.

Shit.

So, I'd like to read a good history book (in similar vein to above) about the French revolution in 1848. Or, maybe, the history from the initial French Revolution in 1789 - 1799 through the two subsequent revolutions in 1830 and 1848.

It's getting harder to find books and know what's going to be over my head as I move backward. Any advice appreciated!

I've read the other AskMe on the topic, and answers weren't entirely inspiring. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution doesn't appear to be available for Kindle (OH BOO HOO) and Mark Steel's Vive La Revolution makes me afraid. Is it good? I mean, really?

posted by kbanas to media & arts (3 answers total)

Christopher Hibbert's The Days of the French Revolution is delightful (and available for ereaders) though not an analysis. I love Mark Steel but don't start with him.

Citizens is really good. Have you given up on paper books entirely? You can usually find decent used copies for cheap.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:29 PM on September 3, 2012

Citizens is pretty authoritative. It covers the whole breadth and scope, and it well written, fast paced, and thoroughly engaging. I'm sure there's a zillion used copies out there for cheap.

Also, if you're not quite done with WWI & II, You should seriously consider Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:45 PM on September 3, 2012

Great answers!

I have not given up on paper books at all. I just wanted to start reading RIGHT THEN so I had a preference toward being able to just click DOWNLOAD. I'm going to read, like, all of these.

History is awesome. Why didn't anyone ever tell me?
posted by kbanas at 8:14 AM on September 4, 2012 [1 favorite]