Pleasure reading for historians
December 5, 2020 3:40 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations for books (as gifts) that are in the line of popular history that is nevertheless appealing to academic historians.
The giftee's primary field is medieval and early modern English history, so things outside that would be best. Some of the media he likes: Mysteries (Golden Age, noir, contemporary); BBC America; early Blues. Books should ideally have been published recently by a non-academic press and be available in the USA. I'm not only interested in history books - genres could include biography, memoir, fiction, or mystery.
The giftee's primary field is medieval and early modern English history, so things outside that would be best. Some of the media he likes: Mysteries (Golden Age, noir, contemporary); BBC America; early Blues. Books should ideally have been published recently by a non-academic press and be available in the USA. I'm not only interested in history books - genres could include biography, memoir, fiction, or mystery.
might he be interested in popular history that's outside of his own primary field? Like what was happening in (for instance) China or the Ottoman Empire at the same time?
I recently read this which I think ticks your boxes, if that suggestion is on point.
posted by fingersandtoes at 4:14 PM on December 5, 2020
I recently read this which I think ticks your boxes, if that suggestion is on point.
posted by fingersandtoes at 4:14 PM on December 5, 2020
The work of Chester Himes? Rich kinetic stories in his Harlem Detective novels.
An academic work, but my favorite history / design book this year was Space Settlements, which looked at the 1970's work on large space structures in relation to their time.
posted by nickggully at 4:17 PM on December 5, 2020
An academic work, but my favorite history / design book this year was Space Settlements, which looked at the 1970's work on large space structures in relation to their time.
posted by nickggully at 4:17 PM on December 5, 2020
Caste has some critical acclaim (beyond Oprah)
From NPR's lists: The Return: Fathers, Sons And The Land In Between
I'm a history buff, not an historian, and I've really enjoyed microhistories:
• Drink
• Concrete and Culture: A Material History
• Salt
• Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
• The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Might be too close to your giftee's field, but recently the Wolf Hall Trilogy has been getting rave reviews as the finest kind of historical fiction. I've certainly loved them all. Link is to the trilogy, but the separate books are available, of course.
posted by angiep at 4:28 PM on December 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
From NPR's lists: The Return: Fathers, Sons And The Land In Between
I'm a history buff, not an historian, and I've really enjoyed microhistories:
• Drink
• Concrete and Culture: A Material History
• Salt
• Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
• The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Might be too close to your giftee's field, but recently the Wolf Hall Trilogy has been getting rave reviews as the finest kind of historical fiction. I've certainly loved them all. Link is to the trilogy, but the separate books are available, of course.
posted by angiep at 4:28 PM on December 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
FWIW, I have a historian friend who enjoys Bernard Cornwell as much as I do.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:30 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:30 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
I like How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:49 PM on December 5, 2020
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:49 PM on December 5, 2020
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin is a popular history book by a Yale historian that is extremely well researched and well written. I’m not a historian, but I was an academic working with history and literature, and badly written history makes me insane. (I would put The Professor and the Madman in the badly written category.)
Old in Art School by Nell Painter is a memoir by a historian who went to art school after she retired. In addition to detailing her experiences in art school, it was also an education for me in the history of art, as she situated her own work in its art history context, particularly that of African-American art, which I knew nothing about.
posted by FencingGal at 4:50 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Old in Art School by Nell Painter is a memoir by a historian who went to art school after she retired. In addition to detailing her experiences in art school, it was also an education for me in the history of art, as she situated her own work in its art history context, particularly that of African-American art, which I knew nothing about.
posted by FencingGal at 4:50 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
I just finished You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe and would HIGHLY recommend. The joy Coe gets from eviscerating the traditional historiography of George Washington just like radiates off the page, and the intro in particular is so fun. She notes nearly all biographies of Washington are written by men and points out all the ways that impacts the field. It is very much a biography of Washington, but she keeps the women and enslaved peoples in his life in the forefront throughout.
posted by lilac girl at 5:10 PM on December 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by lilac girl at 5:10 PM on December 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
A History of the World in Six Glasses was pretty fun, pairs well with Drink, Salt, and Uncommon Grounds as it looks at coffee, tea, beer, wine, spirits, soda, and water. The Cabaret of Plants has a lot of great tie-ins to medieval european history, ancient trees that pre-date the ancient churches they are next to, plants as featured in ancient art and literature, that sort of thing.
posted by th3ph17 at 5:34 PM on December 5, 2020
posted by th3ph17 at 5:34 PM on December 5, 2020
_The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody_ by Will Cuppy is an exhaustively researched and very funny history of the world that deserves far more recognition than it gets.
posted by ananci at 9:09 PM on December 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by ananci at 9:09 PM on December 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Really the Blues, the memoirs of Mezz Mezzrow. It’s a great first person account of jazz and blues.
posted by Grandysaur at 11:12 PM on December 5, 2020
posted by Grandysaur at 11:12 PM on December 5, 2020
Some popular modern classics:
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, the follow up to Sapiens by the same author
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel De Landa
A Brief History of the Future by Jon Naughton (the origins of the internet)
Not quite as modern (1945) but an absolute classic, very readable, totally fascinating, and probably interesting for an academic historian when it talks about their time period: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.
All are accessible to the non-academic, but all are very intellectually stimulating. None of them require any previous or particular knowledge.
Caveat: A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History may delight or horrify your giftee. I'm not a historian and I found it brilliantly thought-provoking, but it might be deeply polarizing for historians.
posted by underclocked at 2:42 AM on December 6, 2020
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, the follow up to Sapiens by the same author
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel De Landa
A Brief History of the Future by Jon Naughton (the origins of the internet)
Not quite as modern (1945) but an absolute classic, very readable, totally fascinating, and probably interesting for an academic historian when it talks about their time period: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.
All are accessible to the non-academic, but all are very intellectually stimulating. None of them require any previous or particular knowledge.
Caveat: A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History may delight or horrify your giftee. I'm not a historian and I found it brilliantly thought-provoking, but it might be deeply polarizing for historians.
posted by underclocked at 2:42 AM on December 6, 2020
Strongly recommend the Patrick O'Brian novels, featuring Royal Navy Captain Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic Wars. Exceedingly well and thoroughly researched and assumes a level of intelligence and ability to understand from context that most historical fiction does not, in my opinion. There are 20 books in the series so if your friend gets hooked by the first one he will have hours of reading pleasure to look forward to. The series is loosely based on the career of an actual historical figure and was the inspiration for the movie, "Master & Commander." The writing is superb.
posted by flowergrrrl at 5:01 PM on December 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by flowergrrrl at 5:01 PM on December 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by frumiousb at 3:48 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]