Where can I find books about historical events?

November 16, 2006 6:58 AM

Where can I find some fairly easy-to-read, factual books about historical events? Amazon is overwhelming and Google is unhelpful

I'd really rather spend my money on a book that I'm not going to have to give up on because it's too difficult to read/confusing/overloaded on information.

I've become obsessed with certain periods in history of late, but am not the cleverest of people (I'm not saying I'm stupid, I just don't know a lot about history already, and also can't get through anything that is too dry). I'm a great and fast reader, but only when the content is relatively gripping. As a good example, I love World War II, and have found Stephen E Ambroses' books (i.e. Band of Brothers, D-Day) absolutely perfect in context, length, language and assumption of prior knowledge (i.e. quite little).

I'd love to find a similar writing style for other periods - as mentioned, the Salem Witch Trials and the Great Fire of London (i think the latter is probably less of a widely written topic... but i'm really interested in learning more about what happened there, given that i live in London right now. In fact, any London history in general would be great).

It's actually really quite difficult to find books like this through amazon, simply because there are so many I just don't know where to start.

posted by angryjellybean to writing & language (22 comments total)

Edit: Just realised I had deleted where I'd earlier said "Salem Witch Trials and the Great Fire of London", but these are the main topics I'd like to find books about.
posted by angryjellybean at 7:01 AM on November 16, 2006

I think 1776 by David McCullough is one of the best written, most readable histories of the Revolutionary War you will find. Give it a try.
posted by spicynuts at 7:11 AM on November 16, 2006

Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" is an excellent fictional, but highly fact-based account that takes place at Gettysburg. It's a really great book, a fun read and it's informative, too.
posted by Salvatorparadise at 7:13 AM on November 16, 2006

Salem: You might try Salem Possessed. It is definitely one notch above Ambrose in difficulty, but the slightly more academic tone is necessary in order to present the two or three prevailing theories of what was actually going on during the witch trials. Since a lot of the events and records are subjective, the authors have taken a step back somewhat to give what is objective public record and compare it to the prevailing theories.

London History: This is definitely on the easy side of the writing scale, but I think you'll love it: A Spy's London has several walking tours of the city that form the structure of a history, mostly World War II era, of dead drops, MI6, assassins, etc. I read it when London was a distant memory, I'm sure it'd be infinitely better when you're in the city.

Other (Cuban Missile Crisis): When you can read a straight-forward book written by one of the most directly involved parties, you should. Thirteen Days is short, objective with personal insight, and grippingly written.
posted by whatzit at 7:19 AM on November 16, 2006

objective with personal insight: before someone gets snippy, that's supposed to read presents what happened, some behind the scenes stuff and official documents, but also gets you in the mind of people on the scene who were involved in the writing of the book.
posted by whatzit at 7:21 AM on November 16, 2006

They're not out yet, but W.W. Norton's publishing a four-volume narrative history of the world by Susan Wise Bauer. It's beginning with ancient times and moving chronologically through history. Here is Volume 1 at Amazon. Her production blog is accessible from here.

Disclosure: She's a friend of mine, but I don't benefit in any way by mentioning the book.

Also, regarding England-specific narrative history, you could try Sarum.
posted by Alt F4 at 7:24 AM on November 16, 2006

Not specific to the topics you were looking for, but I too got into and enjoyed Ambrose's WWII books. You may also like Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys, both by James Bradley. (I haven't seen the movie but the book (flags) is pretty good.)

Also, I'm currently reading Undaunted Courage by Ambrose, which I'm enjoying more than I thought, and learning quite a bit. It's about Lewis & Clarke's expedition, of which I really knew nothing about other than them trying to cross the continent. It really ties in a LOT about what was going on in the world/country at that period of time (1800 +/-).
posted by MarkLark at 7:33 AM on November 16, 2006

I enjoyed "By Permission of Heaven," the true story of the great fire of London.
posted by Floydd at 7:45 AM on November 16, 2006

I would enthusiastically recommend David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood.
posted by pardonyou? at 7:47 AM on November 16, 2006

It doesn't get much easier to read than Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of... series. They're great books (as are the Cartoon Guide to... ones), full of facts presented in, of course, cartoon form.
posted by cerebus19 at 8:10 AM on November 16, 2006

Amazon and google are overwhelming, but those aren't the only places to look for books. There's these neato old-fashioned places that are less overwhelming, and often just as well organised. They're called bookstores. (BOOK-stohres)

I know this might seem silly, because it doesn't involve a computer, but why don't you just go to a bookstore and walk over to the 'history' section, and start flipping through books?
posted by Kololo at 8:17 AM on November 16, 2006

Arrgh! Stephen Ambrose was a plagiarist. He plagiarized major sections of every single thing he ever wrote, from his doctoral dissertation to all of his bestsellers (possibly excepting his posthumous memoir). The historical profession was on the verge of ripping off his insignias and making him run the gaulet on the way out of our fort, when his diagnosis of cancer spoiled the party. Don't read Ambrose.

Some well-written popular histories on my shelf as I write this include: Fenn, Pox Amerricana; Fisher, Washington's Crossing; Wieneck, An Imperfect God--George Washington and His Slaves.

Oh and for Lewis and Clark you cannot do better than Ronda, Lewis and Clark Among the Indians, where Ambrose stole most of his Undaunted Courage.

Preemptive Strike: Other faulty popular historians that people always recommend in these threads include Zinn, Loewen, and Dee Brown. Terrible.
posted by LarryC at 8:28 AM on November 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

I have LOVED the two Giles Milton books I've read:

Samurai William and Nathanial's Nutmeg: both about exploration, trade and discovery in the 16th ish century.

Both are gripping and very readable.
posted by jonesor at 8:44 AM on November 16, 2006

You might also try London by Edward Rutherford (the same guy who wrote Sarum). It's historical fiction, but well-researched and utterly absorbing.

Have you thought about going to a bookstore or public library and browsing the history aisles? Being able to flip physically through the many pop-history options might give you a better feel for them.
posted by paleography at 9:06 AM on November 16, 2006

Koloko, because many a time I've shelled out precious STUDENT cash for a book that sounds good on the back, and even after a flick through, but proves to be disappointing. Thanks for that sarcasm though.
posted by angryjellybean at 9:11 AM on November 16, 2006

Sorry--should have seen Koloko's suggestion on preview.

Having shelled out precious student cash on bad books before, too, I definitely suggest a public library. Or a nice, cheap, used bookstore, if you have one handy.
posted by paleography at 9:23 AM on November 16, 2006

For the Great Fire of London, you could do worse than read Samuel Pepys's account. It's free, online, and Pepys is a really great narrator. Here's where to start (begin on September 2nd). Unfortunately the Pepys Online project is still in 1663.

You also might like The Dreadful Judgement: The True Story of the Great Fire of London 1666, by Neil Hanson. Parts of it are novelistic in style.
posted by greycap at 10:28 AM on November 16, 2006

Oh and LarryC is absolutely right about Ambrose - might be a gripping writer (although personally I hate his prose style), but a terrible historian.
posted by greycap at 10:29 AM on November 16, 2006

Tom Holland's Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

James McPherson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, part of the Oxford History of the United States.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:07 AM on November 16, 2006

If you're interested in the Middle Ages, there is basically no better book on the subject than R. W. Southern's The Making of the Middle Ages.

There are tons of somewhat doofy but very readable narrative histories of the Revolutionary War era; one of these is Malcolm Decker's Brink of Revolution.

The book that drove me to history was Lynn Montross' War Through the Ages, which is rather dated, but the prose style is exhilirating. It makes every tiny military-historical episode in Western history immensely dramatic and fascinating.
posted by nasreddin at 1:06 PM on November 16, 2006

Some months later, but anyway ... Liza Picard's London books - Elizabeth's London, Restoration London, Dr Johnson's London, Victorian London.

You may not be checking back of course (I found this question through your comment on the "Boring girlfriend" question), but if you are you might like to give these a go - because of their format they're relatively easy to dip in and out of. I do suggest though, given what you say about having made mistakes buying books in the past, that you try them through a library.
posted by paduasoy at 4:53 PM on February 7, 2007

And Stephen Smith's Underground London - I've just read this and it's a fairly easy, chatty read. Also the two Time Out books of London walks - one, two. Even if you are not interested in doing the walks they are a fascinating read. Each walk is written by a different well-known writer and focusses on one aspect of London.
posted by paduasoy at 1:57 AM on February 8, 2007