History books you recommend.

[Eren Eeager]

Just want to learn about differnet civilizations and how people used to live.

what would you recommend?

 

[charlie cho]

Rather than descriptions written by modern writers. It's good to read books that were written by ancient philosophers, politicians, and writers. It's as if you are talking to these people one on one, and you have direct access to their thoughts about the world they lived in in their historical environment. It also gives more authority to your understanding of the times. There is not much authority in reading someone who has never lived in that era, even if that person is full of expertise. 

First, read from people of the past Second, read from modern historians. 

[Fleetinglife]

Eric Hobsbawm in my opinion if you are interested in the transition from the traditional to the modern world in Europe and then gradually to most of the rest of the globe is not a bad start in my opinion and he is often the go-to read in academia and universities in studies and examinations of the social history of people. 

His trilogy of books on the 'long nineteenth century': 

1.  The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848
2.  The Age of Capital: (Globe) 1848-1875
3.  The Age of Empire: (Globe) 1875-1914

and his 'short twentieth-century historiographical book:

• The Age of Extremes (1914-1991)

are good in-depth starts for learning and widening your knowledge and understanding of people and the living conditions and circumstances they found themselves living in this time period in my opinion. 

Also, a good in-depth start to get you interested but a bulky book is 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond exploring the impact the Age of Exploration had on the wider world in history and also going in-depth in ethnological and anthropological studies of native culture and histories of various tribes across the globe today and those encountered by Western powers in this vast time period and their interactions with one another and the subsequent results they had in shaping the modern world.

I haven't finished this book yet but I have it on my shelf when I bought it some time ago. 

'The book attempts to explain why Eurasian and North African civilizations have survived and conquered others while arguing against the idea that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral, or inherent genetic superiority. Diamond argues that the gaps in power and technology between human societies originate primarily in environmental differences, which are amplified by various positive feedback loops. When cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians (for example, written language or the development among Eurasians of resistance to endemic diseases), he asserts that these advantages occurred because of the influence of geography on societies and cultures (for example, by facilitating commerce and trade between different cultures) and were not inherent in the Eurasian genomes.' - from Wikipedia.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Fleetinglife

[Fleetinglife]

This YouTube history channel is also a good introduction to a topic in history you would be interested in, for example, the war of Ancient Greek states against the Persian Empire, Battle of Salamis 480 B.C. A good introductory peek and overall basic description into the lives of people then and contexts that shaped them in those times.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Fleetinglife

[Eren Eeager]

@Fleetinglife Thanks!

[Bernardo Carleial]

@Eren Eeager I would recommend for you the book "The Lessons of History", by Will and Ariel Durant.

It's a short one, but it gives some good starting point on how history plays a role in Society,  Wars, Religion  and many other topics that involves our human heritage.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lessons_of_History

 

[CharlotteLove]

I think that an interesting history-related book for you will be "Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom ".

"Harriet Tubman was a well renowned public figure and a heroine who is popularly remembered for her contribution to the history of the United States. At the same time, Tubman is recognized as the most important symbol in the anti-slavery era. "- I took information from this study site. I hope you like this book, for me it was sometimes difficult, but at the same time interesting, also it is even a movie! I look forward to your answer 

[JosephKnecht]

On 9/3/2021 at 5:36 AM, Bernardo Carleial said:

@Eren Eeager I would recommend for you the book "The Lessons of History", by Will and Ariel Durant.

It's a short one, but it gives some good starting point on how history plays a role in Society,  Wars, Religion  and many other topics that involves our human heritage.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lessons_of_History

 

You can also read the long version. (14,000 pages)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization

[Eren Eeager]

1 hour ago, JosephKnecht said:

You can also read the long version. (14,000 pages)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization

Wow! That is a lot of reading 

[Gianna]

Maybe homo sapiens? 

[ZenRising]

I recently read 'Young Stalin'... it's a fascinating insight into the formation and making of a despot... one of best books I've read in some years now... 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826564.Young_Stalin

[Max Gron]

it means nothing reading historical literature, it's written in the past and reading them doesn't put food on the table. Furthermore 100,000 years ago was a useless time, there was no religion or mythology back then, that stuff's 60,000 years ago. People in neolithic times wore clothes and owned dogs. Another thing, it's all relative, time and space, relative to the earth. Other people are doing unhealthy things, stage orange, with success, irreligion, and materialism. Stage blue's the way to go, supporting codes of honour, kings and morals. Green people have no idea about the world order, they demonise blue telling me to clean the planet, give me a break! Historical works date back to blue times when the male gave his heirlooms to the males in the family, as I'm educated in this it's so long sucker to all the morons on this site with no awareness and no spirituality, all they want is money and taking the teachings with amazement at a normal person. What it all boils down to is uneducated buffoons who don't read ancient stuff, who chase after money, and who haven't had any individual wise thoughts of their own.