Grand unified books thread

[Admiral Yi]

Joan, you've tempted on Frankie's volume 2.  Enjoyed volume 1.

[Eddie Teach]

Minsky, don't you ever read anything light, about dragons or spies or hard boiled detectives?

[Syt]

2016 review (b/c cant be bothered to report in real time)

Worlds of Arthur, Guy Halsell - despite title this is a relatively serious history of post-Roman Britain.  Gives a good idea of the types of sources and their relative strength.  Also has speculative reconstruction based on interesting reading of the timeline in Gildas.
Political Order and Decay, Francis Fukuyama: 2d volume of his "political order" series.  Interesting and cogently argued as always but much longer than needed to be.
Transformation of the World, Juergen Osterhammel.  Very long but very good single volume history of the "19th" century (he often goes back to 1750s and up ahead as far as WW2).  Would definitely recommend  over Bayly if you have to choose one. 
Misbehaving[/b] Richard Thaler, chatty history of behavioral economics, decent intro to this field.  But if time is limited do Kaheman's Fast and Slow instead.
Meursault Investigation, Kamel Daoud. Camus Stranger told from the other side.  Nice short little book.  Not essential but definitely worth it if you are a fan of the original.  Read in translation.
Gilead[/b] Marilynne Robinson.  Read to see if holds up to the hype.  It does.  Beautifully written.
Strategy of Conflict[/b] and Micromotives and Macrobehavior, both by Thomas Schelling.  Both read a few months before his recent death.  Classic works but dense reading.  For this audience I would suggest first Arms and Influence which is a more coherent presentation focused on strategy in the nuclear age.
Age of Confucian Rule [/I] Dieter Kuhn - Conventional general history of China during Song period, part of series of histories of imperial China.  Not the most exciting read but learned a lot about a region and period I knew very little about.
Terroir and Other Myths of Winemaking[/b] - Mark Mathews - provocative title for marketing purposes - in reality this is discussion of recent thinking in viticulture and vinicultural science on a few selected issues.
Rendez vous des civilizations[/b] Emnanuel Todd and Y Courbage - using Todd's scheme of civilizational development, speculates that the Islamic world in gradually converging with the West.  topical but not best introduction to Todd's work.
Rue des BOutiques Obscures Patrick Modiano - classic work by 2014 nobelist.
SPQR Mary Beard.  Idiosyncratic history of Rome up to Commodus.  IMO strongest in the early pre-Second Punic War period.
Seeing Jose Sarmago.  He's got style but the lack of punctuation gimmick and the heavy-handed political messaging wears thin.  Read in translation.
Blitzkrieg Legend Karl-Heinz Frieser: detailed account of 1940 campaign in France.  Probably not much news to lots of folks here but I learned some from it.
Les Carolingians Pierre Rouche.  Somewhat old school history but told from a kind of Crusder Kings 2 approach - i.e. he is very heavy on the complex family relationships and their impact on politics.  Book includes only a few crappy maps, but dozens of genealogical charts. 
Inheritance of Rome Chris Wickam.  Good general history of late antiques/early medieval Western Europe.
White Guard Bulgakov - found out later this was originally a play and it reads that way.  Worth it for die hard Bulgakov fans but not up there with M&M.  Read in translation.
1177 BC -EH Cline: Does not, as the marketing suggests, provide a definitive explanation of the Bronze Age collapse.  But does provide a very readable survey of the written and archaeological evidence of the period and is worth reading for that.
Before European Hegemony Janet Abu Lughod - History focusing on international trade and commerce c. 1250-1350 in the Wallerstein mode.  Very interesting stuff.
Evolution of the International Economic Order W Arthur Lewis.  Short (<100p) and readable account of world economic development since the Industrial Revolution, densely packed with ideas.  Though parts a little dated (1978) still a worthwhile read.
Oxford History of Ancient Egypt and Rise and Fall of ancient Egypt - Two different books covering roughly the same ground but in very different ways.  The Oxford History as expected is scholarly cautious and dry.  Rise and Fall is a lot more lively and speculative, sometime perhaps too much for its own good.  Together they make decent complements if you are prepared to invest that much time.

Read Osterhammel's book on its original German release. It's quite the tome, but covers a wonderful range of topics. I have Evans' The Pursuit of Power (Europe 1815 - 1914) sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Picked up SPQR the other day at a bookshop on a whim; I'd been looking for a recent general purpose history of Rome.

Inheritance of Rome. Read this a few years ago. I recall it was very decent, but don't recall many specifics. Maybe time for a re-read.

1177BC - started reading it, but somehow stopped about 1/3 in, dunno why really.

Rise And Fall of Ancient Egypt - enjoyed it a fair bit, but I knew little about Egyptian history, so this served as a very good introduction to me.

[AnchorClanker]

For what it is worth, Allan Massie's "Inspector Lannes" series is quite worthwhile - a regular dude cop who is trying to navigate occupied France as a PJ superintentant. 

[The Minsky Moment]

Minsky, don't you ever read anything light, about dragons or spies or hard boiled detectives?

I read something about a band of mercs fighting zombies in the desert, Juggernaut.  Summer reading.  Also some old Asterix comics I picked up in tag sale. 

[Ed Anger]

You need more Gor.

[Syt]

https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Allen-Develop-Perfect-Relationship/dp/0967326400

[CountDeMoney]

I probably would've whacked off to that in 1982.

[Ed Anger]

Brain is wacking off to the dog right now.

[11B4V]

I probably would've whacked off to that in 1982.

Not busty enough

[Admiral Yi]

Hair is bad, smile is bad, eyes are stupid.  9 beers.

[Ed Anger]

Hair is bad, smile is bad, eyes are stupid.  9 beers.

Now rate the chick.

[Archy]

 

[mongers]

Obama:

After a busy campaign year, he also plans to catch up on a lot of reading.

"There's something particular about quieting yourself and having a sustained stretch of time that is different from music or television or even the greatest movies," he said."


Wise words indeed. 

[jimmy olsen]

I wonder which Languishite wrote this romance?