Grand unified books thread

[Capetan Mihali]

I just read Ludes, a 1982 memoir written by Ben Stein of all people about his friend's descent into Quaalude addiction in the late 70's.     Kind of an odd book, but he's an engaging writer and the story is quite emotional.

[Ed Anger]

Re-reading Two Ocean War, by Samuel Morison. A favorite of mine on the US Navy in WWII.

I keep meaning to pick up the 15 volume set, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, but I'm lazy.

[katmai]

Anybody picked up the first book in  new vampire trilogy co-written by Guillermo Del Toro?

Check your in box.

Thanks for the links Judas Arnold.

Also went and picked up a hard copy version as i just can't follow audio books.

Also picked up World War Z, finished it in about 5 hours.

[Syt]

Books just ordered with a view to my summer reading list:
The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815 - Tim Blanning
Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 - Christopher Clark
Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 - Roger Crowley
White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20 - Norman Davies

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Reading Charlie Stross' near future SF: " Halting State". It's about uncovering a heist that takes place in a MMORPG that has RL repercussions. Just getting into it. He's got a nice style, this Stross. Looking fwd to goin back and seeing how his other books stack up. I hear "Saturn's Children" is great.

[Ed Anger]

Reading Charlie Stross' near future SF: " Halting State". It's about uncovering a heist that takes place in a MMORPG that has RL repercussions. Just getting into it. He's got a nice style, this Stross. Looking fwd to goin back and seeing how his other books stack up. I hear "Saturn's Children" is great.

Didn't Larry Niven already do that with Dream Park?

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Reading Charlie Stross' near future SF: " Halting State". It's about uncovering a heist that takes place in a MMORPG that has RL repercussions. Just getting into it. He's got a nice style, this Stross. Looking fwd to goin back and seeing how his other books stack up. I hear "Saturn's Children" is great.

Didn't Larry Niven already do that with Dream Park?

Dunno? umm sure, maybe. :shrug: So far this guy is doing his story about that idea fairly well. I'm sure Niven was Ringworld-tastic, though with his story about that.

William Gibson also, in more than one book, Stephenson, etc....

[Queequeg]

Suppose it would be the Acme of foolishness to inquire if anyone could suggest a book about the rise of the Safavid from small Sufi order to Empire?  Ismai'l I?  The Qizilbashes?

[garbon]

Do such books exist? I'm always on the lookout for good Safavid books but never can find any.  I once copied the cambridge history safavid section.  I broke down and bought this book, it is alright although it focuses on all of them.

http://www.amazon.com/Safavid-Iran-Rebirth-Persian-Library/dp/1845118308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245386406&sr=8-1

[Queequeg]

Do such books exist? I'm always on the lookout for good Safavid books but never can find any.  I once copied the cambridge history safavid section.  I broke down and bought this book, it is alright although it focuses on all of them.

http://www.amazon.com/Safavid-Iran-Rebirth-Persian-Library/dp/1845118308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245386406&sr=8-1

Just bought it. 

I'm a little surprised.  I knew you had an interest in the period, but 'always on the lookout?'   Do we: share interests?   

[garbon]

Just bought it. 

I'm a little surprised.  I knew you had an interest in the period, but 'always on the lookout?'   Do we: share interests?   

As a I never responded, yes I am often on the lookout. I think it is sad when generally the best sources I have are my photocopies of bits of the Cambridge History of Iran and assorted histories I can find online.

And apologies for sort of recommending that book. I revisited it lately and it isn't that great but when one is dealing with a paucity of sources.

[Habbaku]

White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20 - Norman Davies

Just finished this.  Interesting, well-balanced read, I thought.  It's a shame more information's not available (or hasn't been put into English).

[AnchorClanker]

Christopher Clark is excellent.  He's just written a bio of Wilhelm II, which Amazon will de sending shortly.

[Malthus]

Just finished The Lost City of Z which was very interesting I thought - H. Rider Haggard! Madame Blavatsky! Lost civilzations! The latest in Amazonian archaeology! A famous disappearance! - but I'd have liked more information on the archaeology.

Is it the case that every single eccentric of the late 19th early 20th centuries was 'into' Theosophy and spiritualism? Sometimes it seems so.   

A definite must-read for anyone interested in the tragic tale of a real-life "Indiana Jones" character. Complete with maggot infestations.

http://www.amazon.ca/Lost-City-Deadly-Obsession-Amazon/dp/0385513534/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247594066&sr=8-1

[Syt]

Books just ordered with a view to my summer reading list:
[...]
Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 - Roger Crowley
[...]

Started with this. Starts with the conquest of Rhodes and goes to the Battle of Lepanto. Was the Sunday Times history book of 2008. Informatively and entertainingly written so far. Makes me want to play EU3.

I've also been informed by Amazon.co.uk (I hate them ) that a new book about the Thirty Years War is coming out:
Europe's Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War (Hardcover) by Peter H. Wilson

992 pages.

The horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618–48) tore the heart out of Europe, killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns and regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved and, while each country started out with rational war aims, the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control, with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague and murder. The war was both a religious and a political one and it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism, everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price. Peter Wilson's book is a major work, the first new history of the war in a generation, and a fascinating, brilliantly written attempt to explain a compelling series of events. Wilson's great strength is in allowing the reader to understand the tragedy of mixed motives that allowed rulers to gamble their countries' future with such horrifying results. The principal actors in the drama (Wallenstein, Ferdinand II, Gustavus Adolphus, Richelieu) are all here, but so is the experience of the ordinary soldiers and civilians, desperately trying to stay alive under impossible circumstances.