Grand unified books thread

[Sheilbh]

Osman's Dream is recent and supposedly excellent. 

Reading that at the minute.  So far it's impressive.

[Malthus]

The only way one could spoil Blood Meridian is if one took a lot of meth and watched The Proposition.  It is a truly amazing, fucked up book.

Not, however, one to recommend to someone on a first date. 

[Queequeg]

Osman's Dream is recent and supposedly excellent. 

Reading that at the minute.  So far it's impressive.

How far are you into it?  I'd be interested to know how well it covers the initial (far more interesting, at least more so than anything till the end) period. 

[Queequeg]

Not, however, one to recommend to someone on a first date. 

I try to avoid talking about anything I am really interested in on dates.  Don't want to reveal how batshit I am until they can sense it. 

[Ed Anger]

Not, however, one to recommend to someone on a first date. 

I try to avoid talking about anything I am really interested in on dates.  Don't want to reveal how batshit I am until they can sense it.

I think they notice when you ask them to dress like Theodora.

[Ed Anger]

And I've read nothing. Been trying to start Danny Parker's Bulge book.

[Sheilbh]

How far are you into it?  I'd be interested to know how well it covers the initial (far more interesting, at least more so than anything till the end) period.

The initial isn't the focus, only three or four chapters until they've taken Constantinople (which makes sense given that she's covering from 1300-1927).  Her main concern is that she thinks Ottoman history has been ill-served by the interest in it because most general, popular histories deal primarily in broad-brush stereotypes of eunuchs, Pashas and harem girls.  She also wants to discuss the degree of continuity, as well as change, with Ataturk's Turkey.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Reading the dictionary I bought yesterday.

[spoiler] the Zygote did it![/spoiler]

[jimmy olsen]

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

Only so far as Herodotus is right.   

Herodotus' book sometimes sounds much like what one would get if one attempted to write a history of WW2 today by asking some random guys in a bar what happened. 

[Barrister]

Just finished reading The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire.

Enjoyable read.  He picks up the story in early 44, and spends a lot of time on the big conferences of Quebec, Teheran, and Yalta.  Some good stuff in there, but also fairly familiar.

The events post VE Day however (which cover half of the 1000 day timeframe) are rushed, which was a real shame.  That's the era that frankly I knew the least about, but it seems to get skimmed over very rapidly in the last third of the book.  Perhaps Atlee just wasn't as interesting a subject as Churchill.   

Still, I'd recommend it.  The author is  Brit living in Canada, so he also makes nice mentions of Canada's war effort, and gives several contemporary quotes about how Canada was the only Dominion doing everything that could be expected. :canuck:

[Malthus]

Herodotus also tells the story (IIRC) about "fighting in the shade" and the Persians attacking via hidden paths.

Not all about the movie is wrong.

Only so far as Herodotus is right.   

Herodotus' book sometimes sounds much like what one would get if one attempted to write a history of WW2 today by asking some random guys in a bar what happened. 

Heh, Perry Bible Fellowship. Too sad that he stopped writing - one of the best webcomics around.

[garbon]

Osman's Dream is recent and supposedly excellent. 

Reading that at the minute.  So far it's impressive.

How far are you into it?  I'd be interested to know how well it covers the initial (far more interesting, at least more so than anything till the end) period. 

I don't think it is a very good book...or rather it is like that Safavid book we discussed, where it only seems alright as there is generally a dearth of easily available material.  Of course, I'm not a fan of books that aim for such a large scope and this book certainly suffers from that.  As Sheilbh said, the focus isn't really on the initial period and I've seen better detail from webpages online.

[garbon]

I got an e-mail from Amazon telling me that I should pre-order a book on Mary, Queen of Scots.

[Queequeg]

Heh, Perry Bible Fellowship. Too sad that he stopped writing - one of the best webcomics around.

When/why did he stop?  I just read all of them about a month ago, figured he was on vacation or something.  Great comic. 

[Queequeg]

I don't think it is a very good book...or rather it is like that Safavid book we discussed, where it only seems alright as there is generally a dearth of easily available material.  Of course, I'm not a fan of books that aim for such a large scope and this book certainly suffers from that.  As Sheilbh said, the focus isn't really on the initial period and I've seen better detail from webpages online.

That Safavid book was really dissapointing.  I have no idea why there aren't more books on the Safavids or Ottomans, you'd think with the whole huge fucking crisis in the Mid-East there would be a lot more.