History Books

[starskin]

I've read a lot of Holocaust history (I'm not sure why, because the Holocaust disturbs me more than almost anything else), and one of the best books I've read about it was Alicia: My Story. I read it ages ago, but there are parts of it that are still vivid in my mind, years later. It was very tough to get through, but ultimately inspiring.

[monkey]

Yes, Kafka, I'd be quite interested in the Philby biography - I only know enough about him/the Cambridge spies to successfully answer a question about them in Quiz Bowl. I'd love to know more.

Starskin, have you read any Primo Levi? I'm trying to think of the nonfiction I've read concerning the Holocaust...most of it has been in novels. Herman Wouk's The Winds of War and War and Rememberance were particularly valuable. This summer, I was on a six week study program in Germany and Austria, and one of my two classes was on World War II. We read Robert Abzug's Inside the Vicious Heart, which was about the experiences of American GI's who liberated various camps.

[dancedancexenu]

I am a total boob when it comes to history. I want to read more history books, but as it is, I spend more time doing work and reading for class. However, I finally finished Vimy by Pierre Berton. I realize that he's usually scoffed at by a lot of my friends who are history, but I think that he's very good at delving deep enough into history to provide a very precise picture, but doesn't become too involved to make it boring or too general to make it stupid. He's actually the author that sparked my interest in Canadian history and Canada in general, it wasn't really a subject I thought or cared about until I was in university.

Otherwise, I'm kind of hopeless. I've read both Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw and Boneheads and Bastards: Canada's glorious leaders, past and present by Will Ferguson. They're like history but irreverent. This is shameful, but I took a Canadian history class in my second year of university, and when I wrote my paper I was totally lost. So I checked out some books from the bibliography of Boneheads and Bastards because I had no idea how to do history research. I got an A- on the paper.

[Deleted]

kafka said:

stargirl said:

I picked up an old, paperback copy of The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan one day when I was bored, and did not get up from my seat till over an hour later when I'd finished it. It's a fascinating account of D-Day, told from several different points of view. I didn't know that much about D-Day then (this was before Saving Private Ryan came out) and it read just like a thriller, only it was even more exciting, because I knew it was true. I was seriously on the edge of my seat the whole time.

That was the basis for the film, right? From what I recall reading about the film ages ago, quite a few Nazi generals cooperated with the writers, which I'm assuming now were just Cornelius Ryan. How long is the book, btw?

I think I'm going to look into ordering it. Thanks, Stargirl.

[

I've never seen the movie, but I think it was based on the book. It's not a very long book--less than 250 pages. What's neat about it is that is was written maybe 15 years after the war, that he was able to interview dozens and dozens of people, both military (from both sides) as well as civilians caught up in the events. At the back of the book are several pages listing all the people he interviewed, what they did during the war, and their occupation/location at the time he interviewed them for the book. If you do read it, Kafka, I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
Starskin, I read Alicia: My Story when I was a teenager. I haven't read it in years, but yeah, when I think about it I remember certain passages or events from the book....I've read a fair amount of Holocaust books. The most recent was Escape From Sobibor which was fascinating, about a successful prisoner break out from a death camp. The account of their escape and aftermath was very interesting, but also the author's attempt to analyze the effect the experiences had on the survivors later in their lives (I think he interviewed them in the late 70's or early 80's) was interesting, too.

[monkey]

Ryan's A Bridge Too Far and The Last Battle are also very worthwhile - especially the latter, which concerns the battle for Berlin.

[Deleted]

However, I finally finished Vimy by Pierre Berton. I realize that he's usually scoffed at by a lot of my friends who are history, but I think that he's very good at delving deep enough into history to provide a very precise picture, but doesn't become too involved to make it boring or too general to make it stupid. He's actually the author that sparked my interest in Canadian history and Canada in general, it wasn't really a subject I thought or cared about until I was in university.

I'm a history person and I like Pierre Berton quite a lot. I find that his books have a good mix of information and human experience. It's not just policies, events and facts and figures. It's entertaining reading. I have The Great Depression 1929-1939 sitting beside me right now, and have read Marching As To War, Vimy and The National Dream. Next on my list is Prisoners of the North.

[kafka]

stargirl said:

The most recent was Escape From Sobibor which was fascinating

I have to echo the comments about this book, which I thought was very good. Stargirl, thanks for the additional information on The Longest Day.

Monkey, I asked my friend and the books were:
1) The much praised biography of Philby, Pere et Fils, which discusses his famous, legendary father is: "Treason in the blood : H. St. John Philby, Kim Philby, and the spy case of the century," by Anthony Cave Brown. A summary from CHOICE reviews:

H.A.R. "Kim" Philby is generally regarded as one of the most remarkable double agents in the 20th century. No serious book on Cold War espionage fails to mention Philby in its index. Although it is difficult to write much that is new regarding Philby, the subject of this work is an innovative dual biography of Philby and his father, Harry St. John Bridger Philby. According to the author, the one thread running through both of their lives is an opposition to the establishment into which they were born and in which they were expected to find their place. The elder Philby, who was regarded as a brilliant Arabist, became a Moslem and a political advisor to King Ibn Saud. He played a leading role in the US acquisition of the Saudi oil concession. Kim threw in his lot with the Soviet Union and became a leading double agent, working against the Anglo-American intelligence services for almost 53 years. The work is based on the author's personal encounters with Kim Philby, whom he met in Beirut in the late 1950s. It is amply documented with several interviews, the private papers of both Philbys, selected photographs, and assorted KGB memoranda.

2) The private life of Kim Philby : the Moscow years, by Rufina Philby, Mikhail Lyubimov and Hayden Peake. Rufina was Philby's wife. From a description I found on the library site from Publisher's Weekly:

This compendium of Philbiana contains a memoir of his life in Russia by his fourth wife, Philby's recollections of his recruitment by Soviet intelligence, and a bibliography with commentary on Philby books published since he inaugurated their proliferation with his guarded memoir, My Silent War (1968). The sheer quantity of the Philby oeuvre, which indicates enduring fascination with the Soviet superspy, constitutes this volume's major recommendation. For Western readers to whom Philby is a loathesome traitor, much malicious pleasure awaits in wife Rufina's account. After defecting in 1963, Philby, expecting to be lionized by his Soviet masters, was instead suspected and surveilled by them. Rufina describes his scarred wrists, the legacy of a suicide attempt; his piscine drinking habits; and his general dilapidation until the KGB began tossing him some work in the 1970s.

As for the Holocaust, if anyone is interested in more historical analysis than the brilliant Primo Levi's works, let me know. I focused heavily on the SS in university and part of my thesis concerned the death camp guards, so I've got a ton of Holocaust books. The best would have to be by Arno Mayer or Lucy Davidowitz (incorrect spelling, I'm sure, but it's close and I don't have the book in front of me at the moment).

[dancedancexenu]

snowberry said:

I'm a history person and I like Pierre Berton quite a lot. I find that his books have a good mix of information and human experience. It's not just policies, events and facts and figures. It's entertaining reading. I have The Great Depression 1929-1939 sitting beside me right now, and have read Marching As To War, Vimy and The National Dream. Next on my list is Prisoners of the North.

I really enjoyed Prisoners of the North. The people he chronicled threw me off at first (the only one I'd heard of was Lady Franklin), but the book just sucked me in. I read Morris Zaslow's The Opening of the North because of it.

[Deleted]

I have to share the love for Tuchman's works, and I want to add "The March of Folly" as a particularly relevant entry. Why do nations continue to pursue policies that are clearly not working as they hoped? From the introduction discussing the Trojan Horse as an archetype, to the discussions of the Renaissance Papacy, the British colonial policy that lead to the American Revolution, and the Vietnam War, the implications for today's American foreign policy are quite interesting.

I'll also recommend Simon Schama's "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution" as a readable, engaging, wide-ranging account of the events of the time, complete with an appropriate number of illustrations given its incorporation of an understanding of the importance of French art in the proceedings ("Tennis Court Oath", "Marat: Assassinated", etc.). For anyone left wanting more than just empty calories after watching Kiki and Sophia's recent version, this work gives a wonderfully accessible (though quite lengthy) insight into the period.

[aiders]

I'll also recommend Simon Schama's "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution" as a readable, engaging, wide-ranging account of the events of the time, complete with an appropriate number of illustrations given its incorporation of an understanding of the importance of French art in the proceedings ("Tennis Court Oath", "Marat: Assassinated", etc.). For anyone left wanting more than just empty calories after watching Kiki and Sophia's recent version, this work gives a wonderfully accessible (though quite lengthy) insight into the period.

Just popping in to reccomend Schama's An Embarassment of Riches about the Dutch golden age. I'm an art historian and I used this book, among others, to work on a mock exhibition about drunks, whores, and gamblers in Dutch genre paintings. Anyway, it's a fabulous book and Schama has an incredible writing skill- very engaging and not dry at all.