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Best history books of the year 2015

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  • 13-12-2015 2:21pm
    #1
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,703 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    For the year that was, what would posters' choices be for the best history books (fiction/non-fiction) that they read during the year: so would not have to have been published this year.
    Or else publications own list of year's best?

    The book I enjoyed most would be "The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia" by Peter Hopkirk which ironically at times read like the current news headlines.

    History Today's 2015 list is:
    http://www.historytoday.com/history-today/books-year-2015


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    #2
    lawdylawd
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭lawdylawd


    Amazed nobody replied to this at all. Here are my thoughts-

    Peiresc's Mediterranean World by P. Miller
    A great reconstruction of the republic of letters during the seventeenth century. We think we are wordly today?

    Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World by N. Malcolm
    Again, set in the seventeenth century med and more concerned with the world of spies and corsairs.

    Hope they add to any lists you have!


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    #3
    Dr.Nightdub
    Registered Users Posts: 108 ✭✭Dr.Nightdub


    Brian Barton's book on the Belfast Blitz is a staggering feat of research, drawing on northern, British and Luftwaffe sources, plus extensive interviews with ARP wardens, firemen and others who lived through it. Superb.


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    #4
    lawdylawd
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭lawdylawd


    That sounds very good, I didn't realise Belfast had a 'blitz' I presumed it was just the odd sortie? Must find out more. Can I also recommend,
    The Lost World of Byzantium – J. Harris. Again a Meditterranean based book, this time shedding light on a rather neglected area. Fascinating.


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    #5
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,216 ✭✭✭bobbyss


    Have started The War of the Roses by Trevor Royle. So far so good. I tried his book on the Crimea but I ran out of steam. He tends to get bogged down in detail. He is very wordy. Very little humour. What I find infuriating is that there is no royal tree to guide you. Richard 11 had so many uncles. I have to make one up as I go along. I will finish it this year so it will count as a book read in 2015! Anyone read him?


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    #6
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,216 ✭✭✭bobbyss


    lawdylawd wrote: »
    Amazed nobody replied to this at all. Here are my thoughts-

    Peiresc's Mediterranean World by P. Miller
    A great reconstruction of the republic of letters during the seventeenth century. We think we are wordly today?

    Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World by N. Malcolm
    Again, set in the seventeenth century med and more concerned with the world of spies and corsairs.

    Hope they add to any lists you have!

    The Malcolm book sounds interesting. What is a corsair?


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    #7
    glued
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,446 ✭✭✭glued


    bobbyss wrote: »
    The Malcolm book sounds interesting. What is a corsair?

    A corsair is a bucaneer or a pirate.


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    #8
    Jellybaby1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    I asked for and received, two books concerned with Irish history, for Christmas. I haven't started one, but the other, has disappointed as I and other family members began to read it over the Christmas and we discovered several spelling and grammatical errors before we got more than a few pages in. Bad form for an Irish publisher. I'm so annoyed over it.


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    #9
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,216 ✭✭✭bobbyss


    Jellybaby1 wrote: »
    I asked for and received, two books concerned with Irish history, for Christmas. I haven't started one, but the other, has disappointed as I and other family members began to read it over the Christmas and we discovered several spelling and grammatical errors before we got more than a few pages in. Bad form for an Irish publisher. I'm so annoyed over it.

    Which books did you ask for?
    Which book disappointed?


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    #10
    Jellybaby1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    I don't think I should mention the bad one anyway as it wouldn't be fair to the author. It's the publisher's fault. When I read the other one I will report it.


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    #11
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,216 ✭✭✭bobbyss


    Jellybaby1 wrote: »
    I don't think I should mention the bad one anyway as it wouldn't be fair to the author. It's the publisher's fault. When I read the other one I will report it.

    Many reviews in newspapers etc regularly report similar issues to yours often claiming they have done a disservice to the author.
    I often wonder what the job of a proofreader is.


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    #12
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,646 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    Jellybaby1 wrote: »
    I don't think I should mention the bad one anyway as it wouldn't be fair to the author. It's the publisher's fault. When I read the other one I will report it.

    No harm in sending the publisher an email though. Money's been spent and the author/reader deserve better.

    I'll probably be jumped on but what do people think of Joe Duffy's book: The Children of 1916.

    I haven't read it but am interested in reviews from actual readers rather than newspapers. It's a worthy topic.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



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