History/Current Affairs books thread.

[Lim till i die]

Might be a good one to get going like the football books one elsewhere on the forum??

I'll get the ball rolling with four I've been busily ploughing through:

http://lh35.dnsireland.com/~forth/images/uploads/Lostrev.jpg

Bloody good read and a real eye opener especially for someone like me who apparently has some tight lipped Sticks knocking around the family. Very, very interesting.

http://nafkamina.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/fisk.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6sk8xyci594/S1S2YwAyTnI/AAAAAAAAAjM/A9A0KZ_4B1w/s400/0192801309.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Pretty essential stuff for anyone who's into the middle east, the likes of Fisk are getting rarer and rarer unfortunately.

[Lim till i die]

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1843545861.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Hitchens can be a bit of a prig but it's a good read to bring on a flight or whatever.

[Eminence Grise]

1762

A reasonably short reassessment of the relationship between the two jurisdictions on the island in the inter-war period. It's provocative in looking at some of the shibboleths of unionism and nationalism. While it’s well researched, at times it reads almost like a philosophical mediation on a troubled history rather than a historical treatise. Strongly recommended background reading before posting on eligibility threads...

Out of print, unfortunately, but second hand copies are floating around.

[culloty82]

Have only read the second volume yet, but enjoyed Patrick Geoghegan's "Liberator" book on Daniel O'Connell - if you listen to his Sunday evening radio show, it's wriiten in similar style, in that all the academic details are present and correct, but the informality of his writing flow makes it accessible to the average reader.

Should also include "The Battle for Spain" by Anthony Beevor - not a one-nighter, but essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Spanish Civil War, also explaining the baffling array of political organisations at the time. Appropriately, the FAI prove to be the Federation of Spanish Anarchists!

[superfrank]

Well said on The Battle For Spain. It's a great book. I really enjoyed it.

Another good one on the SCW is Hugh Thomas' one, I think it's called The Spanish Civil War. It's even longer than Beevor's one but there's much more detail and it is more rounded, although there's stuff in Beevor's that isn't in Thomas'.

I really enjoyed two books by Mike Dash. One was "Thugee" about the thugs in India. It is fascinating. The other one is "Batavia's Graveyard" which is about a Dutch ship that ran aground near Australia sometime in the 18th century. The story itself is unbelievable.

Not entirely sure if it falls into the category but I thought Noel Browne's autobiography was very good and gave some insight into the characters of Irish politics in the 50s and 60s.

[thischarmingman]

*Robert Fisk book*

One of my favourite writer/journalists. I read Pity the Nation in Lebanon last year, and TGWFC just before I left and throughly enjoyed them. The latter in particular is just so unrelenting in it's grimness that it just leaved you amazed at some of the things that have gone on in the Middle East. It continually astonished me- I knew zilch about Algeria and what had happened there.

Having listened/heard him on TV/radio/Youtube and read interviews with him, he comes across a bit arrogant and somewhat cantenkerous but then I suppose these things aer earned and he's certainly done that.

This mammoth book is a good follow-on from his:

A Choice Of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-Enemies-America-Confronts-Middle/dp/0753825880/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306493276&sr=1-8) (less than a fiver from the "24 new" link)

Have only read the second volume yet, but enjoyed Patrick Geoghegan's "Liberator" book on Daniel O'Connell - if you listen to his Sunday evening radio show, it's wriiten in similar style, in that all the academic details are present and correct, but the informality of his writing flow makes it accessible to the average reader.

Had him as a tutor for two years at college and he's one of the most engaging, funny, and imaginative tutors I've had. He's very much in the 'informal' mould.

[cheifo]

Thanks for that Superfrank. When I was young'un I worked with Mike Dash in London. Didn't know he went on to be a successful writer.

He was a mine of incredible information back then and his Books look interesting.

[Closed Account 2]

Eastward to Tartary and Imperial Grunts both by Robert Kaplan are very good, especially the first.

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides is probably the best book I've read in the last 10 years. It's about the American West / Indian Wars and is well worth reading if you have any interest in that subject.

Stasiland (about the DDR secret police) is pretty good too, by Anna Funder.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreichis good and worth reading if you ever consider working in America