Historical Historians

[dnewhous]

An excellent topic that it so much easier to discuss in the Kindle era.  There are 3 historical historians, now 10, that I know about especially relevant to this forum.

Edward Gibbon - The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  I found his name frequently when reading about current events when I was in highschool.  Orignally in English.  By an Englishman.

Saint Gregory of Tours - A History of the Franks.  Disappointing.  Modern material is better.  Specifically, The Dark Ages and Clovis.  Originally in Latin

Seutonius - The Lives of the Twelve Caesars - this is a historical work as well and I have no idea when it was first published in English.  It dates from the 2nd century.  Originally in Latin

Herodotus - The Histories.  About ancient Greece before the fall of Athens in the Peloponnesian War.  His name is very famous and I've known it since I was a child.  His name appears in the game Civilization and its sequels along with several variations on it partly as a running gag that produces rankings in various metrics for each civilization as the game progresses.  In fact, the running gag depends heavily on how well you do.  If you do really well you'll get a list of civilizations written by Herodotus or say, Bill Clinton.  If you do badly, you get something like Ryu-odotus.   

Originally in ancient Greek

Herodotus does not claim that Etruscans came from Asia Minor.

Thucyides - History of the Peloponnesian War.  Originally in ancient Greek.

Edited March 27, 2021 by dnewhous

[guy]

Would you include Jordanes on your list? He wrote in around 551 AD Getica (De origine actibusque Getarum --The Origin and Deeds of the Getae [Goths]). Although I have not read this, it is supposed to be an excellent source of information on the Goths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getica

 

Book:

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html

 

 

For me, the best and most readable ancient historian is Ammianus Marcellinus:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammianus_Marcellinus

 

Book:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/home.html

Edited November 1, 2020 by guy

[dnewhous]

🙂

Isn't there an old Roman ethic that historians should stick to res publica or something like that?

Plutarch - Parallel Lives.  First Century.  Greece of late antiquity during the Pax Romana.  The height of the power of the Roman empire.  Plutarch is wiki'd as a biographer (Britannica as well) rather than a historian.  Originally written in Koine Greek.

Dio Cassius - The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus.  Originally written in Latin.

Peter Brown - the World of Late Antiquity.  I didn't know about this one until I wiki'd late antiquity not knowing exactly what it referred to.  He is a modern historian exploring what we call the Dark Ages.  Originally in English.

Eric H Cline - 1177 BC the year civilization collapsed - an exclamation point to the end of Mycenean Greece.  I didn't think we'd ever know exactly when it came to an end, but why not?  That would be the end of what most people consider the ancient world.  Originally in English.

Procopius - The Secret History  The story of Justinian's reign.  Originally in Koine Greek.

Ian Wood - the Merovingian Kings - covers neither Clovis I nor Charlemagne, so it's not that interesting.  It's really missing Merovich, Childeric I, Clovis I, the book as is, Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and his 3 sons.  That puts the timeline from the namesake of the line through the end of the Carolingian Empire, in 816, as seen by the Catholic church.  Originally in English

Geoffrey of Monmouth - The History of the Kings of Britain - AFAIK this is the original story of king Arthur included.  Written in the 12th century, in Welsh.  It appears he is an Angle?  He is fighting the Saxons in Britain.  There's no Excalibur or anything really exciting.

As an added bonus, I'd like to provide the definition of history from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

History, the discipline that studies the chronological record of events (as affecting a nation or people), based on a critical examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes.

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by dnewhous

[dnewhous]

There are a few other titles that have shown up

The History of Rome - Titus Livius (Early history of Rome)

The Histories - Polybius (Third Macedonian War - with Rome)

Hannibal - Livy (History of the Second Punic War)

The Conquest of Gaul - Julius Caesar 

The -->Histories<-- Annals - Cornelius Tacitus (downfall of Nero)  this can be found under two different titles.   The Oxford version has the author's full name and I'm sure is the right title. 

The Civil Wars - Appian (through Trajan)

Remember, for a book to be legitimate, it has to have an ASIN number, an ISBN number, and maybe a CDRL (contract data requirements list) number.

ASIN numbers are broader than ISBN.  According to the wikipedia, ASIN numbers are Amazon?  I remember them older than ISBN numbers.

I think ISBN numbers are Swiss.

ICCN numbers are library of congress numbers and they are somewhat rare.  They can be accepted or rejected after being assigned a number.  Rejected books can be rejected simply on the basis of historical mispellings, like mispelling Alulim, the first king.

There is a quik I do remember about CDRL numbers.  A textbook with a CDRL number is indicative of a problematic classroom. 

A CDRL number means, otherwise, that your customer wants to catalog your work.  There is some confusion.  A request for a CDRL number from a customer means they want to pay you more money.

I don't know of any book with 3 identifying numbers that include the ICCN and not the CDRL.

I think CDRL means contract to complete by the government.  It means it's a government contract book.

When the book has a rejected ICCN number, it is considered fraudulent material.

Looking over these books it looks like the Pax Romana wasn't much of a Pax Romana.  It looks like the civil wars didn't end until Hadrian, the 3rd of the 5 good emperors.

I would start with the History of Rome, because the Battle of Orders really shaped the world's socioeconomic structure more than anything since.  What they were missing, and I think is missing from Asian culture, is a class of people who were affluent but not wealthy.  Above middle class without the authority to dispense their own justice.  I suppose in a western sense is what it did was create the upper middle class, which is what the Clinton era gave us.  Weird jokes about teenage girls having trouble finding the keys to the family SUV were indicative of the era.

There are an absurd number of variations for Plutarch.  What matters is Parallel Lives.  Right title, right author.

Edited February 10, 2022 by dnewhous

[dnewhous]

Here's a summary in time order:

Caveman by Jeffrey W Tenney see Caveman and 1,000,000 BC. 

The Agricultural Revolution by Graeme Barker

Stonehenge: A New Understanding by Mike Parker Pearson, originally it was apparently Pinehenge.

 

Sumerian Mythology, Matt Clayton. (2019) // Eridu was once considered the first city, now its Çatalhöyük

Eridu by the Charles River Editors (2017)

The Oxford History of ancient Egypt Ian Shaw (2000)

The Holy Bible(Christian) // Abraham is supposed to have migrated about 2000 BC.  Migrated from Ur of the Caldeans.  Which means they are saying Babylon was the ruler of the city, not Sumeria.  The city is the site of the Epic of Gilgamesh.  

The Iliad by Homer - this story is set in 20th century BC, and it has taken a long time to place it.  King Agamemnon is supposed to be Perseus and has united Greece under Mycenae, whereas before the high king was in Crete.   This is probably the 3rd layer of Troy.

1177 BC - Eric H Cline (2014) This is the bridge between classical and ancient Greece.  There is a controversy over the years of the bronze age v the years of the iron age.  If you say the iron age started in 1500 BC, it's hard to describe Greece before 1177 BC.  If you say the iron age starts at 1177 BC, there is a clear division.  But I do recall the clear division is supposed to be 1174 BC.

// Tanakh (jewish) does not include Abraham's migration, it does include the enslavement of jews which is 400 years before the exodus.

//729 BC - the year of the Exodus

The History by Herodotus translation by David Greene of the Greco-Persian Wars (2010) translation first done in 1987 by the University of Chicago, Written in 430 BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek from the Wikipedia. 

Thermopylae 480 BC: Last Stand of the 300 by Nic Fields // The extent of the Persian victory is not clear.   I believe Nic Fields is an alias for "Ian McDiarmid," our friend the Roman emperor Hadrian.

Salamis 480 BC: The Athenians take to their ships on the advice of the Oracle of Delphi.   Looking like wimps.

Platea 479 BC:  The Athenians somehow get their city back. 

 

Pericles and the Conquest of History by Loren J Samons // a man who cut both ways

//475 BC - the reign of Kind David of Israel

The Battle of Marathon by Peter Krentz // The outcome of this battle is the beginning of the Athenian Golden Age.  Wasn't sure what described the time period between Pericles and the Peloponnesian War

History of the Peloponnesian War Thucyides // The fall of Athens to Sparta

The Roman Republic by Charles River Editors (2019)

A History of the Pyrrhic War by Patrick Alan Kent (2019)

Hannibal - Livy 

The Histories - Polybius (translated 2010) this is the authentic work titled "The Histories" according to Britannica.  Commensurate with the 3rd Macedonian War.  Now the summary looks like the 3rd Punic War.

The Crisis of Rome by Gareth C Sampson (2010)

The Conquest of Gaul - Julius Caesar (veni, vidi, vici) "I came, I saw, I conquered."  Commemorated in Ghostbusters. 

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland (2007) // The HBO series Rome should take after this more than any other book.

The History of Rome - Titus Livius This falls somewhere between Julius Caesar and Octavian.

The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus by Dio Cassius  The birth of Christ is here.  Also, the historical event of commissioning a census to discover the birthplace of the mother of God succeeded.  I have also heard that 93% of Europe's cities were founded, with the funding being in excess for every one.  Especially Vienna.  Vienna have tried to return their gold to Rome over 3000 times because of his decision.  The census is in Jesus of Nazareth.  The "divine Augustus" they refer to is Octavius Caesar.  The Romans agree to provide king Herod with amelioration for his people because of the effort the census.  What you need to understand is, Mary signed the role book in exactly the same alphabet that I am using to type this sentence.

"The Birth of Jesus Christ LUKE 2 In those days  la decree went out from  mCaesar Augustus that all the world should be  nregistered. 2This was the first  nregistration when [1] Quirinius  owas governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up  pfrom Galilee, from the town of  qNazareth, to Judea, to  rthe city of David, which is called  sBethlehem,  tbecause he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, [2] who was with child. 6And  twhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and  uwrapped him in swaddling cloths and  vlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in  wthe inn."

Bibles, Crossway. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (with Cross-References) (p. 3969). Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition.

In the NIV study bible, the word is "census"

1In those days Caesar Augustusa issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.b 2( This was the first census that took place while1 Quirinius was governor of Syria.) c 3And everyone went to their own town to register. Chart: Main Roman Emperors of the New Testament Period 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehemd the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to hime and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Zondervan,. NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (p. 7361). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

This is the period in history known as the Pax Romana,

14“ Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peacel to those on whom his favor rests.”

Zondervan,. NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (p. 7361). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

Octavian is named "Octavius Caesar" in the Shakespeare plays Julius Ceasar and Antony and Cleopatra.  His real life name is James Harold Day.

All the Hollywood Julius Caesar movies are based on the play Julius Caesar but one, which is based on the Conquest of Gaul, which I do not see available anymore.  Movies based on Antony and Cleopatra tend to be named simply "Cleopatra" and are a looser adaptation.  No Shakespearean dialog like in a Charlton Heston movie.

Caligula by the History Hour,  emperor famous for hedonism.  The son of Tiberius, the emperor when Jesus was crucified.

The Annals - Cornelius Tacitus The Oxford version has the original author's full name and I'm sure is the right title. 

The Civil Wars by Appian 

Parallel Lives by Plutarch (2014) // 1st century Greek historian.  There appears to be two different Plutarchs or something very wrong with authorship.  The Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives is also credited to a "Plutarch" but that would be 1st century BC.  This is supposed to be a discussion of his friends' lives at the height of the Pax Romana.  ????

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Seutonius 

Nero by Margaret George (2 books)  // Watch movie Quo Vadis.  Also see software Nero burning ROM.

// I'm being political by calling these history books.  There is a short story about Nero I am trying to find.  He supposedly rescued Trajan as a kidnap victim.

Trajan by Nicholas Jackson (2022) // They say he still is still the bishop of Paris and you may meet him if you go to Notre Dame.

Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire by Mary T Boatwright (2000) // Princeton Press designates this as the height of the empire, more or less

Pox Romana by Colin Elliott (2024) // The reign of Marcus Aurelius marks what is generally seen as the last of the "good emperors."

The Golden Legend (2015) circa 1266 This story includes the legend of saint George killing a dragon.  It should be placed in late antiquity.  setting for The Pick of Destiny backstory

Constantine the Great by John B Firth (2007)

the World of Late Antiquity by Peter Brown (1971)

Alaric the Goth Douglas Boin (2020)

The White Stag by Kate Seredy (1979) // Newberry Award winner

City of God by Saint Augustine (2012)  This is a historical work and not just a philosophical one

Perceval: The Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes // historical fiction but points out the important notion that Gawain rescued the grail.  And it's gold.  Some say it should be described as "bismuth."  Also see "Gawain and the Green Knight" because he is supposed to be the first knight of Camelot.  The modern equivalent of "bismuth" is "pewter" which is an alloy of bismuth and tin.

The Dark Ages by Charles Oman (2017) original publication 1898, defines the dark ages as the deposition of Romulus Augustus until the reign of Hugh Capet.  The dark ages as a historical phenomenon typically ends with the reign of Charlemagne.

From Roman to Merovingian Gaul by Alexander Calendar Murray (2008) - this goes back to Gennobaudes.

The Merovingians by Gregory of Tours.  Translated by Alexander Calendar Murray (2006)  This starts with Merovich and ends early, before the union of the Franks under Theodric III. 

A History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (2010) This reveals Clovis I was married before he was baptized.

Clovis History of the Founder of the Frank Monarchy (2017)

The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard.  Written contemporaneously.  Mayor of the Palace was his original adult title.  It also uses the word "accession" which is a very good word to use.  It means either inheritance of a title when your father dies or promotion by the Roman emperor himself.  But that's not a proper use of the term, the emperor is not supposed to do that.  Peerage law would probably prohibit it.  The thing is, the Merovingian kings died out.  By comparing the names to the Ostrogothic Roman allies it looks like they were chosen to inherit with Hugh Capet onwards.

The Secret History by Procopius covers Justinian, the Sack of Rome (546) by Ostrogoths, who had helped Byzantium face Clovis I, and the construction of the Hagia Sophia.

History of the Britons (2017) originally published 1963

Alfred the Great, (king of Wessex) (1983) originally published 1983 reprinted 2004

Aethelstan, the First King of England (2011) by Sarah Foot

Aethelred the Unready (2016) reign: 978 to 1013

Harold - the Last of the Saxon Kings by Edward B Lytton (2019)

Cnut the Great by Timothy Bolton

William the Conqueror (1964) by David C Douglas

The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth (this translation first published in 1966) c. 1136 original publication

Feudalism (???) by wikipedia, publication unknown.

The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (2006) origin: 1002

Eleanor of Aquitaine by Hourly History  A chance for the French to unite their country,

Chronicles of the First Crusade by Chrisopher Tyerman (2011)

The Templars by Mike Haag.  (2009)

The Knights Templar by Conrad Bauer (2 books)

Crusades by Conrad Bauer

The Teutonic Knights by Conrad Bauer

The Knights Hospitaler by Conrad Bauer

The Knights Hospitaler by Helen Nicholson (2019) circa 1113, commensurate setting Kingdom of Heaven

King Stephen (2011) reign: 1135 to 1154 inspired The Pillars of the Earth

The Fall of Constantinople by Edwin Pears

The Life and Times of Adelard of Bath by Simon Webb.//  This has been recently reclassified as nonfiction.

The Twelfth Century Rennaissance by Alex J Novikoff (2017) Now that Adelard has been reclassified as nonfiction, if the rennaissance started in the 12th century, then the next age is the age of discovery with Christopher Columbus.

The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade by Peter W Edbury (1998) // See "Kingdom of Heaven"  This story covers Saladin's conquest of Jerusalem so it happens just before the third crusade by King Richard I.

The History of the Holy War by Marianne Ailes (2011) 

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (2020) // After spending some time reading Robin Hood with different authors I finally remembered that the authentic book is Ivanhoe.  13th century

Secret History of the Mongols by Arthur Waley, cited by Tom Toles for parody "Went Too Far"

The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo (original publication 1298, modern translation 1874)// He visited the court of Kublai Khan, the Chinese emperor.

The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane by Beatrice Forbes Manz (the first Ottoman emperor?)

An inscription over the door of the Gur Amir, Tamerlane's mausoleum in Samarkand, denotes his reputation: "This is the resting place of the illustrious and merciful monarch, the most great sultan, the most mighty warrior, Lord Timur, conqueror of the earth."

Sultan = Ottoman

whose inscription on his tomb says, "Whoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I."

Stier, Roy. Tamerlane: A Historical Account of The World's Ultimate Warrior . Timeless Voyager Press. Kindle Edition.

This is called the Curse of Timur's Tomb or the Curse of Tamerlane.

The Hanseatic League by Helen Zimmern // the beginning of the German duchies, subjugated to Austria

Chronicles of the Crusades by Jean de Joinville (2019) c 1309 (the 7th, French led crusade)

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.  Reportedly recovered from the monastery of Melk.  Hollywood dates at 1327.  The miniseries differs in that the two main characters are clearly nobility, and not mere monks or priests.

Wars of Scottish Independence by Hourly History, commensurate setting: Braveheart

The Taheiki by Helen Craig McCullough (2004)  // Japanese epic

Decameron (2015) by Giovanni Boccaccio Norton library version

The Black Death by Philip Ziegler

Summer of Blood by Dan Jones (2009)

Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights by Stephen Turnbull

The Fall of Constantinople by Charles River Editors

The  Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser (1993) // see "The Other Boleyn Girl"

Joan of Arc by Helen Castor (2015)

The Hundred Years War by Hourly History

African Samurai by Thomas Lockley (2019)

Richard III (published 1981) (reign 1452-1485) commensurate setting: Richard III, a Shakespeare play.  Richard I was the Lionheart on the third crusade.  These facts are generally confused.  The true story of Robin Hood, however, goes here.

Reconquista by Charles River Editors

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon (1776) - frequently cited by The New Republic

Wars of the Roses by Hourly History

The Spanish Inquisition by Joseph Perez

Martin Luther by Hourly History

Quick Guide to the Sistine Chapel by Donato Lecce

Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen  // age of discovery begins here, movie: 1492

Anne and Charles and Anne and Louis series by Rozsa Gaston (4 books)

The Reformation by Owen Chadwick (1964)

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen   // This is the most important book of all.

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (2019) // They made a triumvirate of Hollywood movies.  This is about the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate

Ivan the Terrible by History Hour

The Copernican Revolution by Thomas S Kuhn .// Copernicus came before Galileo

Galileo by Mitch Stokes

The Thirty Years War by Richard Bonney // Germany is still stuck with Austrian rule

The Sun King by Nancy Mitford // Louis XIV, listen to the Sun King by The Cult

The Enemy at the Gate by Andrew Wheatcroft  // Muslim invasion of Europe, allies led by Austria at the time

The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness by Ritchie Robertson

Pocahontas: A Life from Beginning to End by Hourly History (this is an authentic painting of her)

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Charleston and the Golden Age of Piracy by Christopher Byrd Downey (2013) commensurate setting Pirates of the Caribbean, also, see Tales from the Pirates Cove.

Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard

Black Flag of the North: Bartholomew Roberts, king of the Atlantic Pirates by Victor Suthren

Blackbeard by Samuel Marquis

The Glorious Revolution by Brian Best

They Knew they Were Pilgrims by John G Turner first Thanksgiving, after Addams Family Values parody I looked for something on this specifically

Fur, Fortune, and Empire by Eric Jay Dolin

The Last Spanish Armada by Jonathan D Oates

The War of Austrian Succession by MS Anderson

The Seven Years War in Europe by Franz AJ Szabo  // this is Prussian independence

French and Indian War by Hourly History

The Modern Scholar: The Life and Times of Ben Franklin by Professor HW Brands  (2008)

Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry by Harlow Giles Unger (2010)

Sons of Liberty by Charles River Editors (2012)

John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot by Harlow Giles Unger.  A lot of wikipedia stuff comes from this.  

American Revolutions: A continental History by Alan Taylor (2 time winner of the pulitzer prize)

// My mind got hung up on the name "Barry Whitlock" which I can't find.  There are 3 things you need to understand to figure out who the first president is, the presidential seal, which they don't have a complete write up on the wikipedia, a "working constitution," and a "provisional constitution."

If the British want a vote I think the first president is "Samuel Adams" during the revolutionary war.  Because he is the first president under the first "provisional constitution."  That's what I answered on the AP American history exam.  I don't know if I got it right.

A Handsome Flogging by William R Griffith, see movie: The Crossing

Southern Gambit by Stanley DM Carpenter

The Hurricane's Eye by Nathaniel Philbrick

The American Revolution by Gordon S Wood (1993) // historian winning pulitzer prize

Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism  by Joel Richard Paul (2022)

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow winner of pulitzer prize for this book and best American book award as well, career journalist with a literature degree from Yale/Cambridge.

John Adams by David McCullough (1993) // Pulitzer prize winning and basis of HBO mini-series, David McCullough was an American historian

Thomas Jefferson: Author of America by Christopher Hitchens (2009)

Father of the Constitution: A Story about James Madison by Barbara Mitchell (2003)

George III: America's Last King (2008) reign: 1760 to 1820

Marie Antoinette by Hourly History

The French Revolution by Ian Davidson

The Scientific Revolution by Steven Shapin

Napolean Bonaparte by The History Hour.  This describes the coronation as French emperor.  The coronation as Italian king is mentioned but hardly mentioned.  It is a tie-in to Les Miserables.Dolly Madison - Influential Women in History by Anon 

The War that Forged a Nation by Walter R Borneman (2005)

Eagle of the Seas: The Story of Old Ironsides by Bruce Grant (2018)  // Old IronSides can also be used for the first armoed division; the USS Constitution can also be called the Eagle of the Sea

The Burning of the White House by Jane Hampton Cook (2016)

// Dolly Madison rescued the artwork of the white house and also served children ice cream - which turn out to be the most interesting facts of the War of 1812.  My mind is flagging this as really important - I think she sends a secret letter to the prime minister detailing exactly why the War of 1812 is starting.  She was a British spy.

She invented ice cream, not sherbert. 

I think the king wrote her back and told her to save her husband's life and when to get out before the British came.  Henry Madison noted there was a redcoat helping.  He thinks it was the king.

Star Spangled Banner by Marc Ferris // This should include the story of the English king granting a royal proclamation granting the United States freedom of the seas.

Tom Pocock's History of Nelson // 7 books.  I've heard of the Battle of Trafalgar but Barry Longyear seams obsessed with this admiral.

Wellington: Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace by Rory Muir (2020) // Les Miserable indicated we need a book that concentrates on this era.

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick, period piece: Moby Dick

The Second Bank of the Unites States by Jane Ellen Knodell

Trail of Tears by Hourly History

//setting for Zoro movies goes here

Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers by Brian Kilmeade

So Far from God by John SD Eisenhower (the Mexican American War), commensurate setting: How the West was Won (supposed to be initially set in this time period)

Paris Reborn by Stephanie Kirkland // includes the story of Napoleon III

Victoria Victorious by Jean Plaidy

Tecumseh's War by Donald R Hickey

The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman, this is really an autobiography,  era piece: True Grit

The Age of Gold by Grover Gardner,  commensurate setting: Wagons East. 

Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age by Stephen R Platt // You can put Tai-pan about here

Ann and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon // maybe its historical fiction see movie: Anna and the King, the King and I is the title of only the original 1944 movie

Industrial Revolution in World History by Peter N Stearns

The Real Gangs of New York by Wallace Edwards // see period piece Gangs of New York!

Boss Tweed Kenneth D Ackerman (2020)  // Inspired Gangs of New York, Dukes of Hazard, and the Wind in the Willows

The Civil War by Shelby Foote (3 books): Glory, Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Dances with Wolves, Abraham Lincoln

The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta by Marc Wortman: period piece, Gone with the Wind

With Malice Toward None by Stephen B Oates (Abraham Lincoln biography), see movie Birth of a Nation (1915)

Battle Hymn of the Republic by John Stauffer

Ulysses S Grant by Ulysses S Grant

William T Sherman by William T Sherman

The Essential Lewis and Clark by Anthony Brandt

Reconstruction:  A Concise History by Allen C Guelzo

The Transcontinental Railroad by John H Williams

The Chisholm Trail by James E Sherow, see City Slickers

They Died with their Boots On by Thomas Ripley, movie: They Died with their Boots On

The Franco Prussian War by Stephen Badsey  // Germany still not unified

The Last Samurai by Mark Ravina.  This covers the third stage of the Japanese Meiji Restoration, the Satsuma rebellion.  American world history books generally cover the 2nd stage, the Bojin War, which is when the heaviest fighting supposedly occurred.  The first stage, the Bakumatsu, is pooh poohed by American textbooks except for the burning of Kyoto, and better covered by a Shinsengumi movie from Amazon.  There are biographies on Kido Takayoshi and Sakamoto Ryomo, but they are boring compared to what you would really want to read about them.

The Zulu War by Captivating History

Geronimo by Hourly History, commensurate setting: Once Upon a Time in the West // Apache Indian chief, participated in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade

The Statue of Liberty by Edward Berenson

Wounded Knee Massacre by Hourly History, commensurate setting Hidalgo, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Mutiny by Charles River Editors

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow by Richard Wormser

The Klondike Gold Rush by Charles River Editors commensurate setting: Shanghai Knights, documentary: The Klondike Gold Rush

The Sorcerer of Bayreuth by Barry Millington about Richard Wagner, classical composer who wrote "Flight of the Valkyries" giving Adolf Hitler major Vienna envy in "Mein Kampf."

Cold Heart by Kimberly Tilley

The Whitechapel Murders, by Tom Wescott (2 books) commensurate setting: Shanghai Noon, from Hell, Time after Time

Theodore Roosevelt Series (3 books) by Edmund Morris - this series undoubtedly describes the United States at its most hopeful, there's no comparison)  Pulitzer prize winning.  Author is dropped out literature major.

Spanish - American War by Captivating History

The Rough Riders by Mark Lee Gardner

Theodore Roosevelt by Louis Auchincloss, period piece: The Wind and the Lion. 

A classic line from Theodore Roosevelt: "It would be a shame to spoil the beauty of the thing with legality."

Another classic line from Theodore Roosevelt, "Tomorrow I will decide the fate of Morocco.  Right now, I want to be alone with my bear."

America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create a Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent J Cannato, commensurate setting The Godfather Part II

The Great Anglo Boer War by Byron Farwell // here Germany is finally a unified country and surprisingly they 

                                                                             // get their butts kicked by the United Kingdom

Great War Series(2) by Barbara W Tuchman

King Oliver Kings of Jazz by Martin Williams, got going 1915

Russian Revolution by Hourly History

Operation Kronstadt by H Ferguson

Hollywood by Gore Vidal period pieces: LA Confidential, Chinatown.

Paul Whiteman by Don Rayno and William H Youngren career started 1917-1918

Great War Series by Harry Turtledove (3 books), movies with commensurate setting: Seargent York, All Quiet on the Western Front, Hells Angels, 1917, Tolkien

A Prince of Our Disorder by John E Mack about T E Lawrence // pulitzer prize winning biography by psychiatrist; I should check here to make sure that Lawrence was a history and not an archaeology major.  His castle exploration makes more sense for a dissertation or a postdoc, a senior project in history isn't supposed to take that much effort.

The Roaring Twenties by Hourly History movie The Roaring Twenties, Vertigo, Rear Window, and Sunset Boulevard.  The Last flight of Amelia Earheart.  The Great Gatsby.  Some Like it Hot. 

Bloody Valentine by John Fleury period piece Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Road to Perdition

Al Capone by Hourly History same setting as The Untouchables

Black Tuesday by Charles River Editors,

The American People in the Great Depression by David M Kennedy, see The Aviator

The Dust Bowl by Ken Burns, commensurate setting the Grapes of Wrath

Night of the Long Knives by Phil Carradice  // Hitler turns against the brownshirts. 

The Swing Era by Gunther Schuller, commensurate setting: The Glenn Miller Story,

His Way by Kitty Kelly about Frank Sinatra.  Frank Sinatra won a talent contest in 1935.  Commensurate setting: The Godfather.

Straighten Up and Fly Right by Will Friedland setting: Casablanca, Nat King Cole story, career really started 1937

Hoover Dam: An American Adventure by Joseph E Stevens

Adolf Hitler by Hourly History

The Final Solution by David Cesarani

Stalin by Hourly History Tom Toles parody autobiography "Mistakes were Made"

Policing Shanghai by Frederic Wakeman 

The Second World War by Winston S Churchill (6 books)

Tigers on the Road (2 books) by Richard Powell

Shanghai and Nanjing 1937 by Benjamin Lai,

Case of White: The Invasion of Poland by Robert Forczyk

The Defence and Fall of Singapore by Brian Farrell, movie: The Empire of the Rising Sun, now called The Empire of the Sun, the same name as the novel upon which it is based, featuring Christian Bale as a childhood actor.

Battle of Britain by Hourly History

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord, setting Pearl Harbor, Tora Tora

The Fall of the Phillipines by Louis Morton

The Yukon by Joann Robertson commensurate with Alaska Highway, documentary experience - Building the Alaska Highway

Code Talker by Chester Nez period piece: Windtalkers

Into the Valley: the Marines at Guadalcanal by John Hersey, movie Gaudalcanal Diary

Coral Sea 1942: The first Carrier Battle by Mark Stille

Midway 1942: Turning Point in the Pacific by Mark Stille

Operation Torch 1942 by Brian Lane Herder

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig, see The Enemy at the Gates

Salerno 1943: The Allied Invasion of Italy by Angus Konstam

The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan

Operation Market Garden 1944 by Steven J Zaloga, period piece: A Bridge Too Far. 

Battle of the Bulge by Andy Rawson

Battle of Berlin by Hourly History

War As I Knew It by George S Patton, commensurate setting: Patton

Clash of the Carriers by Barrett Tilman

The US Marines on Iwo Jima by James H Hallas

The Manhattan Project by Cynthia C Kelly, period piece: Fat Man and Little Boy

Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Roy Jenkins

Harry S Truman by Robert Dallek

Indianapolis by Lynne Vincent and Sara Vladic

Enola Gay by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank  // see movie: The Diary of Anne Frank

The Nurembourg Tribunal by John Tusa (2016)  // natural law was introduced as a philosophy to fight the Holocaust, not to justify the American Revolution.

The Holocaust: The Human Tragedy by Martin Gilbert relevant movies: The Music Box, Never Forget, Sophie's Choice.

Old Ironsides by the United States Army // story of the US army's firs armored division.  Nickname also used by USS Constitution in the War of 1812.

GI Bill: The New Deal for Veterans by Glenn Altshuler (2011) // cited by some as the origin of the baby boom, officially the "serviceman's readjustment act of 1944"

Exodus by Leon Uris, period piece with Paul Newman's 1960 Exodus (several movies with that title) and Shawshank Redemption

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat commensurate with Never Cry Wolf

The Roswell Crash by Charles River Editors //curiously the crash wasn't in Roswell and it was in 1947.

Korean War by Bruce Cumings, commensurate with MASH

Bearing the Cross by David Garrow // pulitzer prize winner about MLK Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership, author is historian, graduated Wesleyan and Duke university

The Race Beat by Gene Roberts // Pulitzer prize winner, author is journalist

Carry Me Home: the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter // Pulitzer prize winner, released years after issue occurred in 1963  I find the notion of climactic puzzling because it it not even to the Mississippi Burning case yet, author is journalist.  Played Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird."  Graduated Wellesley College in 1974.  Journalism major?

Mississippi Burning Case by Charles River Editors  // See movie "Mississippi Burning"

Selma's Bloody Sunday by Robert A Pratt // Civil rights activist involved with Voting Rights Act of 1965

Ho Chi Minh by William J Duiker

Valley of the Shadow: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu by Kevin Boylan and Luc Oliver

The Way We Were - the Boomer Story by Michael F Kastre (2021) relevant movies: The Way We Were, Touch of Evil.

The Cuban Revolution by Aviva Chomsky period piece with The Godfather Part II

Cuban Missile Crisis by Phil Carradice, commensurate setting Thirteen Days

Algeria: France's Undeclared War (Making of the Modern World) (2011) by Martin Evans commensurate with, The Battle of Algiers, A Film within History

A Day that Changed History by Merriman Smith (1964) // Pulitzer prize winner that is no longer available

Ho Chi Minh Trail by Peter E Davis

Rolling Thunder by Richard P Hallion and Adam Tooby, commensurate setting, Good Morning Vietnam, We Were Soldiers, Hells Angels on Wheels

Tet Offensive by James Arnold, commensurate setting: Platoon

My Lai by Howard Jones,

Operation Linebacker (2 books) by Marshall Michel III, commensurate setting: Air America, Apocalypse Now,

Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust: The Ohio State Football Story by William V Levy (1966)

The Global Sexual Revolution by Gabriele Kuby (2015) // the most important thing to remember is that the Roman soldiers fought for their wives and "you can't give credence to fools."  I think that quote is by Trajan but I'm not sure.  The revolution we needed, carrot and stick, make marriage a sacrament, which is modern,  outlaw abortion,  and...change the welfare state so unwed mothers rather than wed mothers get support, like Europe.  The problem with making sodomy legal is that it has become a social expectation for good students in America that is hard to avoid.  The only way to make it fair I think would be to legalize polygamy.

Kent State by Thomas M Grace

Three Days at Camp David by Jeffrey E Garten

The Lucky Few: The Fall of Saigon by Jan K Herman

The Vietnamese Boat People by Nghia M Vo

No Wider War by Sergio Miller

Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell

The Zodiac Killer by Zed Simpson

The True Events that Inspired the Hunt for Red October by Boris Gindin 

The 1970s by Marcel Ernst

era movies: The Bad News Bears.  Much more salacious than the remake.  The World According to Garp.  Shaft.  Taxi Driver.  Midnight Cowboy (1969), which is close enough.  Detroit Rock CIty.  Star Wars.  Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  I am the Cheese.  Airport,  Airplane.  Live and Let Die.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Moonraker.  Superman

Valley of Genius by Adam Fisher period piece Time after Time,

On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follet, movies: On Wings of Eagles

The Reagan Revolution and the Rise of the New Right by Craig Shirley.  period pieces:   The Secret of My Success.    Transformers, GI Joe.  Terminator. E.T.  Star Trek movies.  Ferris Bueller.  The Terminator.  Beverly Hills Cop.  Jumpin Jack Flash.  Spies Like Us.  Firefox.  Live and Let Die.  Smokey and the Bandit.  The Coca Cola kid.  Wall Street. Wolfen.  Cloak and Dagger - notice the kid doesn't have enough money to buy anything.  Two of a Kind (posits Gene Hackman as God), The Package.  Gotcha.  Octopussy.  Harly Davidson and the Marlboro Man, The Rising Sun, The Living Daylights, City Slickers, Beavis and Butt Head Do America,  Suspect.  Gung Ho.  Witness.

The Outlaw Bank by Jonathan Beaty

Seven Fat Years by Robert L Bartley

Wolfen, The Coca Cola Kid, and Wall Street hit on some of the same themes.   There are 3 points they are making that are deep.  One, it is possible America is not doing the work that it is being credited with.  Two, the British are not as afraid of as you might think because of their diamond reserves in South Africa.  The company's name is De Beers.  National Geographic has written about it without seeing the significance.  Third, who really is running the operations that actually work?  It is not John Galt.  4 - the Navajo are implying that Christ was here before Jamestown.

Inside Job by Stephen Pizzo mocked as "My Five Senators" the movie due to Cracked magazine, I think I remember it's issue 250, the Tales from the Crypt department.

Bill Clinton by Michael Tomasky, commensurate setting: Lord of War, Shatterred Glass, Ciy Slickers II, Heat

Inventing the Feeble Mind by James W Trent

In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam by Robert S McNamara, commensurate setting: Seven Psychopaths

The Truth about Camp David by Clayton E Swisher

Butler's Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler  // The version with him on the cover has the years of the lives of the saints, and so is a superior print.  It must be 20th century.  It may have been originally published betweeen 1756 and 1759, but it has been updated with a 19th century saint.  I really wish I could find the source for "Those who work, those who fight, and those who pray."  This version is really a very recent work.

Brat by Andrew McCarthy (2021)  // The "brat pack" were a group of actors and actresses that were called the "Brat Pack" this is just before the Clinton era started.

Pablo Escobar by Hourly History inspired movie Loving Pablo also inspired documentary "Killing Pablo"

Bush V Gore by Charles L Zelden

The Cybernetics Moment by Ronald R Kline

Big Roads by Earl Swift

The History of Heavy Metal by Andrew O Neil

The Way We Never Were by Stephanie Coontz

Secret Israel by Shakked Beery

Altogether, 1 on Sumeria, 1 on ancient Egypt, 4 books on ancient Greece, 20 on Rome, 22 on France, and 22 on the United Kingdom, 1 on China, 2 on Japan, 2 on Russia, 3 on Spain, and 41 on the United States.

I've put publication dates on the more modern books.

Also, the Secret History is Greek, rather than Roman.  It's the Byzantine empire under Justinian.

The Sellout: How Three Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System by Charles Gasparino (2011)

 

I remember I wish I could join episcopal church back then, Mrs Garland (Japanese American) asked me about that and had the Anglican church choose history books for Stingley.  They were much more difficult then they otherwise would have been and described secrets of history that Americans won't publish.  Yes, that was a deliberate attempt to undermine American democracy.  The two biggest issues would be the 2nd continental congress and Dolly Madison.

Case Closed by Gerald Posner (2013) // A lot of attention when it first appeared in US News a long time ago.  The two things that make people wonder are 1) You have to hold your breath while taking a shot like Lee Harvey Oswald 2) Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald has mob ties.  

With Lee Harvey Oswald captured by the FBI and on TV, why did the mob act rashly?  Was he just pissed or did they sense some danger?

Jack Ruby - conviction of murder overturned on appeal, died before retrial.  The FBI argument - I think - was that he killed a valuable witness.  Do I remember the US marshalls saying he was a valuable witness?  The FBI thinking he was too dumb to be the shooter?  

The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock.(2021)// must have been updated

Edited October 5 by dnewhous

[dnewhous]

Finally, something on primary sources, Primary source - Wikipedia

[caldrail]

The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth (this translation first published in 1966) c. 1136 original publication

Isn't this pushing the definition just a tad? Even academics in Geoffrey's time thought it was rubbish.

[dnewhous]

The wikipedia says

He is best known for his chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain (Latin: De gestis Britonum or Historia Regum Britanniae)^[1] which was widely popular in its day, being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It was given historical credence well into the 16th century,^[2] but is now considered historically unreliable.

 

The biggest problem is that "Uther Pendragon" is the only name we know for Arthur's father and it is absurd, we don't have a real name.  I think there was a missing source.  The wikipedia shows his ancestor as Constantine III.  That may be, but that leaves a lot of people between.  Arthur isn't any earlier than 7th century.  

Edited May 22, 2021 by dnewhous

[caldrail]

Have you ever read it? If you get past the first chapter without falling about laughing please let me know and I'll send an ambulance.

Forget Arthur. He's an amalgam of Iron Age myths, Roman celebrities, Dark Age heroes, and Medieval romances. Uther Pendragon probably isn't any more historical, rather than a literary means to an end (although I must point out that Arthur is typically added in the late 5th and early 6th century. The 7th century is better documented via the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle thus Arthur could not have been that late - don't confuse the Once and Future King with individuals named Arthur in later centuries - there's at least nine of them)

[dnewhous]

King of East Anglia fighting the Saxons in the 7th century.  That's not unreasonable.

Britannica does have an entry for The History of the Kings of Britain.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is by Simon Armitage - that's the historical author, and it is up again on Amazon. 

This is where things get creepy, the man who played Arthur in Camelot is Richard Armitage. 

The movie closest to Le Morte D'Arthur is Excalibur.

Edited May 24, 2021 by dnewhous

[dnewhous]

I think the common argument, IIRC, is that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is considered a historical antecedent and that's where the existence of king Arthur gets its legitimacy.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the movie, does not have a kiss between hero and heroine at the end.  Maybe that's why they made Total Recall.

Had to correct, the oldest source for the UK is the Gododdin poems by Aneurin.  No need for more than one version of the Welsh poems.

The Wife of Bath from the Canterbury Tales is connected to Le Morte d'Arthur somehow and I don't remember how.  The wife of Bath is named Alison.   There is a dragon.  The dragon's name is Mercury.  Le Morte d'Arthur talks about the God Mercury? 

Edited May 28, 2021 by dnewhous

[caldrail]

Gawain and the Green Knight was a 14th century poem, a story, it has no historical antecedent. It follows the normal conventions of medieval romances. I also note that the British Library tells us the poem was anonymous though it may well be he was from Cheshire.

[dnewhous]

Did the dragon eat Lancelot for betraying the king by having sex with the queen?

 

The character Linet is in Le Morte D'Arthur.  So I suppose that means that the movie Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is more from the first chapter of Le Morte D'Arthur.

The study of the Latin alphabet is worth some study, when I was younger it supposedly was missing a 'k' and a 'j' vis a vis our English alphabet.  Now, it is the same thing.  Iulius was Julius after all?

Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings is the last source on world history that I find particularly inspiring to find.  It does give an alternate name for Arthur, Geraint.

Edited May 29, 2021 by dnewhous

[caldrail]

Lancelot is a character invented in the late twelfth century by medieval romance author Chretien Des Troyes (along with Camelot before we get that far). Chretien also invented the Grail as a fictional prop during a scene when the hero, Percival, is at the court of the Fisher-King. He died before the story was finished thus we never find out what the Grail actually was. Later writers made their own versions of the story and connected it to christian mythos to please their audiences, thus the 'Holy Grail' appears, although no such object ever existed. The Church raised no objection, seeing a pagan object find a christian place.

Geraint is a welsh word though by some to be a king of the Dumnonia who was in conflict with the Saxons of Wessex. However, it should be realised that it is also derived from a latin word meaning 'old man'. In any event, the existence of a welsh king called Geraint is not proven, and the connection with Arthur is only one of countless origin theories. 

As lovely as Arthurian myth might be to you, it is not historical and has no more reality than Robin Hood or the Kingdom of Prester John. This is why when you investigate Arthur he evaporates under scrutiny. Perhaps you haven't gotten that far, but trust me, there's nothing substantial.

[dnewhous]

Lancelot: the Knight of the Cart by Chretian de Troyes.  This appears to be the book Camelot was based on.

 

I'm looking for a dragon named Mercury because there is supposed to be a tie in to the Canterbury Tales.

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage does not have the character Linnet in it.

Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory is the stories that Hollywood has used.

Oh, dear. 

Bram Stoker's Dracula Hollywood reshuffling alert.  Because of that movie they decided to retitle a lot of Hollywood movies.  And one of them that fell victim was the version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight starring Sean Connery as the green knight in Sword of the Valiant.

In Sword of the Valiant, Sean Connery makes clear he has come to steal the holy grail.  Also, this version has the classic line, "I too have lived a borrowed year."  I think it's a fall of Rome story, she's a priestess who knows the time of her people is coming to an end.

The first work of fiction is now Merlin's Shame, Carmarthen Book 1.  Lancelot is mentioned there so he does not originate with Chretian de Troyes. 

The name may remind you of the "black book of Gorthad" in the 1990 Lord of the Rings game.

The original Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is clearly the most valuable Arthur movie, and the landmark in the original movie starring Nigel Green is lost. 

According to Yvain, Arthur started at Carlisle and somehow moved to Westminster for later books. 

A 3rd huge castle is in the UK at Northumberland.  It is the place Saint Aidan lived.  It is favored by Hollywood and looks genuinely medieval rather than dark ages.

Edited August 4, 2021 by dnewhous