/lit/ - Literature

1. Rubicon: Last Years of the Roman Republic - Tom Holland
2. Euthyphro - Plato
3. Apology - Plato
4. Crito - Plato
5. Meno - Plato
6. Phaedo - PLato
7. Symposium - Plato
8. Hiroshima - John Hershey
9. The Rise of Rome - Anthony Everitt
10 The Roman Army - Chris Mcnab
11. The Inheiritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 AD - Chris Wickham

Currently about to jump onto medieval and byzantine history. Inheiritance is so dense, it's taken me ages. I also have a Caesar biography to read over, along with a massive tome of the Crusades

/his/tory general

I've been spending loads of time on the history of the Roman Empire, but I wanted to transition into the Early Middle Ages/"Dark" Ages Europe and the Crusades. I seek an excellent work to detail the collapse of the Empire, and I was thinking of this:
http://www.amazon.ca/FALL-THE-ROMAN-EMPIRE-Barbarians/dp/0195325419/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Any recommendations?

Ancient Rome:
>"Rubicon" - Tom Holland
Basically a great introduction to the Roman Republic, focusing on the 1st century BC from Gaius Marius and Sulla to the collapse of the Republic under Caesar, and the rise of Augustus. Solid work with loads of background info for new people in the history of Rome.
>"Rise of Rome" - Anthony Everett
A good general history of everything leading up to Marius and Sulla, providing a mythological founding of Rome, its early wars, and such characters as Hannibal and Pyrrhus.
>"The Roman Army: The Greatest War Machine of the Ancient World" - Chris Mcnab
The go to work of the Roman Military. While Adrian Goldsworthy is great, I like the Osprey publication for the amazing and accurate artwork.

Miscellaneous
>"When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army stopped Hitler" - David M Glantz
An incredibly dense yet meticulous work, it's one of the best works on the Ostfront done by the west.
>"Devil in the White City" - Erik Larson
A blend of narrative storytelling and typical history explanation, it is centered on the great World Colombian Exposition in Chicago during the 1890's, but also around the famous serial killer who prowled the city and event, Dr. H.H. Holmes , and his "Murder Castle"
>"The Lost City of Z"
A semi biography on the adventures of the British explorer, Percy Fawcett, and his dreams of finding a hidden civilization in the Amazon. The shit in the jungle is unreal, and the guy was a legit BAMF.

9th:
>To Kill A Mockingbird
>Edith Hamilton's Mythology
>Homer's THe Odyssey
>Oedipus Rex by Sophlocles
>Romeo and Juliet
>A Tale of Two Cities
10th
>A Raisin in the Sun
>Ceremony - Leslie Marmon Silko
>Huckleberry Finn
>Wuthering Heights
>Canterbury Tales
>Julius Caesar - Shakespeare
>Old Man and the Sea
>Of Mice and Men
11th
>Frankenstein
>Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
These two books were selected from an option of like 8 books
>The Things they Carried - O'Brien
>The Great Gatsby
>For Whom The Bell Tolls
12th
>The Awakening
>Hamlet
>Rosencrantz and Guildstein
>Ethan Frome
>The Importance of Being Earnest
>Blindness - Jose Saramago
>Metamorphosis - Kafka

Not a bad list overall. We had a quite a number of "race" books but they were cool enough to make it optional readings over the summer

Fucking hated The Awakening and Wuthering Heights though

Well just jumping into a "classic" of any history is not usually the best idea. Generally you want a introduction work, before you get into the bigger shit.

I'll give some stuff I have read:

Roman Empire:
>Rubicon - Tom Holland
Provides a good understanding of the events that leads to the downfall of the Republic and the rise of Augustus
>Any of Adrian Goldsworthy's titles
Dude is the go-to guy for Roman Military history. He has about 6-7 books on military matters alone, so pick and choose at your lesiure. His Julius Caesar Biography is good too.
>"Annals", "Histories" - Tacitus
Tacitus is a good primary source if you want information on the era of the Judo-Claudian Dynasty. Ranging from Tiberius to Claudius, it is an interesting take on the craziness after Augustus's impressive reign. My favorite part is the stories of Nero, including where he went around and beat the shit out of folks dressed as a hobo.

United States:
>"1491", "1492", "1493" - Charles C Mann
An in depth study of the Americas pre-colonial and immediately post-colonial. While a little dry, it does provide alot of backdrop of the shit that is set up in the social aspects that the arrival of the colonists and explorers would bring.
>"A People's History of the United States" - Howard Zinn
If you can stomach being lectured to about "bad things that white people did", this is a good read regarding those who helped America become what it is, particularly slaves, injuns, women, immigrants.
>"From Colony to Superpower" - George C Herring
An absolutely monumental tome, this gives a grand history of the United States.
>"Devil in the White City" - Erik Larson
While not particularly important, the book is a great read about the turn of the 19th century, the World Colombian Exposition in Chicago, and the insanity of my hometown's great Serial Killer and his "Murder House": HH Holmes.