/lit/ - Literature

>>20312839
Here you go. Don't thank me but instead carry this secret on.

>>20312839
Is there a specific aspect you want the book to be on? Economics, war, social policy etc. specific time frame for the book? 1 book or a series?

I have only read a couple history books but I think I can recommend the pursuit of power. Along with Edge of the world by Michael pye might be good books.

>>20313199
the decisions that made a difference, anon
and, second priority: times they also failed

>>20313647
> times they also failed
meant to write
and, second priority: times they almost failed
"also failed" would be third priority and I'm not really interested in that depth
it's the skin and blood where it's at

>>20313131
My god, that s a deep cut by any standers.
I second this, but do you know about egon friedell?

Also good luck finding him anywhere. Even the Archive scan was crap, or atleast it was 5 years ago when i looked

>>20312839
European History:
Europe by Norman Davies. THEE HISTORY OF EUROPE. Really long.
The Isles by Norman Davies THEE HISTORY OF BRITAIN. Also really long.
Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder. The logic behind Hitler and Stalin's atrocities.
Europe's Steppe Frontier from 1500-1800 by William McNeil. A look at the frontier in Eastern Europe. Surprisingly interesting, especially to compare to America.
The Pursuit of Power by William McNeil. How capitalism, science and warfare worked together to allow the West's rise to dominance.

American History:
Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fischer. How British regional migrations created modern American culture.
The Story of the Americas by Leland DeWitt Baldwin. A riveting history of the colonization of the New World. Sadly, me already recommending it means it's no longer on the market as my fans have bought every copy.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. Great history of the US Civil War era.
Ethnic America by Thomas Sowell. Amazing look at how different immigrant groups have assimilated into American culture. Very based.
A Short History of the United States by Remini. Best intro to American history.
The Nine Nations of North America by Garreau. A general breakdown of American cultural regions today.

>>20314628
>Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
That book isn't bad, but Bruce Catton's Centennial History of the Civil War is so much better.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/72318-the-centennial-history-of-the-civil-war

Bump inserting thread !

>>20312839
>I'd like something that really tries to be ambitious and covers all of history

First
>Norman Davis: Europe: A History
Then zoom in and increase the detail:
>Jacques Barzun: From Dawn to Decadence
Now you've covered Europe.

>>20314628
norman davies is so autistic about the eternal anglo that while he is entertaining he is an unreliable narrator more interested than denigrating the very idea of england than being objective, and all but willing the UK to collapse
(and thats a good thing)

>>20314781
Foote's narrative trilogy is superior to either

>>20315854
>(and thats a good thing)
Not really.

>>20314588
Yeah. I'm currently already at The Cultural History of Ancient Egypt after I finished the one about Europe. He gets a bit silly at parts when he talks about Atlantis and other theories from the early 20th century but it's a great read as well.

>>20316350
You lucky German bastard. The English translation sold so poorly that it amounted to a private printing, though the actual text is great.

BTW Clive James, another, though lesser, gem of a cleverclogs polymath, has a great essay on Friedell.

Nice library aswell

>>20316433
Luckily Friedell got reprinted surprisingly often here. I still had to search a bit for my preferred printing. I have no idea what the English translation is like but a couple of times Friedell had me really bursting up with laughter for his hot takes, Nietzsche for example. His writing style is delightful.
Once I'm finished with his Cultural History of the Greeks I still have his sequel to The Time Machine but I heard it's not as great. Somewhere in my collection of early 20th century experimental literature there should also be his Goethe parody which apparently was a blockbuster whenever it was playing in Vienna's cabarets.

>>20316460
That whole generation, Vienna, the famous talkers, the people like Friedell who seemed ready to stake the claim, by sheer cleverness, for German cultural supremacy.. And then it was over.

BTW at least the English translation is dedicated to Shaw, which is interesting .

>>20316625
Fascism did a good job getting all the artists to either flee or die in various ways. Sadly, the German speaking part of Europe never really recovered from this. There's almost nothing I enjoy reading from after the 1930s. Which is why I'm currently digging into earlier literature to unearth great things there.

The Story of Civilization, by Will Durant

Really ambitious, european history from the ancient near east until the Napoleonic age (series ended here because Durant died after releasing it). It's a very broad history as well, everything from religious, cultural, economic, military, and art history.

>>20316751
I like Mann and Zweig, who like Friedell also took his own life, but i take your point.

Zweig had wonderful summation of that last curtain fall, writing how happy he was and in what great company one evening he looked out from the terrace over the beautiful and peaceful landscape, without suspecting that exactly opposite, on the mountain of Berchtesgaden, a man sat who would one day destroy it all

>>20316881
Mann is on my shelves and maybe one day I will read some more than just short stories and essays.
Zweig I've been eying but currently I'm set for at least a decade or so when it comes to prose. I still have to finish the complete Arno Schmidt plus all the books he recommended.
What are two Zweig works you'd absolutely recommend? (So that I can put them on my mental list to eventually look out for once the time comes.)

>>20316917
Fiction i'd recommend Beware of Pity, but Chess Story (or A Royal Game as its sometimes called) is popular and quite short. In nonfiction there is The World of Yesterday, IMO the best memoir of pre war Vienna, as well as his book on Calvin which i really liked.
His biographies are good in general. And again, Clive James has a great essay on him.

As far as Mann goes i recently finished Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen, which is incoherent and rambling, but a great book none the less. Mann started off believing artists could a role in shaping society and here advocates for a anti democratic anti liberal state. Later he changed his mind, but If you ever read the Magic Mountain and decide you want to know what this Naphta guy is on about, then it's the book for you.

>>20317001
Thanks. I appreciate the recommendations.

>>20316827
Going to second this, a good broad overview

>>20313131
>>20314588
>>20316350
He's a jew according to his wikipedia

>>20317423
My god!

>>20317423
Yes.

>>20317444
>>20317454
Someone with such a negative opinion of the National Socialists can't possibly be a good writer, let alone an accurate and trustworthy historian. I recommend OP to not listen to these fools.

>>20317459
Go back to your echo chamber safespace. This is an actual discussion board.

They're going to be short books

>>20317468
You're deploying typical jew-tactics. The 20th and 21st centuries, under the iron fists of kikes, has rotten the brains of men. I truly pity you for being brainwashed.

>>20317501
Not even the Nazis thought all Jews were bad. Thinking all Jews are inherently bad is brainwashing done by social engineers targeting specifically retarded specimens.
Friedell was based as one can be.

>>20317561
>Unironically posting a communist

I took to /lit/ with the intent of using the same photo. Does anyone have suggestions for good books specifically about the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayas? Are those folio books in the OP good?

>>20315903
Some parts are very speculative, borderline historical fiction.

Op here. I'm finding some good European history here... As for American should I just read McCullough or is he woke horseshit

>>20312839
Just search for
>XYZ Oxford University Press

>>20318020
>As for American should I just read McCullough
His books on John Adams and 1776 are worth reading, too many important things happened in 1775 and 1776 for America that one or two books can never do them complete justice, but his are worthy I'd say.

>is he woke horseshit
Not at all, if he published 1776 today it would probably be accused of jingoism by half-wit lefty book reviewers/booktubers.

>>20318059
>Oxford University Press
The Oxford History of the United States series is excellent, especially the first two books (The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff and Empire of Liberty by Gordon S. Wood).

https://www.goodreads.com/series/308899-the-oxford-history-of-the-united-states

>>20317538
to be fair the person you replied to actually outlined an argument (the author's views on National Socialism) and went beyond just accusing them of somebody snipping his penish