I wonder what my history-buff buddy Mike thinks about this list.
Is he full of shit, Mike?
Saturday, February 28, 2026
4 comments:
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I am mostly unable to rate these as I've only ever read one of them. I have read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." It is a well-written book and is quite readable. It really put the "American history from the perspective of American Indians" on the map. Is it one of the best history books ever? Not in my opinion. Is it excellent and worth reading - certainly. I have always thought Robert Conquest's "Stalin - Breaker of Nations" was the best Stalin bio out there. Also, I've read "Enemy at the Gates" by William Craig. I've always thought that was the definitive book on the Battle of Stalingrad. (The movie of the same name is based on a chapter of the book.) All in all I am wondering if this guy is - like so many in academia - just pushing a particular agenda and interpretation of history. Two books on Soviet Russia on a top 5 list? An "all-time" list no less. He seems to be focused on readability and accessibility for regular people. If that is the case, I'd say "Five Days in London - 1940" by John Lukacs should be on the list. It is short. It reads like a film. And throughout you feel the tension of what it was like in the halls of power in London as France has collapsed in WW2 and Churchill has just become PM. Though I think it is not all that "readable" to a "regular person" I think that not including something like Paul Johnson's "Birth of the Modern" or "Modern Times" in the list is a problem. But, like all academic arguments, there is no right or wrong in all this. This isn't my list by any stretch, but the one book I've read on his list is worth a read.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the informative comment.
DeleteSorry this was tardy and pushed down the list... One more word... When reading any history book one should always look for the bias and read critically. That seems to be a skill that is passing from academe.
DeleteYou could teach a course.
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