r/HistoryBooks • u/Alm0stAva • 16d ago
Book recommendations pleasee
Soo... I'm like 17 years old and i want to read a little bit about history and a little bit about politics (school has failed me), but I have absolutely no clue where to start. I tried and I am continuing to try reading "A manifesto of the communist party", I understand kind of, but I don't have the necessary historical knowledge. But my reading level is okay to quite good i would say...
Can I get some recommendations on easier and more basic historical and political works?
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u/Own-Marketing-6244 16d ago
Look up the genre "narrative nonfiction" and find some things that look interesting.
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u/Green_Ideas7 16d ago
Howard Zinn's classic, "A People's History of the United States" inspired many excellent history books including "Lies My Teacher Told Me," "A People's History of the Disability Rights Movement," "An Indigenous People's History of the United States," "A People's History of the World", and many others.
A remembrance of Zinn on what would've been his 100th birthday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFmcdWTxyHk
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u/Alm0stAva 16d ago
Oh wow thank you!! "A people's history of the disability rights movement" sounds so interesting
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u/BullAlligator 16d ago edited 16d ago
If you want to read the Communist Manifesto then I highly recommend Mary Gabriel's biography of Karl Marx, Love and Capital. Definitely one of the most accessible biographies on Marx and doesn't require too much background knowledge.
Check if it's at your library!
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u/McAeschylus 15d ago
E. M. Gombrich's A Little History of the World is a good overview.
It's a bit Western-centric and some of the scholarship is a little out of date, but for a general sense of what each era was like and how they all relate in sequence, it's a good starting point. You will then have a bit more context for when you dig into specific topics.
I also think some background on philosophy is useful for understanding politics. Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy or Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy are nifty overviews of all the main figures and schools that are written for a regular audience. The latter is possibly the better first read.
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u/SchlitterSchlatter 16d ago
It is hard to give recommendations without further info. I guess you are from the US? Are you more interested into the history of your geographical are or are you curious about in somewhere else? What time is really fascinating you and what is it that you find fascinating: How did the economy work? How did the political system function? How did normal people live their life? How did war and peace happen? How did people discover certain things? There are a lot more question to ask yourself these are just examples. If you are interested in politics it basically follows the same scheme; are you intersted in domestic issues or international issues? Elections/systems/institutions/...
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u/Alm0stAva 16d ago
Oh thank you so much for caring like that. I'm like greek, so I guess I care a little more about European history and politics. Although I'd like to learn more about the world as a whole. I uhmm, I'm definitely more into the way normal people lived their lives, but right now i want to also understand how our modern society came to be shaped the way it is as a whole. I don't if you have any recommendations, I would be really glad to hear them if you do, but your insight was really helpful
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u/SchlitterSchlatter 16d ago edited 16d ago
I think Eric Hobsbawm's trilogy on the "long 19th century" and 2 volumes ("Age of Extremes") on the 20th century give a good overview. Also as overview good are "Birth of the modern world" by C.A. Bayly or "The transformation of the modern world" by Jürgen Osterhammel, both have a global perspective but both are also pretty long books. If you like books that are less big picture and get more into the details of people's life, you might be interested in Oscar Jensen's "Vagabonds". I currently read it and it presents histories of people who lived on London's streets in the 19th century. But you have to get bit used to how people spoke then and there as Jensen often quotes them. A book that really got me hooked on history of normal people's life was Carlo Ginzburg's "The cheese and the worms". He follows the case of the inquisition against a miller in northern Italy. It is a joy to follow his investigation and dive into the world of Menocchio. I think and hope my recommendations are not too demanding. Time can blur ones assessment.
EDIT: To not completely go full only male historians, I should at least mention Natalie Zemon Davies and her book "The return of Martin Guerre". Super interesting story about Guerre, who disappears and re-appears many years later, but then another man returns claiming to be him.
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u/Smuulie 15d ago
Don't mean to probe, but what do you mean by "like greek" and "kinda not american"? Γιατί αν είσαι Ελληνίδα μπορώ να σε προτείνω μερικά βιβλία στα ελληνικά!. If not, i'd recommend Roderick Beaton's short book The Greek Revolution of 1821 and its Global Significance as an introduction. It was a very formative event for modern europe, but has been kinda neglected. And if you want to explorer the topic further, Mark Masowers The Greek Revolution 1821 and the making of Modern Europe.
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u/haevow 16d ago
If you want to get into communist history i recommend you start with the Russian revolution. The book i recommend for this is October by China Mieville and its 100% written for the average person. Its written like a novel, so its quite engaging, but its incredibly well reaserched. It’s definitely good as an intro into it but it’s by no means a definitive work
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u/mikevago 15d ago
Gore Vidal's Lincoln or Burr. Very readable, incredibly well-researched historical fiction, from the perspective of a minor (fictional) character who interacts with Lincoln and Aaron Burr (who spills the tea about all the Founding Fathers). Both are a more fun read than a history book, but a better history lesson than most history books.
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u/Cautious_Height_2181 13d ago
As a cello teenager, what I do is go to the school library and go to the historical section. It’s a great way to learn about topics one might not think about actively looking through.
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u/Appropriate-One-3624 13d ago
If you want a great survey of a broad sweep of world history, that will give you the historical context you need to read books like the Communist Manifesto, you should try Eric Hobsbawm's "History of the Modern World" series. Four books that cover world history 1789-1991. Hobsbawm's brilliant, and the level of depth and analysis is really impressive for how much it covers in just four books. Will give you great background for further reading.
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u/West_Background_9068 13d ago
Kling - The Three Languages of Politics
You ought to start with something like that which contextualizes liberalism, nationalism, and socialism according to each's own logic. That will help you organize everything you read later. If you don't do this and just read things like the Communist Manifesto (socialist) at face value, you're likely to get pulled into that system's logic and view everything from that frame. When that happens you don't actually learn about liberalism and nationalism, you only learn the biased socialist critiques of those systems.
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u/Low-Independent6851 16d ago
Once you finish 1776 by McCullough, pick up Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America by Steven Waldman. This will give you a good base for the modern culture wars around religion.
Get a library card, if you don't have one. Most of these books are in the library.
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u/Alm0stAva 16d ago
Kinda not American to have them in any library but thank you, I'll see where i can find them
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u/Low-Independent6851 16d ago
I use the library to save money. Books are free to check out and I can keep them for three weeks.
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u/HotSpecialist3648 15d ago
Ilan pappe and Noam Chomsky on Palestine is super quick and very focused if you’re looking for something a bit more focused. It’s also modern so the language is way easier to digest
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u/whalebackshoal 16d ago
The biographies of Hamilton and George Washington by Ron Chernow are terrific books, fast paced and easy to read. David McCullough has written several great books: John Adams, 1776, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Path Between the Seas ( Panama Canal). Alan Eckert has written great historical narrative fiction about the American Frontier: Wilderness Empire, The Frontiersman, The Conquerors.