The History Book Club discussion

Hi Chrissie:

When I joined, I found it helpful just to click on the folders to get familiar with the threads. There are a lot of threads, but don't get discouraged. Take some time and if you have a book and are still confused, don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks both of you! What has helped is that I go up to the top of the comment page where I can see in what file the message has been placed. Oh, it is so hard to explain this stuff.... Often I just keep my mouth shut b/c I am worried I will do something wrong, like I did when I tried to list the books I read this year. That was horrible.

It is better to take your time and acclimate yourself first - you will get the hang of it.

Chrissie wrote: "Thanks both of you! What has helped is that I go up to the top of the comment page where I can see in what file the message has been placed. Oh, it is so hard to explain this stuff.... Often I just..."
Chrissie........I was terrible when I first started....just couldn't seem to get the book citations right but as Bentley said, you will get the hang of it. If you do something wrong, no harm is done....we learn by our mistakes. Don't worry.....your participation is important and the moderators are always here to help you.

Jill, It is nice to know I am not alone in making mistakes. I don't intend on giving up, quite simply because I love learning history.

Thanks, all of you.

The first large section of Europe Central meets your criteria, as it focuses primarily on Shostakovich and his history with the Communist party -- alternately in and out of favor.

It was not my favorite book, and Shostakovich appears only spottily in the second 2/3 of the novel. I would recommend beginning it, but not pressing forward if the first few chapters do not strike your interest.

Aurelie wrote: "Hello! I'd love suggestions about books that combine music/musicians and 20th century history. I read "A windfall of musicians" for instance but it was very academic. I became fascinated by the com..."

Welcome Aurelia - we do have a large Music History folder - huge in fact and there are a lot of books on each of those threads.

a) First, we welcome you and your post but I believe we have a huge music history folder and all of those music books should be there and if they are not - please add them to the proper thread so that others can enjoy them like you did.

b) Second - we do have rules for citations so that folks can look up the books that you have mentioned easily and when using the book cover, the author's photo and the author' link, the goodreads software is able to populate our entire site.

c) This is the way the books you mentioned should be cited in your post:

by Simon Morrison

d) Check out the Music folder and see what you think - I think we have you covered.

e) Unfortunately, I discovered that you are an author promoting you own book which we do not allow - we call it spam. So I have to delete this post.

f) We also have a thread where you can ask for suggestions but still no spam or advertising your book allowed and that thread is this one:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

g) Here is the Music folder:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

But still on all of our threads - there is no advertising or marketing of any kind or self promotion.

Matthew wrote: "The first large section of Europe Central meets your criteria, as it focuses primarily on Shostakovich and his history with the Communist party -- alternately in and out of favor.

It was not my fa..."

Hello Matthew and welcome to the History Book Club - is your post on the right thread? And when doing citations make sure to add the book cover, the author's photo and the author's link. You will get the hang of it in no time.

by William T. Vollmann

Unclear whether I'm in the right thread. It was in response to the same post as yours immediately after, but I no longer see the original. I will work on the format, but not sure if it will work from a mobile.

It was not there when I came in. Goodreads has been down today so maybe one of the other moderators caught something that I did not.

The mobile app is not very good. When I am on my iPad and my IPhone I simply use my regular browser and Safari in my case and I only use the regular site not the mobile app which frankly in my opinion is substandard. At least we find it that way.

Also you can always modify and edit any post when you can back to the real deal and the regular app. Pretty easy to add the citation once you know the ins and outs.

Okay. I'll work on that. The response was to Aurelie's request that you had also responded to. It is possible it was lost during the down time or moved to another folder.

OK, now I understand. Yes, going into the regular application helps tremendously. In any case, the citation is up and can clearly be clicked on by anybody reading the thread thanks to the powerful goodreads software which does those things.

Aurelia will see your note and can see the link.

Great. Thank you.

Sean, I will move your request to I am Looking for a Book thread.

Bentley wrote: "Aurelie wrote: "Hello! I'd love suggestions about books that combine music/musicians and 20th century history. I read "A windfall of musicians" for instance but it was very academic. I became fasci..."

Thanks a lot for the mention of the music history folder, Bentley! I'll go digging there. It's a topic I truly love, but I haven't found nearly enough engaging books about it. Thanks also for the mention of the rules to properly link to books and authors. Much appreciated!
PS: my post would've been very different if I'd truly been promoting my book, lol! :) But thanks again for the info and for taking the time to write a detailed reply. I'm looking forward to future discussions on the threads.

We look forward to having you here with us and thanks for understanding our rules and guidelines.

I think a discussion about different "sorts" of people might be interesting. I mean: pirates (like Mary Rd and Ann Bonney and Calico), kings and queens, warriors (like Joan of Arc), explorers (like Magelan). It might be nice.

I thought about something else, also.

1 Have a discussion about remarkable historical characters that are maybe forgotten, like pirates (Mary Read, Calico Jack), religious (nun, popes- like female Pope Joan) and so on.

2 Have a Fact or Fiction Discussion: we can mention different books and movies and talk about how historically accurate they really are. It's only a suggestion. Not very good, but it might be cool. We can also talk about historical legends, like Pope Joan and Mulan, and see if they're real.

Ðɑηηɑ wrote: "I think a discussion about different "sorts" of people might be interesting. I mean: pirates (like Mary Rd and Ann Bonney and Calico), kings and queens, warriors (like Joan of Arc), explorers (like..."

Danna - I think we have some of these already. But let me think about the pirates one or warriors. We do have a religious folder.

And we do have a movie folder where folks who are interested can discuss the movies they have watched and whether the movie was accurately portrayed and to tell you the truth in 99% of the instances - the producers took major historical liberties. I guess a fact or fiction discussion could be part of the games area. Let me think about it.

And we do have Film History - in fact an actively added to thread. You can add to it too so hop on over to those threads and check those out.

Pope Joan is fictional so we won't be putting up a thread for her.

Danna in terms of ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY =

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

We have had this folder set up for awhile and we were looking for an assisting moderator for this area and have not found one.

Are there threads that you would like to see set up within that folder - let us know.

Danna in terms of PIRATES

Here is the link to the new thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Danna in terms of fact or fiction discussions - here is the link to the new thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

That for sure! Indian history is fascinating!

I am glad you like it - we do have a Native American folder, we also have Ancient History folders which you might find interesting. Are you also talking about India as a country?

I being a Sikh want you people to add few books and articles about Sikhism and what was the role of Sikh Gurus n Sikh people in Indian History and what they did for saving their Unique and Versatile Religion

That is nice Amandeep - we usually do not do a specific people but a country - but are you suggesting that we are missing a thread in the religion folder. I think you are suggesting that I add Sikkism in the religion folder.

I will do that for you but you need to add books in English that you feel that would be beneficial - let me show you the format:

Sikkism: A Very Short Introduction

by Eleanor Nesbitt (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Sikh religion has a following of over 20 million people worldwide and is ranked as the world's fifth largest religion.

However, events such as the verbal and physical attacks on Sikhs just after September 11 indicated that they were being mistaken for Muslims, and suggests that the raising of sufficient and appropriate awareness about Sikhism still needs to be addressed.

This book is one of the first to introduce newcomers to Sikhism's meanings, beliefs, practices, rituals, and festivals. Eleanor Nesbitt highlights the key threads in the fascinating history, from the Gurus and the development of the Sikh appearance, to martyrdom and militarization in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the diaspora.

She also examines the recent proliferation of Sikh lifestyles in today's news and entertainment media. This book is an essential guide to increasing understanding of the Sikh religion and culture.

Amandeep - your thread is up.

Here is a link to the new thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

W.D., there is a thread specific to Churchill you might check out: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
If you are looking for suggestions from other members you might also post your question on our I am looking for a book thread, found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Don't forget to cite him since you mentioned him as an author.
Winston Churchill

Thank you Alisa for helping out W.D.

W.D. wrote: "Winston Churchill - as a kid in the 60's, I remember my father having a collection of books - they looked like little encyclopedias or those old condensed Readers Digest books - but I remember them..."

My father had them, too! I am not sure he ever read many of them, though. I have no idea where they are at the moment; he's moved quite a few times and there have been several other wives, so who knows?

Guys this is the suggestion thread - WD please take the conversation to one of the two threads where you can get some help. Alisa has cited both.

I just noticed the new challenge with India. I was wondering was there a past one done on the Yugoslava Wars of the 90's. It's a topic I"m very passionate about. Heck I even dream of writing a Dear Canada based on that time since it needs to be told.
(Sept 5 2013)

Krystal - we do not select a specific event. But I could add a thread in the Military Threads on that conflict.

However, you thread is up.

Hi - I am a recent member to the club and am enjoying the Rick Atkinson book. I know this one is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and it got me thinking - any thought on having a Pulitzer Prize non-fiction book thread?

OK, what do you want to accomplish on that thread - do you want to talk generally about Pulitzer Prize non fiction books or something else?

I would like to suggest that a group read be
.
It is a good book for people who like both science and history and I thought was very readable for non-scientific readers.

Thanks Kathy, we are always looking for other books to discuss.

Great try on the citations. Switch author photo and book cover and don't forget to add a author link:

Thomas Hager

Hi,I was very disappointed after I found the thread in the American History folder~ "UNITED STATES > INTRODUCTION - UNITED STATES (HISTORY AND INFO ABOUT EACH STATE)" to see that it is locked to comments,and there are only a very few eastern states in it!

I am most interested in the Frontier era of American history[1830-1920].

I would love info on the settling of the Pacific Northwest,and the American Southwest, The Oregon Trail and the California Trail,and Gold Rush.

I would even love memoirs/bios from people who wrote about what it was like to experience lands so different from where they came from.

I am only interested in the history of the states west of the Mississippi river, but especially in the events mentioned.

I am hoping that there are readers with some great suggestions. :]

Two things. First, I would LOVE a current events group read. And second, since 2014 is the centennial of World War I, I'd like to read by Barbara W. Tuchman, preferably in August. Then we could follow up with something about the Cuban Missile Crisis because Kennedy had just read when he was negotiating with the Russians.

Hi Kressel - I LOVE your suggestions about reading about WWI this year. I am doing the same. I'm actually beginning with by Barbara W. Tuchmanin order to get some additional background before reading

Thanks Kressel and Donna, some good suggestions.

by Barbara W. Tuchman

Guess there is no interest here on the American Frontier, so I'll try the forums at Amazon and elsewhere. :[

Don't give up on us Christine. Our founder approves all new threads and I told him about your suggestion. Please be patient.

Christine wrote: "Guess there is no interest here on the American Frontier, so I'll try the forums at Amazon and elsewhere. :["

Christine, though we would love to develop all of the threads - we only have a limited amount of time. We are all volunteers and if you would like to help out in this area and dedicate some time - we would love to have you. And your suggestions are terrific. And we will get to them.

Great suggestions Kressel and I will look into them.

I suppose I should start with first. It's a longer book, though.

Re:Bentley,
Thank you for responding.I would have no idea how I could be of any help here,since the reason I posted here,is because I was having no luck on my own!

I did get these suggestions from someone who answered my inquiry on the Amazon forum~

Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Steven Ambrose, about the building of the Continental Railroad.

Another good read is Ambrose's~ Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

A nice general overview of American history (not just settling the west) is~ What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) by Daniel Howe

A classic is Billington's 1949 history~ Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier

William C. Davis is a well-known western historian and novelist, has~ The American Frontier: Pioneers, Settlers, and Cowboys 1800-1899

Some great titles. In the meanwhile, feel free to post it in our American History general topic for the moment:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

by Stephen E. Ambrose

by William C. Davis (no photo)

We did a group read on this one:

by Daniel Walker Howe (no photo)

We did a group read on What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 in 2012. It is one of my favorite reads so far.

Christine you might start reading the book, and you can still comment in threads if you are interested.

Here is the link to Week 1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

by Daniel Walker Howe (no photo)

Thank you Bryan and Kathy.[post what in AH general topic?The last post is about a totally different era!]

BTW,I did find some great sounding titles on Listopia's ....The American Frontier
Histories of the American frontier experience: settlers, Indians, cowboys, explorers, outlaws, soldiers, lawmen, prospectors, pioneer women, etc.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2... and......

The Old West in First Person
Memoirs, diaries and letters from the American West, pre-1920.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...