The History Book Club discussion

Hello - My name is Hadena. I hold a degree in history with emphasis on the involvement of the Soviet Union in World War II. To back those up, I also hold degrees in German and Russian studies.

Despite my interest in 20th century history, I also love medieval history with an emphasis on Medieval Russia and The Holy Roman Empire and its collapse and after completing my 20th century history degree, I became an amateur medievalist.

I read my first history book when I was 7 years old and instantly fell in love with the subject.

I am self employed which allows to me to still take the occasional class in whatever new history subject grabs my attention.

Glad you could join us, Hadena. You will find lots of good folks here who share your love of history.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you are ready to cite a book. (There is a link on the top right of the reply box.) It makes things so much easier for people to see your book recommendations, because they can see the cover and the links to the author. And it helps the Goodreads software connect books with groups that talk about them. When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo and author's link at the very bottom of the post after your text. Because it is on the bottom, it calls the reader's attention to the book/author and increases the readability of your posts.

This is how the book should look:

by William L. Shirer

More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2......

Take a few moments to read the orientation:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1......

And our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5......

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask any of the moderators. We look forward to your postings.

Welcome Hadena, I'm glad you found us here on Goodreads.

Hi Nancy, Hadena, welcome to the group.
Apart from all the fascinating discussions on history we also have quite a few fine threads on music - all kinds from all places.
Come and take a look/listen if you like.
Best,
André

Welcome Nancy and Hadena. You're sure to find something here to interest you.

Welcome Hadena and Nancy, glad you joined the group and hope you enjoy the discussions.

Welcome Nancy and Hadena to the global History Club. I'm glad you have found enjoyment already. Pitch in and have fun.

Hi, I just joined and saw that an introduction is a requirement. So, hi. I'm Karen, I live in Norway and I study Middle East studies and Hebrew, with some political science to make the scandal complete. Not sure I knew what I signed up for here, I was looking at interesting books and saw a comment I had to be a group member to read, but now I've no idea what that comment was anymore :) - anyway, I'm here for good book tips. I like history, at least as long as it doesn't get too academic. If I was more into that, I'd be studying history :)

Maybe I should mention some of my own favourite history books... hm. I don't have a favourite topic, country or period in time. I liked "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor, "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond, "A tale of love and darkness" by Amos Oz, "The worst hard times" about the great dust bowl, can't think of the author's name right now, "Mao's great famine" by Frank Dikötter... and plenty others, but just to start somewhere. So as I'm sure you can tell, I'm more into the popularized style, and probably I also have very grim tastes.

Looking forward to pick up good reading tips :)

EDIT: I just saw the "add book/author" thingy and will give it a try...

...ok, that wasn't so hard. One is missing, but I lent the book to my mum, so I can't check that I'm getting the right link on the search engine. It looked weird.

Welcome, Karen from Norway. I’m glad you joined the History Club. Have fun.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. (There is a link on the top right of the reply box.) When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo (when available) and author's link at the very bottom of the post after your text, because this visual alignment not only calls the reader's attention to the book/author promotion, but helps Goodreads software connect books with groups and further increases the readability of your posts.

Your first attempt was not too bad. This is how the books you mentioned should look:

Frank Dikötter
Antony Beevor
Jared Diamond
Amos Oz

Please use the “(preview)” tab to view your alignment before officially “posting”.
More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Take a few moments to read the orientation:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

And our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us moderators. I look forward to your postings.

Welcome to our international book club, Karen. You will find good book recommendations/discussions here. Enjoy!!!

Karen glad you joined us and hope you enjoy browsing the threads and participating in the discussions. The Worst Hard Time was written by Tim Egan.

by Timothy Egan

Hi Karen, welcome to the group.
Apart from all the fascinating discussions on history we also have quite a few fine threads on music - all kinds from all places.
Come and take a look/listen if you like.
Best,
André

Thanks for the welcome :)

Hello, I'm Sean. I am from Manchester, England and I am just about to finish my undergraduate degree in History and I will hopefully be going on to do postgraduate in History too. I have always loved to read and I read everything from Christopher R Browning to Jackie Collins! I look forward to reading some new books and discussing them!

Welcome Sean, we are glad to have you as a member. With your diverse interests I am sure you will fit right in.

As you get started please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. It makes things so much easier for people to see your book recommendations, because they can see the cover and the links to the author. And it helps the goodreads software connect books with groups that talk about them. When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo and author's link after all of the text of your post at the bottom of the post . Placement at the bottom of the post calls the reader's attention to the book and/or author and increases the readability of your post. This is how books you mention should look:

by Jeffrey Toobin

When mentioning only an author, as you did above, include the photo where available, like this:

Jackie Collins
Christopher R Browning (no photo)

More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Take a moment to read our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...


and the orientation to get you started:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks and glad you joined us.

Welcome Sean to the world-wide History Club full of books and discussion.

Hi Sean, welcome to the group.
Apart from all the fascinating discussions on history we also have quite a few fine threads on music - all kinds from all places.
Come and take a look/listen if you like.
Best,
André

So glad you joined us, Sean. There is much here to pique your interest in history....good discussions/book recommendations Take some time to browse the topics and join right in.

Welcome Karen and Sean. You are in good company, and there's lots to explore here.

Welcome Karen and Sean. I'm glad you found us here on Goodreads. Enjoy.

Welcome to the new folks -- as just someone who enjoys the site, especially the presidential series -- welcome. Andre´, I had no idea about music. I'll check it out.

Hello, I wrote an introductory note in the wrong place (I just realized) Anyway, I am thrilled to have found this group. I am a history teacher. History has always been my passion. I don't know whether you have rules about what books to read or in what order but I prefer to chose my own. I watch book TV or hear about books sometimes from friends or colleagues; sometimes by browsing through Amazon. I lived in Ireland for many years and had the opportunity to do a bit of travel (not nearly enough) so I have read a share of Irish history but I like European history. I have read quite a bit of Lawrence Goldstone- I absolutely love his books about medieval Europe (both the fiction and non-fiction) I do find myself reading American history more than anything else. I have many "favorite" American historians but I won't go into them now. Nice to be here.

Welcome, Colleen......we are so glad you found us. I think you will find much here to pique your particular interests.

As you get started please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. It makes things so much easier for people to see your book recommendations, because they can see the cover and the links to the author. And it helps the goodreads software connect books with groups that talk about them. When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo and author's link after all of the text of your post at the bottom of the post . Placement at the bottom of the post calls the reader's attention to the book and/or author and increases the readability of your post. This is how books you mention should look:

by William L. Shirer

More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2......

Take a moment to read our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5......

and the orientation to get you started:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1......

Please browse the threads and join the book discussions/recommendations....most of all, enjoy!!

Welcome Colleen, we are glad to have you here. A love of history is all you need, there is so much here to explore and discuss.

In addition to citing books, also use the author links when you mention them. Let us know if you need a hand but I am sure you will pick it up quickly.

Lawrence Goldstone

Welcome Colleen to the History Club. Ireland is such a beautiful country from all corners of the sea to the pastoral inland areas. Like America it too is full of great history and people.

Thanks Alisa & Mark. I guess I just need to know how much citation is needed. For example, the comment I made about Jefferson requests on his headstone: Even though it is fairly commonly known and cited by many of Jefferson's biographers, it is still necessary? Just checking. Thanks. I also am not familiar with finding author links- and that process. Thanks.

Jill wrote: "Welcome, Colleen......we are so glad you found us. I think you will find much here to pique your particular interests.

As you get started please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add..."

Thanks very much Jill. For some reason, the other responses showed up in my email but yours did not so I commented below before seeing this. Thanks again.

Hello all! My name is Rich and I live in Quincy MA which is just south of Boston. At the end of my street is a small harbor that feeds over to Castle Island which is an old military fort from the Revolutionary days. I am fortunate to live in a place so rich in (American) history and as a boy I used to shovel the driveway of the Quincy Homestead which housed five generations of Quincy's. My interests include: kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, tennis, movies and of course, reading! I am looking forward to learning about new authors and also passing along any info I might have. So many books, so little time!

No problem, Colleen. All of the moderators are here to help and answer questions. Happy reading!!

Hi, everyone. My name is Melanie Jackson. I live in the Gold Country of California with a dog and cat and my writer husband. Right now I am doing some research into the Mann White Slave Act-- and if anyone had some recommendations on good books on this subject I would love to hear them. I got interested because I found a rather strange paper tucked into the back of my late grandfather's wallet. A deeper look at some of his things has me wondering what sort of stuff grandpa was getting up to as a young man :-).

Anyhow, I'm glad to be here and look forward to talking with you all.

Welcome Hudson and Melanie, we are glad to have you as a member.

As you get started please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. It makes things so much easier for people to see your book recommendations, because they can see the cover and the links to the author. And it helps the goodreads software connect books with groups that talk about them. When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo and author's link after all of the text of your post at the bottom of the post . Placement at the bottom of the post calls the reader's attention to the book and/or author and increases the readability of your post. This is how books you mention should look:

by Jeffrey Toobin

More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Take a moment to read our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

and the orientation to get you started:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks and glad you joined us.

Welcome Melanie and Hudson. We are a truly international book club. Please browse the threads and join in the discussions/book recommendations. Lots to see and learn!!

Hello, everyone. I am a retired schoolteacher (history and English); I live in central Arkansas with my husband and two of our four daughters. Now that I'm retired, I have lots more time to read - I always have at least two history-related books going, as well as some fiction (preferably the "slice 'em and dice 'em" genre. I have joined a couple of other discussion groups, and have decided that this site is going to kill my bank account! I have added tons of titles to my To-Buy list...and as it is, even if I live 100 more years, I don't think I can possibly read all the books I already have!!! (But more is always better when it comes to books!)

Welcome, Tomi.....and don't feel alone about adding those tons of books to your TBR. It is happening to all of us!

As you get started please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. It makes things so much easier for people to see your book recommendations, because they can see the cover and the links to the author. And it helps the goodreads software connect books with groups that talk about them. When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo and author's link after all of the text of your post at the bottom of the post . Placement at the bottom of the post calls the reader's attention to the book and/or author and increases the readability of your post. This is how books you mention should look:

by James Joyce


More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2......

Take a moment to read our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5......

and the orientation to get you started:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1......

If you have any questions just ask any of the moderators......and enjoy!!

Hi Colleen, Rich, Melanie, Tomi, welcome to the group.
Apart from all the fascinating discussions on history we also have quite a few fine threads on music - all kinds from all places.
Come and take a look/listen if you like.
Best,
André

Sherry wrote: "Andre´, I had no idea about music. I'll check it out."

Sherry, I hope you find something you like and maybe are inspired by other people's posts/suggestions.

Tomi welcome to the group. We are book obsessed so you are among friends.

Hello Colleen, Rich, Melanie, and Tomi. Glad you found us. Enjoy.

Welcome Rich, Melanie, and Tomi to the History Club.

Rich, as a youth when it snowed my mother used to commit my services to shoveling out many neighbors. I enjoyed the hard work, the money and being outside in the environment, but I did not like that it took so long to finish. That’s neat reflecting upon shoveling the Quincy Homestead.

Welcome Amy I’m glad you joined the History Club. A fascination with World War I sounds like a great start.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. (There is a link on the top right of the reply box.) When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo (when available) and author's link at the very bottom of the post after your text, because this visual alignment not only calls the reader's attention to the book/author promotion, but helps Goodreads software connect books with groups and further increases the readability of your posts.

This is how the books you mentioned should look:

James A. Michener
Antony Beevor

Please use the “(preview)” tab to view your alignment before officially “posting”.
More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Take a few moments to read the orientation:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

And our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us moderators. I look forward to your postings.

Bryan wrote: "Hello Colleen, Rich, Melanie, and Tomi. Glad you found us. Enjoy."

Thank you!

Welcome Amy

Thanks for joining us, Amy.......we are history central!! You will find good discussions/book recommendations here and will just keep adding to your TBR list!!!! Enjoy.

Hello my name is Diana I m 22 years old and I live in France. I m a bookworm passioned about culture and my grand father who was british loved history. So when i grew up whith all his books about the roman fall, egypt, the tudors etc So I wanted to joined this groop so i could have good advices and discussions. But i m young and studying so i cant read as fast as i wished.

Welcome Diana. I’m glad you joined the History Club.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the "add book/author" feature when you comment. (There is a link on the top right of the reply box.) When citing a book and/or author, please put the book cover, author's photo (when available) and author's link at the very bottom of the post after your text, because this visual alignment not only calls the reader's attention to the book/author promotion, but helps Goodreads software connect books with groups and further increases the readability of your posts.

This is how a book you might mention should look:

David G. Chandler

Please use the “(preview)” tab to view your alignment before officially “posting”.
More information:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Take a few moments to read the orientation:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

And our guidelines:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us moderators. I look forward to your postings.

So glad you joined us, Diana. It is a fun place to learn and share your love of history. Please join in the discussions/book recommendation and enjoy!

Welcome Diana and Amy, nice to have you with us.

Hi Amy, Diana, welcome to the group.
Apart from all the fascinating discussions on history we also have quite a few fine threads on music - all kinds from all places.
Come and take a look/listen if you like.
Best,
André

Welcome Diana. How lucky you are to have a grandfather who loved history and inspired you with his books. Don't worry about not being able to read fast - just go at a confortable pace.

Hi, my name is Erskine. I live in North Florida with my wife of 25 yrs and two children (girl and boy, 16 & 11). I'm a stay-at-home dad, and I homeschool our children-- a job I'm imminently qualified for by my BA in Philosophy from FSU. :p

My hobbies include gardening, gaming, hiking, camping, and of course, reading about history. I just recently finished The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, and I'm currently reading 1848: Year of Revolution by Mike Rapport. Broadly speaking, my main interest is in the history of Western Civilization, but I jump around a lot within that category, as the mood takes me.

I look forward to participating in the group.