The History Book Club discussion

Charles...welcome to the History Book Club. We are glad to have you with us.

I am sure that you will be an asset to the group and we look forward to your posts.

History is so much more than memorization as you have found out over the years.

Bentley

Isaac Asimov, cute figures, and history.... quite the combination, Charles!

Welcome to the group. We are all happy to have you aboard.

Joe

Glad to have you with us, Charles. Isn't it interesting how many members of the group disliked (or even hated) history in school when it was merely forced memorization. And yet now love it. History is interesting, alive, and fun.

I'm way behind on everything, including my welcomes, so I'll just say welcome to all new members. And Charles, the fact that you didn't really start reading voluntarily until you were a senior in high school is encouraging to me. I need to remember when working with college freshmen that some of them may just be late bloomers, not non-readers for life.

Hi all,

I'm 34 years old and live in Connecticut with my beautiful wife and daughter. I work in the investment industry. My dream was to teach history at the university level. This club gives me a great forum for satisfying my history jones! Bentley and Oldesq are fantastic. I participated with them in another book club and it was great. So I'm really looking forward to this one.

I've stumbled across some interesting resources lately that I wanted to share. First, many universities have OpenCourse offerings in history. Here is a link to Yale's: http://oyc.yale.edu/history. Berkeley has some great offerings as well. I've done a few and they are top notch.

Not sure what else to share just yet. Right now I'm reading: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia (1600-1947) by Christopher Clark and Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Both are excellent so far.

It's great to meet you all and I look forward to many interesting discussions with you.

Bishop wrote: "Hi all,

I'm 34 years old and live in Connecticut with my beautiful wife and daughter. I work in the investment industry. My dream was to teach history at the university level. This club gives me ..."

Hi Bishop, nice to hear from you and welcome to the History Book Club. I have a copy of "Iron Kingdom" sitting un-read in my library so I'll be interested to hear your final views on the book. When you mention a book is it possible you could add the cover and author like this:

by Christopher Clark

by Christopher R. Browning

This way it helps other readers/users to find the books you have mentioned. It took me a while to work it out but Bentley showed me. You just use the add book/author link.

I will be looking forward to many interesting discussions with you about good books an interesting times in history.

Bishop wrote: "Hi all,

I'm 34 years old and live in Connecticut with my beautiful wife and daughter. I work in the investment industry. My dream was to teach history at the university level. This club gives me ..."

Hello Bishop,

Thank you Bishop for your kind words. They are very much appreciated. We are glad to have you here. Did you change your profile name. I was trying to figure out if you were JP.

Oldesq had other commitments and thought it was too time consuming for her.

I continued and things have gone well. We have other assisting moderators like Joe, Elizabeth and Rick who are all doing a fabulous job.

We are glad you are with us.

Aussie Rick is right though.....we do have a requirement that you add both the book cover and author's link like he showed you because the goodreads software only populates the group site when the links are provided.

Hi Bentley -

Yes, it's me JP and yes I did change my profile name. Sorry about failing to include the pic/link. I saw that it was a requirement but I wasn't sure how to do it. If I can't figure it out in the future you can walk me through it.

Thanks Aussie Rick. Yes, I'll have some things to post on it shortly even though I'm still in the midst of reading it. It's a dense book. There's alot of information in there but really interesting.

OK..helpful to know...JP.

Yes, of course...we can walk you through it.

Glad that you have found us.

Bentley

Hello, Bishop. Nice to have you around. There is always something fun going on here. Those Open Courses look exciting. Thanks for the recommendation!

Bishop wrote: "Hi Bentley -

Yes, it's me JP and yes I did change my profile name. Sorry about failing to include the pic/link. I saw that it was a requirement but I wasn't sure how to do it. If I can't figure it..."

Hi Bishop, from what I can recall Prussia was erased from the map after WW2, abolished by the victorious Allied nations. The only country in the 20th century to be erased from the map!

Er, this is a little complicated, LOL.

"Prussia" as an independent country disappeared in 1867, when it was one of the building blocks (the largest) of the North German Confederation. Which became the German Empire in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian war.

Prussia remained a "free state" within Germany until (de jure) 1932, and (de facto) 1934. And then it abolished again by the Allies in 1947.

Hello David,

We want to welcome you. However, this is the introduction thread. We do have a thread where you can discuss what you have recently read and make recommendations.

Here is that link: (it is called What is Everybody Reading Now)

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

We also have a rule that the bookcover and the author's link and photo if available must be added for any recommendation made. This is an easy task once you get the hang of it.

Here is how you should post your recommendations in the future:

Colin Woodard

Joseph J. Ellis

Ellis's book is not Founding Fathers but Founding Brothers.

We are happy to have you with us and we look forward to reading your posts.

Bentley

David wrote: "Hi folks,

Just found the goodreads website towards the beginning of the year, which was fortunate since one of my things this is year is to read more. I have a bad habit of reading a book that I ..."

Hi David, welcome to the History Book Club, look forward to chatting with you and others about good books that you have read.

Welcome to Bishop and David. We are really getting a diverse group of readers here.

Hi Aussie Rick -

Yes, Prussia was wiped off the map at the end of WW2. It's got a really complex and interesting history. I think much of the German character evolved out of the Prussian sensibility. The militarism, nationalism, need for expansion (the Nazis called it Lebensraum or "living space"). I'm finding alot of parallels between Prussia and Germany the more I study. It's a fascinating history.

Bishop wrote: "Hi Aussie Rick -

Yes, Prussia was wiped off the map at the end of WW2. It's got a really complex and interesting history. I think much of the German character evolved out of the Prussian sensibili..."

I will have to steel myself to read the book, I have the hardback edition and its a pretty large book but then I suppose it has to be some size considering what its about. My fathers grandmothers side of the family immigrated to Australia from Prussia, so I have always been keen to read about her country. Did you find the book easy to read?

Folks...this thread is for intros. Now that we have gotten deep into another topic...it is time to try to move the conversation to the Off Topic thread:

OFF TOPIC THREAD

or to one of the Military History ones.

Thanks.

Bentley

This is my introduction to the group. I am just about 59 and have loved history forever. I mostly read military history but will read almost anything. I live just west of New Orleans but that will be changing soon. Married with a wife who prefers mysteries to history and three grown kids who are all out of the house but no grandkids yet.

Welcome to the group, Patricrk.

Thanks for joining the group, and please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions.

We will be looking for your posts.
Thanks again,
Joe

The book is extremely informative. I mean there is really alot of information. I guess whether or not its easy to read depends on how interested you are to learn. I find it fascinating but it's still a pretty dense book. You'll have to persevere. But I guarantee you'll learn a ton.

Welcome to our two new members!

Bishop wrote: "The book is extremely informative. I mean there is really alot of information. I guess whether or not its easy to read depends on how interested you are to learn. I find it fascinating but it's sti..."

Hi JP...we have a great site and a lot of threads for conversation. Here is the Off Topic Thread:

OFF TOPIC THREAD

Also, look for the Military History folder...that is where Aussie Rick hangs out (smile).

Bentley

Patricrk wrote: "This is my introduction to the group. I am just about 59 and have loved history forever. I mostly read military history but will read almost anything. I live just west of New Orleans but that wil..."

Patricrk.glad to have you with us. I think one of our group members Rick is also from New Orleans..not Aussie Rick.

I look forward to reading your posts.

All best,

Bentley

Patricrk wrote: "This is my introduction to the group. I am just about 59 and have loved history forever. I mostly read military history but will read almost anything. I live just west of New Orleans but that wil..."

"Loved history forever." What a great thing to be able to say. Some of us have learned to love history, or found the fun in it later in life. What a blessing to always have enjoyed it. Welcome Patricrk!

Hello All, my name in David Ponder and I am a minister in AR. I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy and other degrees in theology, though I have always had a love of history. I am an avid reader and look forward to reading and discussing books with you all. Also looking forward to the friendships that will be forged here as well.

Welcome David to the History Book Club. We also look forward to getting to know you better through your discussion of some wonderful books.

All best,

Bentley

Welcome, David. You'll find yourself at home here with lots of other avid reads and lovers of history. Enjoy!

Welcome to the group, David.
There is a lot going on here, and I'm sure you'll find something that will spark your interest. And all of us are looking forward to reading your posts.

Joe

Welcome, David. My sister lives in Fayetteville, AR. Beautiful part of the country.

Hello Gregory,

Welcome to the History Book Club. Glad to have you. One of my uncles before he passed away lived in the Walnut Creek area. In fact, I used to travel out there previously when I did some work in conjunction with Apple.

We are happy to have you in the group...however, we do not allow any self promotion. I do give some credit to authors who are also contributing members in another thread. Sorry but we do abide by a zero spam and self promotion rule here. I added the book you mentioned.

We also when citing books always post the book cover and the authors link and/or photo together.

Like this:

Kevin Starr

Also, I have placed you in the author's thread which is a thread where we highlight authors who are also contributing members to the group. As long as you are a contributing member we continue to have your link and the books that you have written posted there by the moderator. If you have a link to your review; send it to me via PM and I will place it in the proper location on our site.

Thanks for understanding but we apply the same policies to all.
Bentley

Hello, history people, I'm a new member, and I've been fascinated by history all my life. (Both of my parents were children in England during the Second World War, and their growing up stories set the history hook.) I've got a military history degree from West Point (Class of '88), and I'm particularly fascinated with the 1930s and 40s. I live in Walnut Creek, California, just east of Oakland. Professionally, I'm a writer who specializes in adventurous and historic subjects.

I'm excited about participating in the group.

Cheers, Greg

Gregory wrote: "Hello, history people, I'm a new member, and I've been fascinated by history all my life. (Both of my parents were children in England during the Second World War, and their growing up stories set ..."

Hi Gregory, welcome to the History Book Club, I'm sure you will have an enjoyable time discussing great books and pivotal moments in history. I usually hang out in the military history area so maybe I'll see you over there one day for a chat.

Gregory wrote: "Hello, history people, I'm a new member, and I've been fascinated by history all my life. (Both of my parents were children in England during the Second World War, and their growing up stories set ..."

Thanks a lot Greg...hope you enjoy the site.

Bentley

Welcome to the group, Greg. Sounds like you have a lot to contribute. Hope you enjoy it!

Welcome to the History Book Club, Gregory.
We are all looking forward to reading your posts, and hope to have some lively discussion.

Thanks for joining us,
Joe

Susanna wrote: "Er, this is a little complicated, LOL.

"Prussia" as an independent country disappeared in 1867, when it was one of the building blocks (the largest) of the North German Confederation. Which becam..."

there is a magnificent book on the era of Bismarck(1871) as Prussia was the creator of the German Empire and became the main cultural , economic , scientific and military power in the world ,in the first decade of XX century.iIn my opinion is essential.

The German Empire: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles) (Paperback)
~ Michael Sturmer (Author) Michael Sturmer

I liked story from my chilhood.I remember the fascination that produced Egyptian mummies pharaohs ... also had the luck to read books adapted for children for example the Iliad and Odyssey stimulating my imagination ...over the years has become a hobby more thoughtful but I keep my child illusion intact!!

Jeff wrote: "Welcome, Vivian. I'm pretty new here myself, but have really been enjoying the group reads. I strongly encourage you to join in one of these as the discussion is great and you'll get much more ou..."

Thanks, Jeff. I'll do that.

Jeff wrote: "Oh, and just so you know, Bentley or another mod is going to come along in a bit to show you how they prefer us to list books in our posts. This is because goodreads has a pretty spiffy cross-refe..."

I fixed it! ;)

Hi Eric W..we are glad to have you but unfortunately..no links which advertize personal blogs etc. I know that it is your goodreads profile and it is a link to your profile which does the same thing (lol); but please be mindful of that in the future. Folks really only have to click on your avatar to get there.

I will send you a copy of your "copy" and without that sentence...your intro is A-OK.

We are of course glad to have you. Teaching Company is fabulous and I love them too.

We hope to gain a lot from your input and your posts.

All best,

Bentley

Thanks Paul..glad to welcome you to the History Book Club. You will find that we have folks from around the world.

A love of history is all you need here.

Bentley

Good Morning all:

I'm Eric, 62, 7 children, 7 grandchildren, married 42 years, and read or listen to books all the time. I'm enamored of technology so books wind up on my Kindle, Nook, Gemstar 2150, iTouch, and Droid phone. Never be without books; you'll never be bored.

That being said, I read eclectically, wandering hither and yon through history and biography (especially as related to Supreme Court decisions and personalities) with multiple lapses leading to mysteries and spy tales.

Recently I've been on a Tudor era obsession listening to a course on Henry VIII and will probably meander into some historical fiction of the era. I very much enjoyed The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.

Before that, the problems of writing history intrigued me and I was especially taken by Past Imperfect: Facts, Fictions, and Fraud in the Writing of American History and History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past.

I also read a lot about the history of technology and here, my favorite author is Henry Petroski, who argues we learn more from our failures than our successes.

I love reading and writing reviews of books.

Peter Charles Hoffer

Tom Engelhardt

Hello Eric_W,

I love my Kindle too but also love the feel of books..however, the Kindle seems to be terrific for travel, easy to carry and weighs a whole lot less in your baggage.

We look forward to your posts and we are glad that you are here.

I hope you can help out with recommendations and discussions on our Tudor thread since that is an interest of yours.

Scroll down and look for the folder that is titled BRITISH HISTORY. Once there, click on View All and then you will be able to see all of the threads in that folder. As you are probably aware, unless you select view all...you can only see the threads which have the latest entries (the latest five) whereas in the BRITISH HISTORY folder there are actually 18 threads. Once you have clicked on View All, then scroll down until you find the thread called The Tudors. You should be in your element in that folder and especially with that thread.

History of Technology..that would be an interesting topic..I will have to add that to the queue and give that section some consideration.

The Supreme Court is intriguing but I am more than disgusted with them at this point (Scalia and his gang including Roberts); there was no need for this latest decision..and they just carried things too far and have now made the court appear to be quite tarnished I am afraid. I don't feel that their religion plays a part in their decisions, I do not see that. It is much more their political positions and their conservatism which influences them and in this case...it appears to me that they had some outside influencers or lobbying done...certainly not by McCain who is a moderate and Feingold. They were pretty much as appalled as was everyone else. How can the average citizen compete with an Exxon?

Now Henry VIII - he was an interesting fellow and I look forward to your thoughts about him and his decisions (both good and bad).

Being married 43 years nowadays is such an accomplishment..do you have secrets for that success?

In terms of citing books and authors, I appreciate that you attempted to do just that.

In the case of Penman's book there was no bookcover available so that is A-OK. However, if there is a bookcover available, we add that and the author's photo first and link like I did above.

Can't wait to read your posts. We have a section called The Amendments and the Bill of Rights in the Charters folder if you are interested in commenting further about the Supreme Court. We leave this thread to introductions and welcomes from our group.

All best Eric,

Bentley

Hello, my name is Bill and I have been reading biography and history almost exclusively for several years now, despite getting a degree in English Literature long ago. My primary areas of interest are American and English history. I look forward to future discussions on these and other topics.

I own a copy of American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis and found it be a great read and insightful take on an extraordinarily complex and enigmatic figure. In particular, I loved its analysis of the relationship between Jefferson and John Adams (which Ellis also touches on in Founding Brothers). Enjoy.

Welcome to the club, Vivian, Paul, Eric_W, and Bill.

Wow, this group is growing fast!
There is a lot for everyone in this group, and we are all happy to have you all here. Please feel free to join in any discussion you find that interests you, and we will be looking for your posts.

Joe

Welcome Bill to the History Book Club...we are glad to have you with us.

You should join in on the discussion of Jefferson. I am sure that Joe would appreciate your involvement.

One rule that we have is that whenever we mention a book and/or author..we always add the book cover and the photo of the author if available and the author's link..The goodreads software does phenomenal things in terms of cross referencing when you do that and your add is always remembered by the software no matter how long it has been since you have posted. It also assists the members in linking to a variety of topics regarding either the book and/or the author.

Joseph J. Ellis

Thanks, Bentley. I'll keep that in mind for future posts.

No problem..we are glad to have you with us.

Vivian...I am not sure if I welcomed you ..but sure happy to have you as part of the group too.

Welcome Vivian! I'm somewhat new to this group as well and like you didn't have such a positive experience learning history in school. You've come to the right group, nice people and great dialogue out here and a fabulous way to find suggestions for the to-read pile. Good to have you.