The History Book Club discussion

Thanks for joining Carla. I think it would be very cool to wonder around castles and ruins. Welcome!

Hey everyone my name is William. Thanks to Bentley for the invite. My primary interest areas of history are the Bronze Age of the Aegean and Near East. I also have a strong interest in ancient languages as well, again in the Near East and Anatolian regions such as Hittite and Sumerian. Feel free to browse my library for recommendations on books.

Welcome William, glad you joined our group.

I'm sure you have read through some of this thread, but just in case, message #945 above has instructions on how to add bookcovers and author links when you are ready.

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

Take a few moments to read our policies:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us moderators. I hope you find the discussions interesting for you.

Welcome William,

Glad you are joining us. Possibly you can give us some additional recommendations for the Ancient History folder and threads.

I am going overseas soon in a few hours but know that you are in good hands with the other moderators like Bryan, Joe, Elizabeth, Aussie Rick, Simon and JP

Welcome Carla, we are a 'broad church' here, but a great group and some fine minds... not me though!

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

Hi Carla and William, welcome to the HBC and I look forward to discussing some good books with you both.

Hi, all. Thanks for the invitation to join. My main interest is in ancient Rome, late Republic/early imperial periods, both non-fiction and fiction (of which there's quite a bit). I'm retired and live in Berkeley CA.

Hello Vicki,

Welcome to the History Book. Glad you are here. Since I am out of the country for a bit...and I am catching another flight...I will keep this short.

I am sure you will find something of interest here.

Bentley

Hi All:
My name is Rex, I just joined. I have an interest in American History, particularly the Revolutionary War period. I traveled a lot as a kid visiting over 30 states, and countless historical sites which is how that interest started. The bookshelf for this club has a lot of reads that I am interested in. As far as non-historical reading I enjoy Dystopian Fiction, business/finance books, sports books.

Hi Vicki & Rex,

Welcome and nice to see you both at the HBC. I am looking forward to chatting with you Vicki about Rome and its history and in regards to your passion about the Revolutionary War period Rex I am sure we will both find lots to talk about along with many of the other folks here.

Welcome Suzy, Vicki & Rex:

I hope you find some interesting discussions here.

Hi all,

Thank you for the welcome. I majored in history and philosophy, and I am currently working on my Ph.D. in philosophy. I still have a love for anything history, and in my spare time enjoy getting back to my roots and picking up a good history book. My favorite areas of history are 20th century American history (particularly 1900-1970); history of the British monarch, middle eastern history, and WWII.

I look forward to some great and insightful discussions!

Welcome, Mindy. Glad you could join us. I enjoy the fusion of philosophy into history (intellectual history) myself.

Just some housekeeping: 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.) 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. This is how a book should look:

by
Joseph J. Ellis

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

Take a few moments to read our policies:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

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

Hi Mindy, Welcome to the group, I hope you have a good time discussing great books here with the rest of the crowd.

Mindy wrote: "Hi all,

Thank you for the welcome. I majored in history and philosophy, and I am currently working on my Ph.D. in philosophy. I still have a love for anything history, and in my spare time enjoy..."

Middle-Eastern history? Having spent a long time here and part of the scenery (with ten years working in a cultural institution in Kuwait) it is, or at least aspects are a passion for me.

Suzy..we are happy to have you but we have a zero spam policy and no links or references of self promotion whatsoever. Our guidelines are rigorous; but quite clear and consistent for all. When you press the reply button and your reference is mentioned again, that is unfortunately not allowable either (the reference is still there). We do have an author's thread but only for members who have contributed in some way and are active members of the group on other threads and/or have been long standing members. We especially frown upon any mention of personal endeavors, threads, or personal links here on good reads or elsewhere. Our membership is really here to avoid self marketing of all kinds.

As soon as you are a contributing member and have a long term membership, we are happy to post a picture of your book cover and your author's link on goodreads. We do not go beyond that and we post the reference after the above has been satisfied.

This particular thread is only for a brief and very general introduction. Our rules and guidelines are the rules and guidelines for this group. Every group's guidelines vary.

Thank you for understanding and your anticipated cooperation.

Bentley

Bentley wrote: "Suzy..we are happy to have you but we have a zero spam policy and no links or references of self promotion whatsoever. Our guidelines are rigorous; but quite clear and consistent for all. When yo..."
I will do my best to get it right. So sorry. I'll delete my posts. Suzy

Suzy I understand...being new and the fact that every group on goodreads has their specific rules and guidelines which also vary from one to another.

Bryan wrote: "Welcome, Mindy. Glad you could join us. I enjoy the fusion of philosophy into history (intellectual history) myself.

Just some housekeeping: Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with th..."

Thank you Bryan for posting the guidelines and helping out all new members especially since I have been out of pocket. Also a special thank you goes to Aussie Rick, Joe, and Elizabeth for holding the fort while I am out of the country sometimes with no, very little or limited access to the internet. Also, from the airports the goodreads connection would drop; so unfortunately access to the site was short lived.

Rex wrote: "Hi All:
My name is Rex, I just joined. I have an interest in American History, particularly the Revolutionary War period. I traveled a lot as a kid visiting over 30 states, and countless historical..."

Hello Rex,

Welcome to the History Book Club.

We are sincerely happy to have you with us.

All best,

Bentley

Welcome to William, Vicki, Rex, Mindy, and Suzy! Glad to have you all with us. There's lots to read and discuss. Let us know if you have any questions. We all enjoy history together.

Mindy wrote: "Hi all,

Thank you for the welcome. I majored in history and philosophy, and I am currently working on my Ph.D. in philosophy. I still have a love for anything history, and in my spare time enjoy..."

Hello Mindy...it sounds like you will be a great asset to the group. Welcome.

Bentley

Thank you for the invitation to join the group. I'm not sure how much I will be able to contribute, but I am enjoying reading some of the older threads. I am in the UK and I studied archaeology. I work for a museum. I'm not even reading anything historical at the moment, but I will let you know when I am, if I can figure out how to do the cover photo thingy!

Hello Duntay,

The goodreads feature is really quite simple and the thread called Mechanics of the Board gives the long and the short of it. First, a very detailed set of directions for adding the book cover, author's photo and author's link followed by a simpler and much more streamlined set of directions for those who are quite computer saavy.

Winston S. Churchill

Hi Duntay, welcome to the group, I am sure you'll have a good time here talking about good books or great history.

Richard Hingley

Thanks! (just practising - I think I've got it!)

Welcome Duntay. You are getting closer with the links, so keep practicing. Don't hesitate to ask one of us moderators if you need it.

Welcome, Duntay. And good job getting that cover and author to work! Looks great. Glad you enjoy some of the older threads. I think working for a museum would be really interesting. Feel free to jump into any discussion that looks interesting to you.

Hello Evan:

I'm Bryan one of the moderators. We are happy to have you but I have to warn you that we have a zero spam policy and no links or references of self promotion whatsoever. Our guidelines are rigorous; but quite clear and consistent for all. I hope you understand that our membership is really here to avoid self marketing of all kinds.

The good news is that as soon as you become a contributing and long-standing member, we are happy to post a picture of your book cover and your author's link on one of our threads. We do not go beyond that and we post the reference after you established a relationship with our members.

This particular thread is only for a brief and very general introduction, so I would like you to simply edit your message by removing your book references, or rewrite accordingly. If not, the message will be deleted. I find it easier and more hospitable if you simply edit the message, because we do want you to join and we want to learn about your history interests.

Also, 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.) 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. This is how the books you've mentioned should look:

by John Ralston Saul

by Jared Diamond

Tom Holland

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

Take a few moments to read our policies:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

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

Thanks Evan and welcome again!

I hear very good things about Diamond's book.

Welcome Evan, interesting job, but that discussion is best left to the off-topic section of the site. Nice to see you here!

Hi Evan,

Nice to see you here and hope to dicuss some fine books with you soon.

Hello everyone, I am Arminius. I chose the name because he is an admirable historical figure and I am private about personal information. I read mostly history books of all sorts.

Welcome, Arminius. Glad you could join us.

Take a few moments to read our policies:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

When you are ready to suggest books in a discussion thread, take a look at the add book/author feature.

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

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

Hi Arminius, good to see you at the History Book Club, I am sure you will have a great time discussing books here.

Arminius wrote: "Hello everyone, I am Arminius. I chose the name because he is an admirable historical figure and I am private about personal information. I read mostly history books of all sorts."

Glad to have you with us Arminius and welcome to the History Book Club.

Welcome, Arminius. We've got history books of all sorts running around here. I hope one of our current or future reads fits in with your tastes. Jump in to any of the discussions and enjoy!

Hi all,

I just joined this group today ... thanks Bentley for inviting me. I have been reading history for only a few years but am still thoroughly enthralled; fiction no longer holds my interest. There is something about knowing that what you are reading actually happened (or likely happened) that makes it so compelling.

My favorite periods are Ancient Greece, The Renaissance, The Enlightenment and the American Revolution.

I have a Kindle .... love it. I still get a kick out of ordering a book and having it arrive on my kindle in seconds. wow

I have way more audio-books than Kindle books though... about 250 or so... most of which either came from the local library or were downloaded from audible.com or librivox.org. At present, most of my reading is actually done listening.

I decided to start American Sphinx today since that's what many of you are reading. I think it would be great fun to read a book along with other people.

Thanks for inviting me to join the group and I look forward to participating.

We are glad to have you Marje...I too have a kindle and download a lot from audible too.

Still love hardcovers but too expensive to travel with in terms of baggage allowances nowadays.

Joseph J. Ellis

Ellis's book is a great read and I know that you will enjoy it. Joe is doing a great job moderating Sphinx.

Also take a look at message 989 that Bryan, another one of our assisting moderators sent to Evan. It has a lot of good stuff about our guidelines, orientation info, about our rule adding book covers, author's links, photos etc. so that the goodreads software can do its job in populating our site correctly. All great info and Bryan has put together some great links.

Since we have threads on some of your favorite historic time periods, I hope that you will join us in posting and that you will have some great discussions about great books, events and people. I will be able to be more active once again when I am back from my trip to Asia and not traveling or otherwise engaged in meetings, etc.

In the meantime...all best,

Bentley

Hi Marje, good to see you join the group and like you I love reading history rather than fiction (no offence meant to those who enjoy fiction). I hope to enjoy a few chats with you in regards to your favourite areas of history in the appropriate threads.

Welcome, Marje. Glad to have you with us. Sounds like there are a lot of discussions here that you will enjoy. I hope you enjoy American Sphinx. It sounds like a great read.

by

Hi Marje:

Welcome to the group. I look forward to your insights on American Sphinx.

Hi all,

Thanks for the invite Bentley; this looks like a great group, and I'm looking forward to embarking on Gibbon with other folks. I'm originally from just outside Atlanta, GA, and I now practice law in Washington DC. I was a history (and political science) major in college, and I concentrated in Early Modern Europe and, in particular, political theory and intellectual history. I also have a keen interest in theatre history. My historical interests are quite broad, and of late I've found myself reading more in the areas of ancient history, including early Christianity, and (far removed from those) late eighteenth century American history. But, I'm always game for discussing Stuart England, Shakespeare, the Enlightenment, or the French Revolution.

Personally, I have two young kids (three and not-yet-one) and love college football and basketball. And, yes, the NCAA tournament and a newborn have cut into my reading time recently.

Hi Brant! ~ Welcome to the group. I am sure you will find no shortage of discussions and topics that pique your interest so jump in. It's a very welcoming group and we have a couple of terrific moderators. There are rules for posting book covers, promotion, etc, so you might check out that topic thread early on. Fairly straightforward, but good to know.

I'm also a college sports fan and find my reading time drops off during March Madness and bowl season. I can imagine with little kids in the house you have your hands full!

Brant, welcome to the History Book Club. We look forward to your joining in on the Gibbon debate.

Edward Gibbon

We have a few lawyers in the group. The topic areas that you have noted will fit in nicely with the group. Were you a Cornell fan? Sort of proud to see the Ivy League advance.

But whoever you are rooting for...it is all good. Having a newborn would cut into anybody's reading. Unless you can balance the baby bottle and the newborn in one hand and a book in the other, having a new baby will cut into anybody's style...but I am sure you are delighted with your new arrival and it is all worth it. (smile).

Bentley

Hi Brant, welcome to the group and I look forward to discussing some interesting books with you along with all the rest of the group. I'm sure you'll have a fun time here.

Hi Brant, I'd like to welcome you, as well.

I understand where you are coming from since I have a 1 year old (and he is sick right now). And Bentley is right, I held my son with one arm and clicked the "Next Page" button on my Kindle with the other. You do what you can when you can.

Bryan and others...you better get the Trendy Digital Water Proof Case for your Kindle then just in case you drop the bottle or in my case a cup of coffee on it...that is what I have now to protect my new "replacement" Kindle. I was so mad at myself when that happened but as you know liquid is deadly to Kindles; whereas it only stains your book. Bryan, sorry your little one is sick right now.

I love mine though, it was so easy traveling with it. And even in Singapore - I downloaded a book in seconds (the global one).

So Brant for that juggling sequence a Kindle would do just fine so that you could do that balancing act. Of course you could do the same thing with the new Nook out or the Sony E Reader. Gee aren't we helpful...when maybe all you really want to do is look at that wonderful new addition to your family.

We are glad to have you with us.

B

Welcome, Brant. It is exciting to see how many people are looking forward to the Gibbons read. And nice to have history experts around. Glad to have you join us!