I feel the need to widen my horizon where history is concerned, but the days when I would fearlessly dive into just any dry and dusty tome are long gone. These days I like my books well written and readable as well as scholarly reliable and to that end I thought I'd see if there's any good advice to be had from you boys and girls.
What I'm looking for, primarily, are books on:
The Duchy of Burgundy
Ancient and feudal Japan
Pre-colonial India
The African kingdoms and empires of Kush, Mali, Ethiopia and Songhai.
Ayutthaya (Thailand)
The Bagan kingdom (Burma)
The Champa kingdom (Vietnam)
The Khmer kingdom (Cambodia)
Ancient China
I'm sure several of those are too obscure for many, or indeed any, suggestions to appear, but I'd be interested in, and grateful for, any suggestions you might have regarding history books you've particularly enjoyed.
Most of my own history books are currently in storage, but in case anyone is interested here's a few recommendations for books I can remember the titles of, or still have laying around:
John Julius Norwich:
Byzantium: The Early Centuries
Byzantium: The Apogee
Byzantium: The Decline and Fall
The Normans in Sicily
A History of Venice
Lord Kinross:
The Ottoman Centuries
Shelby Foote:
The Civil War - A Narrative (3 vol.)
John Prebble:
The Lion in the North
Mutiny: Highland Regiments in Revolt
Glencoe
The Highland Clearances
J. D. Mackie:
A History of Scotland
Nicholas V. Riasanovsky:
A History of Russia
Robert Fisk:
Pity the Nation
Paul Cartledge:
The Spartans: An Epic History
Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History c. 1300-362 BC
Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World
Noel Malcolm:
Kosovo: A Short History
Bosnia: A Short History