Serious Help: History Ebooks?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy

I have seen some horrific editing in Wikipedia, obvious lies and such, but in this day and age, I don't know of too many people who still use the old Encycopedia Britannica anymore.

I use it. It's a very good way of getting a well-informed overview of a subject prior to doing more detailed research. Obviously not in areas which change rapidly such as science or technology, but most of my interests lie in the fields of history and the arts, for which my 1996 printed version of "Britannica" is still a wonderful resource.

Plus, of course, it's fascinating simply to pull a volume at random off my bookshelf, open it, and read it, knowing that what you're reading is authoritative authorship of the highest standard.

You can pick up a set of Britannica for peanuts these days on eBay. If anyone has the physical space for it (it needs about 12' of shelf space) I'd highly recommend getting a copy. I think I paid £30 (about $50) for mine.

[willyr]

George Sansom's three-volume A History of Japan is a must read. Unfortunately, there are just paperbooks available.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by willyr

George Sansom's three-volume A History of Japan is a must read. Unfortunately, there are just paperbooks available.

Sansom is fairly outdated these days, there is so much new research since his time that provides a much better picture of Japanese history.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

[Moloko]

Just a thought but since you've mentioned Wikipedia, they do have references linked. Perhaps you could check those to find books and see if they've been released as e-books as well.

[willyr]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Sansom is fairly outdated these days, there is so much new research since his time that provides a much better picture of Japanese history.

I agree, but it was my first book about Japanese history, hence the sentiment.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Sansom is fairly outdated these days, there is so much new research since his time that provides a much better picture of Japanese history.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

One of the problems is that such topics aren't normally best seller material, so there aren't very many non academic writers out there. By that, I mean writers for the general public rather than for purely academic readers.

I ran into this problem trying to find a good book on ancient Chinese history. An awful lot of the ancient history ebooks parrot back the local equivalent of George Washington and the Cherry Tree as fact. The best seem to have been written anywhere from the 1920's to the 1950's.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

For books on Japanese history, do a search for the following authors:

Marius Jansen
Donald Keen
Conrad Totman
John Whitney Hall
Stephen Turnbull

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

Thanks for the recommendations. I picked up Totman's A history of Japan and two of Turnbull's books. Also picked up A History of Japan by Mason and Caiger.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by willyr

I agree, but it was my first book about Japanese history, hence the sentiment.

Ahh, they do tend to stay with us. Wonder if it would become available on Gutenberg. As a free offering it would be an excellent introduction.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Thanks for the recommendations. I picked up Totman's A history of Japan and two of Turnbull's books. Also picked up A History of Japan by Mason and Caiger.

As you'll see Turnbull deals exclusively with the warrior class, so in order to get a fuller picture it is indispensable to partake of some other works as well.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

One of the problems is that such topics aren't normally best seller material, so there aren't very many non academic writers out there. By that, I mean writers for the general public rather than for purely academic readers.

I ran into this problem trying to find a good book on ancient Chinese history. An awful lot of the ancient history ebooks parrot back the local equivalent of George Washington and the Cherry Tree as fact. The best seem to have been written anywhere from the 1920's to the 1950's.

Yes, academic works are much more common, yet harder to find. But history, even in its academic cloak, isn't that difficult to read and most of the really good historians also tend to write at least one popular version on their specialty. If nothing else out of vanity, they like to be invited as experts, be it to news shows or Senate hearings.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

As you'll see Turnbull deals exclusively with the warrior class, so in order to get a fuller picture it is indispensable to partake of some other works as well.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

Yes, I already had one of his books in paper. The martial arts is one of my hobbies.

As I said, I bought two of the general histories of Japan as well. I'm mostly interested in ancient history, so I got books that at least cover that time period.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Yes, academic works are much more common, yet harder to find. But history, even in its academic cloak, isn't that difficult to read and most of the really good historians also tend to write at least one popular version on their specialty. If nothing else out of vanity, they like to be invited as experts, be it to news shows or Senate hearings.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

I actually do have a number of academic books on ancient middle eastern history, only a couple of them are in ebook (but quite expensive). I find that in general, academic specific writing tends to be quite dry, with the assumption that the reader is already extremely knowledgeable in the subject. Of course, you might be referring to text books when you say academic.

[Kumabjorn]

Well, if you want an overview it will be either textbooks or popular science. When you enter the realm of academic books the subject is much more narrow and you have to ensure a third or so which deals in method. When reading those for my own erudition I simply skip those parts since they don't add anything that interests me.

Also, I should have been clearer. By academic books I just meant books written by academics. Big difference when writing for tenure and when writing for market.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Well, if you want an overview it will be either textbooks or popular science. When you enter the realm of academic books the subject is much more narrow and you have to ensure a third or so which deals in method. When reading those for my own erudition I simply skip those parts since they don't add anything that interests me.

Also, I should have been clearer. By academic books I just meant books written by academics. Big difference when writing for tenure and when writing for market.

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

Yea, some definition of terms is required.

When I think of a general history book, I think of books for the general public that popularizes a subject. Think David McCullough and Barbara Tuchman.

Text books might be someone like Susan Wise Bauer (an excellent History of Western World series)

General audience academic might be Samuel Noah Kramer's - The Sumerians - Their History, Culture and Character. (really good, btw. )

Academic might be Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC by William Hamblin.