History: Actual, Fictional and Legendary discussion

Marco has suggested that we choose a book to read give ourselves a month or so to read it then discuss it here.

What do you think?

Do you want a theme for the nominations or just a free for all?

I would be interested in a group read even if I couldn't participate every month because of other group reads and personal reading.

Probably not for me -- It's difficult for me to do a group read due to my numerous commitments elsewhere. However, I do think it's a good idea (if) I can ever get invovled. -- How's that for non commital :)

I like the idea.
What I'm reading now isn't history.
Two books I hope to read soon are.

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel

Are either of interest to others?

For the sake of getting started, I vote for David's first suggestion to read The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman.

I think it's a good idea. Even if I will have a hard time finding the books I will enjoy following the discussions.

I've got Galileo's Daughter coming (I hope soon!) in a book ring, so I'll second that one!!

I can't commit to reading each book every month, but I certainly support the idea of doing so.

Sera wrote: "I can't commit to reading each book every month, but I certainly support the idea of doing so."

I think the way we are going is that we will pick a theme and suggest books that could be read on that theme.

At the end of the month I will pose some questions related to the theme and members can respond based on what they have read or what they already know.

For example, if WW I is the theme and I've already read the The Guns of August, I can comment based on that or some other book I've read or just based on my general knowledge of the period.

No need to commit to read any book that you would not read anyway.

I like the theme idea, Ed. Makes it possible to learn something about a specific period/theme/topic (which appeals to me greatly) without having to search out a specific book, which in my case would be quite difficult.

I'd like to suggest that as our first theme we focus on World War One. Since we are a week into November, let's target January 1 for the beginning of the formal discussion.

If someone has a strong aversion to this choice, let's discuss.

Meanwhile, here are some books you might want to consider reading or refreshing yourself about.

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman.

The First World War by John Keegan.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

The Somme by Lyn Macdonald.

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves.

A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot(also an excellent movie).

Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen by Wilfred Owen

Gallipoli by Alan Moorehead. (There is also a very good Australian movie about Gallipoli directed by Peter Wier).

Through the Wheat A Novel of the World War I Marines by Thomas Boyd.

Last but not least: Sergeant York An American Hero by David D. Lee (The 1941 movie directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper is excellent).

You can find a number of other choices at the Goodreads "Popular World War One Books" at: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show?s....

Good choice Ed... I just happen to have A Farewell to Arms sneaking up on TBR!! Should be just about to the top for January!

I already have A Farewell To Arms. But If I can I will join in. I already have a couple of big books for Jan.

Eventually I want to read The Decline Of The Roman Empire-Edward Gibbon

carol (akittykat) wrote: "Eventually I want to read The Decline Of The Roman Empire-Edward Gibbon"

You can suggest The Roman Empire as a theme for February or whenever.

Ed wrote: "carol (akittykat) wrote: "Eventually I want to read The Decline Of The Roman Empire-Edward Gibbon"

You can suggest The Roman Empire as a theme for February or whenever."

ok

Some more suggestions for World War I:

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, by Siegfried Sassoon (memoir)

Storm of Steel, by Ernst Junger (memoir)

The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, by Jaroslav Hasek (novel)

Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain (memoir)

Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear (novel)

Eye-Deep in Hell Trench Warfare in World War I, by John Ellis (the Western front)

Dreadnought and Castles of Steel, by Robert K. Massie (the war at sea)

A War Imagined The First World War and English Culture, by Samuel Hynes (the Home Front in Britain)

Journey's End Play, by R. C. Sherriff (drama)

The Price of Glory Verdun 1916; Revised Edition, by Alastair Horne (battle history)

carol (akittykat) wrote: "Ed wrote: "carol (akittykat) wrote: "Eventually I want to read The Decline Of The Roman Empire-Edward Gibbon"

You can suggest The Roman Empire as a theme for February or whenever."

ok"

Cool! Love the Roman Empire.

I just happen to have

Goodbye to All That in my never ending TBR stack. :)

So I will nominate The Decline Of The Roman Empire for Febuary 2010.

Sorry, I posted on the WW1 thread before I saw this one.

Ed wrote: "Sera wrote: "I can't commit to reading each book every month, but I certainly support the idea of doing so."

I think the way we are going is that we will pick a theme and suggest books that could ..."

This all sounds very fair, and alot easier to keep up with!!!(as I watch yet another escape artist doggy flash by the window!)

World War One is an excellent theme for January's discussion. Today is Armistice Day. How appropriate. And convenient, too. I'm halfway through The Guns of August.

Thanks to all for the input.

Marco wrote: "Can we nominate themes for February's discussion?"

Marco,

You can do whatever you want. But I'd like to wait until December 1 to process Feb. nominations, otherwise, I'll just get confused.

I just ordered The First World War by John Keegan from Paddyfield.com here in Hong Kong. I can hardly wait to start reading it.

Remember, January One starts the discussion of WW I right after hangover recovery.

I love the idea of a theme instead of a single book. And thanks for all the suggestions for WWI books. I had three of them on my TBR.
See you in January!

Yes, I like the idea of themes as well. More leeway, but still with something in common.

Dear Members,

Even though we haven't started our discussion of WW One, it's time to choose a theme for February.

I'll collect all suggestions and then send out a poll sometime before the first of the year.

Some of you have already expressed your wishes and I'd appreciate getting them again in a separate comment so that I don't miss anything.

Democratically yours,

Chief Curmudgeon Ed

A suggestion for Theme of the Month - Suffering and Survival

It is a somewhat depressing theme, yet it is sometimes inspiring.
It has given us some remarkable books.
Under the heading of Prisoners, I list three groups, and some books.

-- Slavery --
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs
Night of the Silent Drums by John Lorenzo Anderson

-- Prisoners of Criminal Justice --
The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes
The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault

-- Prisoners of War --
Night by Elie Wiesel
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Song of Survival: Women Interned by Helen Colijn
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March by Michael & Elizabeth Norman
Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman

This is all caused by man.
Suffering and survival at the hands of Mother Nature is another theme.

The Romans for February sounds fun.

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be great to get some more suggestions for theme of the Month for Feb. so we have more choices.

Whaddya think?

Ed
Chief Curmudgeon

Well, we could go from WWI right into WWII and explore not just that era but the progression/relationships between them.

Kay wrote: "Well, we could go from WWI right into WWII and explore not just that era but the progression/relationships between them."

Makes a lot of sense.

While I support going on to WW II, I think maybe we should do something different and take on WW II later in 2010.

I will second the Roman Empire, suggested by carol, although not necessarily the decline, any topic will do.

Romans?
Bah! Humbug!
What have the Romans ever done for us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6...

David wrote: "
Romans?
Bah! Humbug!
What have the Romans ever done for us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6...
"
LOL! I'd forgotten that skit. Will have to watch The Life of Brian again some time.

Might be fun to do either the Roman Republic (difficult) or the Roman Empire starting with Octavian.

Please keep those suggestions coming.

David wrote: "
Romans?
Bah! Humbug!
What have the Romans ever done for us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6...
"

Very funny! I saw "Life of Brian" but don't remember this piece. It was a long, long time ago.

David wrote: "Romans? Bah! Humbug!
What have the Romans ever done for us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6..."

I love this movie... can't remember the last time I saw it!

Hmm. I just don't know what theme to offer.I am open to the Roman Empire.

How about I offer up a subject for March...my nomination is the Antikythera Mechanism.

Uh, how many books are there on the Antikythera Mechanism?

Oh I thought we were looking for themes. I didn't know that books were the only source material as a rule. Sorry about that.

:)

Candy wrote: "Hmm. I just don't know what theme to offer.I am open to the Roman Empire.

How about I offer up a subject for March...my nomination is the Antikythera Mechanism."

What the heck is it?

Ooh it's awesome...see if it was an elected theme we could all learn about it! Ha ha!

I warned you I had a weird obscure interest in history!

:)

Candy wrote: "..my nomination is the Antikythera Mechanism."

it is the coolest thing, and I would purely love to see it:



(Wikip) The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and offered to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. Other reconstructions are on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana and the Children's Museum of Manhattan in New York and in Kassel, Germany.

I think it could easily fall under a larger theme of the Ancient Greeks.

Susanna wrote: "I think it could easily fall under a larger theme of the Ancient Greeks."

Awesome.
I think we could discuss the Peloponnesian War and the Persian invasion as well. cmiiw

Ed wrote: "Might be fun to do either the Roman Republic (difficult) or the Roman Empire starting with Octavian.

Please keep those suggestions coming. "

Oohh nice topic! I am especially intrigued with the rebellions during the Republic/Empire, e.g. the one led by Tiberius Gracchus.

The Theme for March will be the Roman Empire from Augustus, the first Emperor, to the Fall of the City of Rome to the Goths in 412 AD.

I'll Post a partial reading list in a day or two.

We'll continue our discussion of WW I until March 1.

We can start posting about Rome immediately much as we did with the last theme. I'll set up a topic for contributions like good books or movies.

I apologize for the lateness of my thematic change but I gotta tell you, shingles has really taken its toll out of me.

Hello Everyone,

I just joined Good Reads yesterday (hence the single book on my home page), and was delighted to discover this group today. Already I find that I must add a suggestion for the Theme for March. One of my favorite books dealing with the time period is:

Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem

Thanks!

I love this idea. Clearly we've started by bouncing around a bit, but do y'all think there's any merit to proceeding in a sortof linear way? The theme after Rome would then be the Byzantine era, or the Middle Ages, or possibly the Golden Age of Islam.

I'm not necessarily arguing for it; I think there's also value in ricocheting wildly from time to time, so that if there're a lot of people interested in a specific era, we can feel free to go there next. (And also because if we proceed from Rome, we will never get to ancient Greece.)

Alex wrote: "I love this idea. Clearly we've started by bouncing around a bit, but do y'all think there's any merit to proceeding in a sortof linear way? The theme after Rome would then be the Byzantine era, ..."

The themes we explore are chosen based on what the members of the group want so your idea could be one of many we consider. Thanks for offering your thoughts.