Good books about History. suggestions??

Question

I am going on an airplane trip. my dad is coming too. he doesnt read much at all. but he wants a book for the ride. hes in his late 40s and wants to read a book about histrory, any suggestions? thanks

Answer 1

Books by antonio Fraser

Also try Samuel Pepys - the unequalled self by claire tomalin. its apparently superb

The seventeenth century saw a revolution in man’s thought, as Isaac Newton and others began the scientific study of the universe around them. At the same time a shrewd young civil servant in London began to observe, with something of the same dispassionate curiosity, the strange object around which, for him, the universe revolved–himself. For ten years, beginning in 1660, Samuel Pepys secretly kept one of the most remarkable records ever made of a human life.

With astounding candor and perceptiveness he described his ambitions and peculations, his professional successes and failures, his pettinesses and meannesses, his tenderness toward his wife and the irritations and jealousies she provoked, his extramarital longings and fumblings, his coolly critical attitude toward the king he served and his watchful adaptation to the corrupt and treacherous life of the court. Pepys’s diary is a magnificent creation.

But there is more to Samuel Pepys than his diary, as Claire Tomalin makes clear in this profoundly original biography. Buttressing it with less familiar sources and other contemporary material, she is able to illuminate his entire life–as a poor London tailor’s son, as a schoolboy rejoicing at the execution of Charles I, as an aspiring clerk with good connections who transforms himself into a royalist, escorting Charles II to England for the Restoration. Then there is the bureaucrat heroically working against the odds to create a modern navy, finding his way through the dangerous years of political and religious conflict (even, at one point, being charged with treason and jailed), peacefully retiring at last with his books and his music and his friends.

It is Claire Tomalin’s unique skill as a biographer to achieve extraordinary intimacy with her subject, and Pepys is no exception. To the endlessly fascinating question of his relations with women, for example, she brings the same insight and freshness of approach that distinguished such highly praised books as Jane Austen and The Invisible Woman. At the same time, the historical context is never less than brilliantly evoked. The result is exemplary, by far the most revealing–and readable–portrait of the greatest diarist in the English language, a man of unmatched interest and importance.

Answer 2

well my dad (who is in his 40's) really liked a book called under the black flag. it is like the life of the most imfamous pirates ever.

if ur dad isnt into that kinda stuff then maybe try some other time period. i really liked the black flag book though!! awesome!!

Answer 3

Maus is a comic-type book about the holocaust, I loved it. It's by Art Spiegelman.

Answer 4

One history book that I really enjoyed is Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. It is about the travels of Lewis and Clark during their expedition to find the Northwest Passage. It is very detailed and informative, but you don't feel like you are reading a history book. The author includes a lot of stuff that usually doesn't go into other history books.

If he is looking for something a little more current, then I would suggest Ambrose's D-Day or Band of Brothers - both about WW II.

Ambrose writes non-fiction for people who don't want to read a text book, so it is easily understandable, informative and fun to read. He also covers several other eras of American history, so maybe you can find something else he has written that might be more to your fathers' tastes.

Answer 5

At your library check for books by authors like Robert Sherwood.

Answer 6

Don't know much about History by Kenneth C. Davis - Filled with interesting tidbits about history

Lies my Teacher told me by James W. Loewen- textbook I had for my critical thinking course. It's about all the things mentioned in High School history books that are completely wrong

Everything we had by Al Santoli- First hand narratives from the enlisted and drafted men and women about the "War" in Vietnam. Very good read!