btp76
Reader
1/6/12 11:56 a.m.
I've never been much of a fan of history. I think it's mostly because of the watered down way it was presented in my youth. I was at the Alamo last weekend and didn't know much about it past the basics that everybody knows.
I'm looking for some interesting historical book recommendations. I would lean towards TX history just 'cause I can better relate to it. I'm in the heart of Bonnie and Clyde's stomping grounds, and 5 miles from where Kennedy was shot (However I don't want to spend a lifetime trying to figure out who was or wasn't on the grassy knoll).
I'm open to anything though, so recommend away.
"To Conquer the Air", by James Tobin. How two bicycle mechanics from Ohio managed to outsmart the world's leading scientists..and create the airplane.
Reads like a novel. Not much about TX, but plenty grassroots. 
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. -- Mark Twain
Just had to add that.
To Rule the Waves: How the Royal Navy Created the Modern World is a superb read.
Imperial Cruise will change all of your perceptions about Japan, the Philippines, and WWII.
In reply to Javelin:
Got an Amazon link to those, perchance?
PS - The Imperial Cruise is written by the same Historian/Author who did Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys. Extremely well researched and presented.
Unbroken was a great read: http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325875948&sr=1-1
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
A great read:
A People's History of the United States -- Howard Zinn
I'll second this recommendation. We actually used that as one of texts in one of my high school history classes.
DoctorBlade wrote:
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. -- Mark Twain
Just had to add that.
I think I just found a new favorite quote!
Since you mention the Barrow gang ...
Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn - Fairly detailed book about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The B&C buffs dispute some of his conclusions, but he gives several sources for some of the controversial points, and explains why he thinks this one or that is more accurate.
Being in the DFW area, you can check out many of the sites. Old man Barrow's gas station is still there, for example. A little Google-fu will help. (You might want to lock your car doors in West Dallas, where some of it took place. Bad area then, bad area now.)
Jay_W
Dork
1/6/12 4:45 p.m.
I just finished reading "the collected What If?- eminent historians imagine what might have been" and not only was it vastly entertaining, I got a great deal more out of it that other history books by the odd perspective it gave. What woulda happened to Western civilization if the battle of Salamis had gone the other way, if Churchill hadn't been PM during WWII, or if Ghengis Khan hadn't died ealy, what would China be like if they'd not stopped Zheng He's explorations, or if the potato hadn't been brought back to Europe by the Spaniards (that last one was a real surprise. We owe the good ol' tater for a whole lot more than just French fries)... Great book, highly recommended.
Oh yeah it also has an essay on what mighta gone down if LBJ hadn't gotten to the white house. Turns out he should never have gotten outta the state rep, his handlers pretty much stole the election...
Read the "Honor Bound" series by W.E.B. Griffin. It's a fictionalized series about WWII as it pertains to Argentina. The main character is from Texas.
It's a good read (I believe there are 4 books), fun and quite educational. He explains many details, customs and the relationships between Germany & Nazi's, Argentina/Brazil and the world, relationships between America and the world and with Germany & Argentina.
The 2 main characters are supposed to be real.
It also has a lot of car stuff, flying and sex. Hard to go wrong with that combo.
alex
SuperDork
1/6/12 6:57 p.m.
How about historical fiction? Devil In The White City is a page turner. Based on real events surrounding the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 - both the inner workings of building a city within a city with the eyes of the world upon the builders, and the story of a near-genius serial killer taking down his prey on the outskirts of the Expo. Great read.
Will
Dork
1/6/12 7:51 p.m.
James Hornfischer's "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors."
link
Go to TV Tropes and look at the real-life examples in Reality Is Unrealistic, and similar pages.
Three weeks later, when you're done navigating that site, you'll have some good leads on interesting historical happenings to look into.
(I'm kidding. You'll spend way more than three weeks there.)
Nothing Like it in the World: The Men who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869 By Stephen Ambrose. It explains how many things became a part of modern America, like a Chinese take out in every town.
Like the space shuttle? Like origins of a technical nature? Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions, 7th Edition by Dennis R Jenkins is the finest thing I have yet read.
It covers every aspect of the shuttle's development from the earliest rocket planes through innumerable revisions and culmination the first 100 missions in detail. Bare in mind that its about 400 pages and only the last 100 or so are the actual missions. 3/4 of the book leads up to STS1. Not a human story, just pure techno awesomeness.
EricM
SuperDork
1/7/12 8:57 a.m.
"sea Hunters" and "Sea Hunters II" by Clive Cussler
"All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque. If you are not crying at the end you aren't a man.
"Two Years Before The Mast" by Richard Henry Dana, and "Sailing Alone Around The World" by Joshua Slocum. The former would be the Great American Novel if it were fiction. The latter is the GRM manual, just written a hundred years ago.
1421 The Year China Discovered America
Written by a retired Royal Navy submarine commander. He makes a compelling case.
I Could Never Be So Lucky Again Jimmy Doolittle's autobiography
