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What should I read to learn more about history?

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Paul Graham
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The way to do it is piecemeal. You could just sit down and try reading Roberts's History of the World cover to cover, but you'd probably lose interest. I think i...

The way to do it is piecemeal. You could just sit down and try reading Roberts's History of the World cover to cover, but you'd probably lose interest. I think it's a better plan to read books about specific topics, even if you don't understand everything the first time through.

Here are the most exciting ones I can think of.

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Book
Civilisation
Civilisation
Kenneth Clark's sweeping narrative looks at how Western Europe evolved in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire, to produce the ideas, books, buildings, works of art and great individuals that make up our civilisation.
www.amazon.com
2 Recommenders
Recommended by Alan Kay and Paul Graham
Book
The New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History
The New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History
The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History illustrates in a chronological series of maps, the evolution and flux of races in Europe, the Mediterranean area and the Near East. From 50,000 B.C. to the fourth century A.D., it is one of the most successful of the bestselling historical atlas series.
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
Medieval Technology and Social Change
Medieval Technology and Social Change
In <i>Medieval Technology and Social Change</i>, Lynn White considers the effects of technological innovation on the societies of medieval Europe: the slow collapse of feudalism with the development of machines and tools that introduced factories in place of cottage industries, and the development o
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The World We Have Lost
The World We Have Lost
The World We Have Lost is a seminal work in the study of family and class, kinship and community in England after the Middle Ages and before the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The book explores the size and structure of families in pre-industrial England, the number and position
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1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Extension Of Man: A History Of Physics Before 1900
The Extension Of Man: A History Of Physics Before 1900
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1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
  • 1791
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
<b>Read about the fascinating life of Benjamin Franklin in this beautifully illustrated version of his autobiography.</b><br /><br />American icon Benjamin Franklin is known for many things: he published the famous <i>Poor Richard's Almanack</i>, helped found the world-famous University of Pennsylva
www.amazon.com
3 Recommenders
Recommended by James Clear, Paul Graham and Charlie Munger
Book
Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History
Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History
This best-selling book is a beautifully illustrated history of the English country house from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. In it, renowned architectural historian Mark Girouard presents a rare and revealing glimpse of the English upper classes—their public and personal lives, their serv
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
Mohammed and Charlemagne
Mohammed and Charlemagne
The final work of the great Belgian historian Henri Pirenne, this remarkable classic — published after his death — offers a revolutionary perspective on how Europe under the influence of a Roman Empire centered in Constantinople evolved into the Europe of Charlemagne and the Middle Ages.<br />Depart
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Fall of Constantinople 1453
The Fall of Constantinople 1453
This classic account shows how the fall of Constantinople in May 1453, after a siege of several weeks, came as a bitter shock to Western Christendom. The city's plight had been neglected, and negligible help was sent in this crisis. To the Turks, victory not only brought a new imperial capital, but
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
Guns, Sails and Empires: Technological Innovations and the Early Phases of European Expansion, 1400-1700
Guns, Sails and Empires: Technological Innovations and the Early Phases of European Expansion, 1400-1700
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1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
A History of Rome from Its Origins to 529 A.D
A History of Rome from Its Origins to 529 A.D
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Art of War in the Middle Ages
The Art of War in the Middle Ages
Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, KBE (1860 – 1946) was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. His style is an appealing mixture of astute analysis and dramatic
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Lives of the Artists
The Lives of the Artists
<p>Packed with facts, attributions, and entertaining anecdotes about his contemporaries, Vasari's collection of biographical accounts also presents a highly influential theory of the development of Renaissance art.</p><p>Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto, who represent the infancy of art, Vasari con
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century
The Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century
"This book is the liveliest account of African history ever written, covering over [one] thousand years of trans-Saharan trade. "Finely written and researched. ... This edition will no doubt whet the appetites of a fresh generation of scholars and students for greater knowledge of parts of Africa st
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
Caesar's Gallic War
Caesar's Gallic War
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
Book
The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought
The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought
For scientist and layman alike this book provides vivid evidence that the Copernican Revolution has by no means lost its significance today. Few episodes in the development of scientific theory show so clearly how the solution to a highly technical problem can alter our basic thought processes and a
www.amazon.com
1 Recommender
Recommended by Paul Graham
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