Gurkhal
Auror
Going to make a new attempt to take on the "Austro-Prussian War" by Geoffrey Wawro. Not overly long but very heavy so I hope that I will be able to finish it this time.
Straight up war narratives can be brutal to read. It's very difficult to do well. One of the very best was Sir Steven Runciman, who did not labor under the handicap of being a historian. ;-) The Crusades, The Sicilian Vespers, The Fall of Constantinople, all highly readable.
I didn't even know there were books. I'll have to get on to that.Anyone here read the Welcome to Night Vale novels?
I didn't even know there were books. I'll have to get on to that.
My general strategy for tackling a new topic is to go wide. If I'm after the Austro-Prussian War, I'll first aim for a history of the 19thc. If I'm ok at that level, then maybe just a history of 19thc Germany, and another for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then, given my interests, I'd head for some social history, but that's optional. A biography, maybe of one of the main participants, could be another entree to the more detailed level. I would use the straight military book(s) more as reference, or for reading the account of a specific battle. Cherry pick.
Fiction is easier to read, true enough, but one never knows what one is getting. Which bits are accurate, which have been twisted, and which invented? Never trust those historical fantasy writers.
My topics of interest tend to have a very high price of entry. It's so difficult to find reliable, quality information that isn't sold by a university press and therefore at least $50 for the ebook. I can't even look at the print prices without hyperventilating. It's probably because I'm mostly interested in the antique and ancient world and the farther back you get the fewer people seem to be interested and so books of accessible "popular history" (as opposed to books written for students or professionals who have no choice but to pay) become less profitable and rarer. Sigh.
What was it about the 19thc, and that particular war, that originally intrigued you? I ask to see if maybe you could find something similar (or create it, because: fantasy) back in ancient Greece.