Your favorite research materials.

[thedarknessrising]

When it comes to my writing, I can never do too much research (too bad I wasn't like that for my classes in high school). I like to incorporate different things in my books, and I love reading medieval histories, battle tactics, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and things that pertain to the craft of writing.

What has been the best book you've read, or video you watched, or website you've visited in order to do research for your novel? It can be about any topic. I want to learn as much as I can about various things to keep my options open for my own story.

 

[CupofJoe]

For a now failed project I got in to a lot of research about early cannons and I found two books that have become firm favourites...
Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe
Artillery Through the Ages
Both are "Old School" scholastic books with relatively few images and lots of text and and much of it incredibly detailed text. When a book goes in to the relative effectiveness of early renaissance gunpowders, you know you are on to a winner...

 

[buyjupiter]

A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman has been an invaluable source for a family history during some of those "turning points" of history. It follows the rise and fall of the de Montfort family in both England and France. It also delved into a bit of what daily life for a noble family would be like in the 14th century. This was the first history book I read and more importantly enjoyed. It's also responsible for part of my fascination with English/French medieval history.

And along the same lines, Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England is another good resource.

If you like podcasts, the British History Podcast is amazing. Just brilliant.

I know these focus on British and medieval resources especially, but I've found ways to use a lot of the historical past in one narrow time period and one heckuva varied culture in a lot of the things I write.