Readers' Guide to History Books, 5/2/97

This list is for people who peruse the history section of bookstores or
book catalogs, wondering which ones are reputable. I have observed that
Barnes and Noble bookstore sells reprints of 19th-century history books
with no indication when they were written.  The goal is to list, for
each of many historical topics, The One Book To Read (TOBTR) if you
read just one, the standard work, a book of sources in convenient form,
and a book of literature in convenient form. However, where I have no
definitive selection, more entries are listed, but you can figure that
a book on this list (aside from those marked with a question mark) has
a decent mainstream reputation.

Ideally, entries would be selected by someone who already knows history
and takes the trouble to read all the popular history books just to see
how good they are. I am not that person. I culled entries from numerous
reading lists (one of the best sources of this type of information is
highschool and college world-history textbooks; another is
encyclopedias). I also took promising-looking entries from book
catalogs--such entries are marked with a question mark. Entries are
very short so that an entry fits on a single line along with an
adjective or two (which are taken from the lists). Dates indicate the
first publication of the latest revision that I find reference to. This
list is out-of-date since I collected the information from somewhat old
sources; furthermore it will never achieve perfection since new books
are written and reputations continue to advance and decline.  If you
send me information about books and their reputations, Im likely to
take you for someone who knows and update the list accordingly.

Some obvious observations: these are in English, and the topical
breakdown emphasizes political history and the Western World. Though a
list like this helps people know when they are reading mainstream
ideas, slavish adherence to such a list would cause a reader to miss
variety of opinion as well as many important topics.

Some sources of books: (aside from local libraries and bookstores)
Clubs:
BOMC (Camp Hill PA 17011-9974).
Quality Paperback Book Club.
History Book Club (BOMC, Camp Hill PA 17011-9974).
Mail order:
Barnes & Noble Books by Mail (126 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011).
The Scholar's Bookshelf (110 Melrich Road, Cranbury, NJ 08512).
A Common Reader (141 Tompkins Ave., Pleasantville, NY 10570).

World History:
Garraty. *Columbia History of the World*. 1137p. TOBTR.
Durant. *The Story of Civilization*. 10v. Dated; Classic.
Roberts. *History of the World*. 1993. 952p. ?
Wells.
Toynbee.

Prehistory:
Clarke. *World Prehistory*. 1978. TOBTR.
Hawkes. *Prehistory*. 1963. Recommended.
Childe. *Man Makes Himself, rev ed.*. 1951.
Fagan. *People of the Earth, 8th ed*. 1995. Text.

Archaeology:
Ceram. *Gods, Graves and Scholars*. 1953.
Trigger. *A History of Archaeological Thought*. 1989.

Human Origins:
Klein. *The Human Career*. 1989. Advanced.
Lewin. *Human Evolution, 2nd ed*. 1988.
Fagan. *The Journey from Eden*. 1990. Homo Sapiens. ?
Stringer & Gamble. *The Search for Neanderthals*. 1993. Neanderthals.
Trinkaus & Shipman. *The Neanderthals*. 1992. Neanderthals.

Prehistoric Europe:
Champion et al. *Prehistoric Europe*. 1984. Text.
Renfrew. *Before Civilization*. 1973.
Whittle. *Neolithic Europe: A Survey*. 1985.
Coles & Harding. *The Bronze Age in Europe*. 1979.
Piggott. *Ancient Europe*. 1954. Somewhat outdated.

Western History:
Norton. *World Masterpieces*. Literature. ?

Non-Western History:
Lensen . *The World Beyond Europe*. 1966. Best.
Anderson. *Masterpieces of the Orient*. Literature.
Barnnes. *China, Korea, and Japan*. 1993. History.
Bellwood. *The Polynesians*. 1987.

India:
Biardeau. *India*. 1960.
*Cambridge History of India*. 1922-37. Standard.
Pigott. *Prehistoric India to 1000BC*. 1950.
Allchin & Allchin. *The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan*. 1983.
Wolpert. *A New History of India*. 1977. TOBTR.

China:
Dun. *The Ageless Chinese: A History*. 1965.
Fairbank. *Cambridge History of China*. 1978-87. 7v.
Chang. *The Shang Civilization*. 1980.
Fitzgerald. *Ancient China*. 1978. Mostly post-Shang.

Japan:
Reischauer. *Japan, Past and Present, 3rd Ed*. 1964.
Samson. *A History of Japan.* 1958-63. 3v. 1200p.
*Cambridge History of Japan*. 1989-. 6v.

Southeast Asia:

Africa:
Oliver. *A Short History of Africa, 6th Ed*. 1989.
*Cambridge History of Africa*. 1977-85. 8v.
Connah. *African Civilizations*. 1987. Sub-Sahara.

America:
Fagan. *Ancient North America, 2nd ed*. 1995. ?
Fiedel. *Prehistory of the Americas, 2nd ed*. 1992. Good Introduction.
Jennings. *The Prehistory of North America*. 1988. Text.
Moseley. *The Incas and their Ancestors*. 1975.
Rowe. *Inca Culture at the Time of the Spanish Conquest*. 1946. Classic.
Clendinnen. *The Aztecs: An Interpretation*. 1991.
Townsend. *The Aztecs*. 1992. General, Authoritive.
Coe. *The Maya, 5th ed*. 1993. Well-established.
Schele & Miller. *The Blood of Kings*. Maya.

Australia:
Farankel. *Remains to be Seen*. 1991.
White & O'Connell. *A Prehistory of Australia, New Guinea, and Sahul*. 1982.

Ancient History:
Roebuck. *The World of Ancient Times*. 1966.
Bury. *Cambridge Ancient History*. 1923-39. 12v. Standard.
*Cambridge Ancient History, rev Ed*. 1960-8. ?v.
*Cambridge Ancient History, 3rd Ed*. ?v.
Hawkes. *The First Great Civilizations*. 1973.
Gelb. *The Study of Writing*. 1952.

Sumer:
Kramer. *The Sumerians*. 1963. TOBTR.
Crawford. *Sumer and the Sumerians*. 1991.

Egypt:
Kemp. *Ancient Egypt: The Anatomy of a Civilization*. 1989. TOBTR.
Wilson. *The Culture of Ancient Egypt*. 1956. TOBTR.
Aldred. *The Egyptians*. 1961. Good. Daily life.
Gardiner. *Egypt of the Pharaohs*. 1961. Political History.
Steindorff. *When Egypt Ruled the East*. 1963. Empire period. Outstanding.
Cottrell. *Life Under the Pharohs*. 1963. Life.
Murray. *The Splendor that was Egypt*. 1949.
Breasted. *Ancient Records of Egypt*. 1906-7. 5v. Standard literature.
Breasted. *A History of Egypt*. 1912. Standard.
Grayson. *Papyrus and Tablet*. 1973. Literature.
Pritchard. *The Ancient Near East*. 1978. Literature.
*A History of Ancient Egypt*. ?
Hoffman. *Egypt Before the Pharohs*. 1979. Prehistory.

Akkad/Babylon:
Saggs. *The Greatness that was Babylon*. 1962. Best.
Oppenheim. *Ancient Mesopatamia*. 1964.
*Epic of Gilgamish*. Literature.

Hittites:
Gurney. *The Hittites, rev ed*. 1976. Scholarly, Standard Intro.
Ceram. *The Secret of the Hittites*. 1956. Popular.
MacQueen. *The Hittites, rev ed*.  1986.

Mesopotamia:
Roux. *Ancient Iraq, rev ed*. 1976.
Nissen. *The Early History of teh Ancient Near East, 9000 to 2000 B.C.* 1988.

Assyria:
Olmstead. *History of Assyria*. 1923. Standard.
Luckenbill. *Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia*. 1926. 2v. Source.

Phonecia:
Harden. *The Phoenicians*. 1962. Best.
Moscati. *The World of the Phoenicians*. 1968. Best.

Persia:
Frye. *Heritage of Persia*. 1963.
Olmstead. *History of the Persian Empire*. 1948. Standard.

Israel:
Clements.  *The World of Ancient Isael*.  1989.  436p.  Essays.  ?
Orlinsky.  *Ancient Israel, 2nd ed*.  1960.  164p.  ?
Bicherman.  *The Jews in the Greek Age*.  1988.
Bright.  *A History of Israel, 3rd ed*.  1971.
Herrman.  *A History of Israel in Old Testament Times, 2nd Ed.*  1981.
Jaberman.  *A History of Israel in the Old Testament Period*.  1985.
Miller & Hayes.  *A History of Ancient Israel and Judah*.  1986.
Shanks.  *Ancient Israel: A Short History from...*  1986.
Suggin.  *A History of Ancient Israel from...*.  1985.
de Vaux.  *The Early History of Israel*.  1978.
Coote & Whitelam. *The Emergence of Early Israel*. 1987.

Classical World:
Knox. *Norton Book of Classical Literature*. 866p. Literature. ?
Gran. *Readings in the Classical Historians*. 686p. Source. ?

Greece:
Bury. *A History of Greece, 4th ed*. 1975.
Burn. *The Pelican History of Greece*.

Early Greece:
Hood. *The Minoans*. 1973. Superb.
Castleton. *Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete*. 1993.
Taylour. *The Mycenaeans, rev. ed.* 1990.
Vermeule. *Greece in the Bronze Age*. 1964. Best.
Finley. *Early Greece: The Bronze and Archaic Ages*. 1970. Best.
Starr. *The Origins of Greek Civilization*. 1961. Best.
Herodotus. *History*. 653p. Source.

Golden Age of Greece:
Andrewes. *The Greeks*. 1967. Excellent.
Finley. *The Ancient Greeks*. 1963.
Hammond. *A History of Greece to 322 BC*. 1959.
Thucydides. *History of the Peloponnesian War*. 648p. Source.
Herodotus. *History*. 653p. Source.

Hellenistic:
Cary. *A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 BC, 2nd ed*. 1951.
Tarn. *Hellenistic Civilication, 3rd ed*. 1966.

Rome:
Cary. *A History of Rome, 3rd ed*. 1975. Basic.
Sinnegan & Boak. *A History of Rome to AD 565*.  1977. Standard.
Asimov. *Roman Empire*. 1967. Easy.
Asimov. *The Roman Republic*. 1973. Easy.
Lewis. *Roman Civilization: Selected Readings*. Source.
Giardina. *The Romans* 1993. Articles about various groups.
*Anthology of Latin Literature*. (Penguin). Literature.
Livy. Source.
Tacitus. Source.
Plutarch. *Lives*. Source.

Early Rome/Etruscians:
Ogilvie. *Early Rome and the Etruscians*. 1976. Best.
Pallitino. *The Etruscans*. Scholarly.
Bloch. *The Etruscans*. 1958. Popular.
Spivey & Stoddart. *The Etruscans*. 1990. Excellent summary.
Grant. *History of Rome*. Good read.

Roman Republic:
McDonald. *Republican Rome*. 1966.

Roman Empire:
Star. *The Roman Empire*. 206p. ?

Roman Decline:
Katz. *Decline of Rome*. 1955.
Lot. *End of the Ancient World*. 1931.
Gibbon. *Decline and Fall*. 3v. Classic.
Jones. *The Later Roman Empire*. 1965. 2v.
Cameron. *The Later Roman Empire*.

Byzantium:
Miller. *The Byzantine Tradition*. 1966.
Diehl. *Byzantium: Greatness and Decline*. Excellent.
Ostrogorsky. *History of the Byzantine State*. 1957. Standard.
Vasiliev. *History of the Byzantine Empire*. 2v.
Norwich. *Byzantium: The Early Centuries*. 1989. Excellent.
Norwich. *Byzantium: The Apogee*. 1992. Excellent.
Sewter. *Fourteen Byzantine Emperors*. Source.
Jenkins. *Byzantium (The Imperial Centuries AD 610-1071)*.

Islam:
Hodgson. *The Venture of Islam*. 1974. 3v. Standard.
Lapidus. *A History of Islamic Societies*. 1988.

Middle Ages:
Cantor. *The Civilization of the Middle Ages, rev ed.* 1994. 624p. ?
Holmes. *The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe*. 1993. 398p. ?
Manchester. *A World Lit Only By Fire*.
Tierney & Painter.  *Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300-1400*.
Hollister. *Medieval Europe: A Short History*. Good start.
Southern.  *The Making of the Middle Ages*. Good overview.
*Civilization and Culture of the Middle Ages*.
Cantor. *Inventing the Middle Ages*.
Bishop. *The Middle Ages*.
Pirenne. *Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe*. Excellent.
Bloch. *Feudal Society*.

Rennaisance:
Hale. *The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance*. 1994. 672. ?

Ottoman Empire:
Palmer. *The decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire*.
Inalcik. *The Ottoman Empire (The classical age 1300-1600)*.

Reformation:
Absolutism:
Enlightment:

American Revolution:
Higginbotham.  Best.
Ward.  *The War of the Revolution*. 1952.  Excellent.
Smith.  *A New Age Now Begins*.  Excellent.

French Revolution/Napolean:
19th Century:
20th Century:

World War I:
Cruttwell. *A History of the Great War 1914-1918*. 1991 655p. ?
Hart. *The Real War 1914-1918*. 1964. 508p. ?

World War II: