Recommend history books?

[Anonymous]

I specifically would love to read history books with a theme that goes like this: "All the archeological evidence, written record, and other primary sources pointed towards Conclusion A and we've upheld Conclusion A for 500 years...but new findings have shattered that and we are now forced to consider Conclusion B, and this book explains why."

There is so much about our history that we don't know and even as a kid, I took history narratives with a grain of salt. I kind of want some fresh perspectives. Any recs?

[Anonymous]

I’m not quite sure what you mean. Would 1491 and 1493 match what you’re looking for? They Came Before Columbus? Civilization or Barbarism — an Authentic Anthropology? Black Athena?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not quite sure what you mean. Would 1491 and 1493 match what you’re looking for? They Came Before Columbus? Civilization or Barbarism — an Authentic Anthropology? Black Athena?

thank you - all of these titles seem interesting, I'll look them up on Amazon. Yes, the topic in my OP is more a general idea of what I was interested in.

[Anonymous]

Just remember that just because it goes against the narrative doesn't mean it is true. It means that it is biased in a new way.

[Anonymous]

Also look at Thames & Hudson books. Mainly they cover Art History but also they do intense coverage of historic periods like The Celts etc. Worth checking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that just because it goes against the narrative doesn't mean it is true. It means that it is biased in a new way.

Of course, I agree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also look at Thames & Hudson books. Mainly they cover Art History but also they do intense coverage of historic periods like The Celts etc. Worth checking out.

Thank you, I’ll check them out!

[Anonymous]

I haven't read it yet, but friends—highly informed friends as well as interested complere amateurs—have been raving about The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, which seems custom tailored for your wish list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not quite sure what you mean. Would 1491 and 1493 match what you’re looking for? They Came Before Columbus? Civilization or Barbarism — an Authentic Anthropology? Black Athena?

thank you - all of these titles seem interesting, I'll look them up on Amazon. Yes, the topic in my OP is more a general idea of what I was interested in.

Great! Most of the books that I would suggest are less history and more, I'd guess, sociology. I haven't read them yet, but many people have recommended that I read
Guns, Germs and Steel and other books by Jared Diamond. A long ago favorite: A Country of Strangers -- Blacks and Whites in America by David Shipler, is probably going to seem very dated, but it also does an excellent job of showing the impact of very different experiences to the point of creating very different realities, that then become the contexts for pretty much everything. The Singing Neanderthals might also be a good fit.

If, as you look them up, some of these seem interesting, come back and post what types of books and authors seem close to what you're seeking.

[Anonymous]

Lots of Plantagenet corrections once everyone realized the Tudors were a propaganda machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I specifically would love to read history books with a theme that goes like this: "All the archeological evidence, written record, and other primary sources pointed towards Conclusion A and we've upheld Conclusion A for 500 years...but new findings have shattered that and we are now forced to consider Conclusion B, and this book explains why."

There is so much about our history that we don't know and even as a kid, I took history narratives with a grain of salt. I kind of want some fresh perspectives. Any recs?

I *think* I know what you're looking for, but at the same time I see you're looking for the dramatic and conspirational rather than a genuine quest for knowledge and truth. If you're talking about recent history aka the last 500 years, it's extremely well-document. Historians are going to be subject to their own biases, but the data and sources are all out there and it's all been turned over extremely carefully and millions of times. Nothing is deliberately hidden. What changes are biases and prejudices. Recent publications like 1619 are riddled with deliberate distortions and quite a few outright fabrications (and it was primarily not written by professional historians but journalists) because the creators had an axe to grind and it was to their advantage to frame American history in a different light.

The further back you go then the records become murkier. So what exactly are you looking for?

[Anonymous]

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read it yet, but friends—highly informed friends as well as interested complere amateurs—have been raving about The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, which seems custom tailored for your wish list.

This book looks great! I'm following this thread with interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I specifically would love to read history books with a theme that goes like this: "All the archeological evidence, written record, and other primary sources pointed towards Conclusion A and we've upheld Conclusion A for 500 years...but new findings have shattered that and we are now forced to consider Conclusion B, and this book explains why."

There is so much about our history that we don't know and even as a kid, I took history narratives with a grain of salt. I kind of want some fresh perspectives. Any recs?

I *think* I know what you're looking for, but at the same time I see you're looking for the dramatic and conspirational rather than a genuine quest for knowledge and truth. If you're talking about recent history aka the last 500 years, it's extremely well-document. Historians are going to be subject to their own biases, but the data and sources are all out there and it's all been turned over extremely carefully and millions of times. Nothing is deliberately hidden. What changes are biases and prejudices. Recent publications like 1619 are riddled with deliberate distortions and quite a few outright fabrications (and it was primarily not written by professional historians but journalists) because the creators had an axe to grind and it was to their advantage to frame American history in a different light.

The further back you go then the records become murkier. So what exactly are you looking for?

Are you arguing that history as it's commonly presented outside of academia is somehow NOT "riddled with deliberate distortions and quite a few outright fabrications....because the creators had an axe to grind and it was to their advantage to frame American history in a different light?"

Oh those history books that give cursory mention to that "War of Northern Aggression".

[Anonymous]

This! The World, a brief introduction by Richard Haass. https://www.amazon.com/World-Brief-Introduction-Richard-Haass/dp/0399562397