mughal

Are there any good easy read history books?

I wanna start of with world war 1 and 2 first something not to complicated to understand, so if you know of good books which explains the history behind these 2 worlds war i'd appreciate it.

thanks

naylor182

War of the World - Niall Ferguson. Explains the causes of both wars, among other things.

mughal

Ok thanks, I'll try getting that reserved from the library.

Rosi

There was a show on Discovery I saw long ago, called 'The Great Days of War' or summat. You might want to check out if its DVD is available, coz the narrative was really good. It made sense to me (at that time, of course). I'm not at all interested in wars buy my dad used to watch it regularly and made me watch it too.

laura

don't tell me naylor's trying to push niall ferguson again!

mughal, if you are looking for an introduction, that ferguson book will need to be put in the right place - so go to amazon and order yourself a copy of Frank McDonough, The Origins of the First and Second World Wars, from the Cambridge 'Perspectives in history' series. Its probably still slightly over-priced but its slim and scintillating and will give you all the bones to make the skeleton. ferguson will give you at least some of the flesh - but its best starting with the bones.

naylor182

Haha I'm a Ferguson fan, what can I say?

I suppose his theories do require some kind of understanding of the situation, but in fairness he does outline the situation prior to analysing it. I'd still recommend it, particularly in regards to the ethnic tension surrounding the two conflicts.

laura

i agree. but then i would also have to recommend other books before this one still yet.

james joll, the origins of the first world war
keith wilson (ed.), decisions for war, 1914
pmh bell, the origins of the second world war in europe (to this i would then add its counterpart) akira iriye, the origins of the second world war in asia and the pacific.