agreed rleo, 1776 is a great book.

Quote: Originally posted by rleo on 11/01/2009Just finished two histories by David McCullough. The Great Bridge and 1776.

The first is the story of the Brooklyn Bridge. The second about the continental army's amazing survival in 1776 while being pursued by British forces between Bunker Hill and Trenton.

1776 should be required reading in every high school in America

I'm currently reading 1776, great book. I'm also in the process of reading Game Six by Mark Frost. Right now Cecil Cooper is up for the Red Sox to leadoff their half of the first.

Quote: Originally Posted By biglenr on 10/27/2009
I'm a freak for alternate history... Just finishing Harry Turtledove's Days of Infamy, about Japan following up Pearl Harbor with an invasion fleet and taking Hawaii.

By the way, I would bet money that Turtledove has used this site. Old time baseball players keep popping up in his books, in different roles. Mordecai Brown as a 3 fingered construction worker, Granny Hammer as a medic in WWII, Lou Gehrig as a running back in a world where baseball didn't catch on, and he named a pirate in another story Brickyard Kennedy. You don't just come up with a name like "Brickyard Kennedy".

Turtledove is awesome Len, if you want the rest of the series smail me...I'll mail them to you.

Quote: Originally Posted By mensu1954 on 10/28/2009
A novel that sparks my interest and will soon be added to my library is: Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War: —An Alternate History--Peter G. Tsouras

I have been a Civil War buff for many years and am always looking for different scenarios that might have produced alternate directions for future historical outcomes.

Have you read Turtledove? How Few Remain is awesome.

Quote: Originally Posted By Trentonjoe on 11/03/2009

Quote: Originally Posted By mensu1954 on 10/28/2009

A novel that sparks my interest and will soon be added to my library is: Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War: —An Alternate History--Peter G. Tsouras

I have been a Civil War buff for many years and am always looking for different scenarios that might have produced alternate directions for future historical outcomes.

Have you read Turtledove? How Few Remain is awesome

The whole series is great not just that one book

Im reading 3 at the moment:

Stachel Page: The Life and Times of an American Legand by Larry Tye-- So far its a very interesting look at one of baseball's most colorful and enigmatic figures.

The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by WP Kinsella-- Its my 4th or 5th read through this one. One of my all time favorite books by the author who wrote Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa (made into Field of Dreams). IBC is much better, i would recommend it to any fan of fiction, especially fans of baseball fiction.

And La Comedia Divina by Dante Alighieri-- Its a classic, and the base for much of TS Eliot, Extra bonus is that I'm picking up some Latin, which will never be useful!!

Quote: Originally Posted By loudawg10 on 11/04/2009
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by WP Kinsella-- Its my 4th or 5th read through this one. One of my all time favorite books by the author who wrote Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa (made into Field of Dreams). IBC is much better, i would recommend it to any fan of fiction, especially fans of baseball fiction.

Kinsella was a great baseball writer. Some of his short stories are just as good as Shoeless Joe and IBC.

Just finished Bill Simmons's The Book of Basketball, which is very informative, especially if you are (as I am) only casually familiar with the sport's history.

Warning - it's a tome (700+ pages). Several sections could easily have been shortened or omitted altogether. But the good thing is, it's not a novel, and you can easily skip around and just read the parts that are interesting. His section on the Pyramid, and his evaluation of the greatest teams ever, were both highly entertaining.

Frank McCourt, 'Tis

Quote: Originally Posted By staindman on 10/28/2009bill Simmons' big book of basketball

is hilarious as ever...and as an avid history student/poly sci student. its nice to see all the footnote

I am reading this also. The footnotes make the book.

Peoples History of the US by Howard Zinn

Quote: Originally Posted By johnnyd0303 on 11/05/2009Peoples History of the US by Howard Zinn

Still the best US history book out there. Should be mandatory reading in every high school to combat the xenophobic set of half-truths masquerading as most high school texts.

also, Can't be neutral on a moving train by Zinn

Quote: Originally Posted By contrarian23 on 11/05/2009

Quote: Originally Posted By johnnyd0303 on 11/05/2009
Peoples History of the US by Howard Zinn

Still the best US history book out there. Should be mandatory reading in every high school to combat the xenophobic set of half-truths masquerading as most high school texts.

The book is excellent comedy, well, if you like laughing at marxists...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Marxist_historians

This thread has been on the front page long enough for me to finish what I was reading & add on a couple of new ones -

Origins of the Bill of Rights - Leonard Levy
The Aspirin Age: 1919-1941: The essential events of American Life in the chaotic years between the two World Wars - edited by Isabel Leighton

Asprin Age is a collection of essays, by noted authors of the era, compiled in 1949 and reprinted a number of times over the years. It's a nice collection of articles written by those who witnessed or participated in the events. Origins is a heavier read, but I've had an abiding interest in the subject.