User Agreement and You

[fomalhaut]

I made an account on this just for this thread; Which of you adhered to the terms of service and 'Read More History!'

The question stands as I have just finished Arrian's 'Campaigns of Alexander' and have just begun Thucydides Pelopenesian War, but where do I go next?

I am really really fascinated by the Punic Wars, but was disappointed to find the works as written by Livy in Ab Urbe Condita concerning the first Punic War have been lost and I prefer to NOT use scholarly sources / books until I have read as close to the source as possible. In the case of Caesar, i read his Civil War before I read books like 'Caesar's Legion', if that makes sense.

Also this as a way of giving a big thanks to EB team as my interest in ancient history has never been greater, given the visual reference for what is written in many books i've read, for instance Alexander's special unit of Agriannes he assigned to the hardest tasks were more than just an x sent to do y that you pass off as just another name, but due to fighting with or against them they were given a greater sense of importance if that makes sense.

[vartan]

EB was a nice break from reading all that history. But now it's time to put down EB and resume reading history, as well as writing about it!

[Ca Putt]

due to the licence agreement i read herodotos, several osprey books, a novel about manicaeism and a book with the ominous title" the Celts"

I think that covers my part of the deal for now :D

[Hax]

Hmm, loads and loads on Islamic history. Some books on medieval philosophy too.

[bobbin]

The question stands as I have just finished Arrian's 'Campaigns of Alexander' and have just begun Thucydides Pelopenesian War, but where do I go next?


Polybius' The Histories would be one to read up on, again most of it didn't survive though.

[GenosseGeneral]

Thanks to EB I read Herodotos, and I guess without EB I would have chosen another topic than "The meaning of the uprisings in spain in the 2nd century B.C." for scientific paper everyone hast to write as a German student in year 11. To be honest, the EB bibliography was the place to start my search for literature...

[FriendlyFire]

So far I've bought Herodotos, Thucydides (both as illustrated versions with lots of maps), two books by Victor Davis Hanson on hoplite warfare, two more by John Keegan on the history of warfare, some popular histories of Rome and the Punic wars, an encyclopedia on ancient weapons and warfare, and I'm still working my way through a bunch of History Channel shows on my Netflix queue.

For a free game, EB sure is expensive :)

[Andronikos]

Tacitus, next will be Herodotos

Hax, would you recommend some of those books on Islamic history?

[fomalhaut]

It seems that Herodotus is a fan favorite, but for some reason i've had an aversion to him mostly because i recognize his predilection to referring to gods, divine will, etc. I really liked Arrian because he was really skeptical and constantly criticizing sources he thought were too obvious in their political aims or when divine intervention was implied.

[jirisys]

Strabo's Geographika.

Yes... I plan to read it all... If possible in greek...

~Jirisys ()

[Atraphoenix]

Lastly I have been reading History of Iran by Cambridge. It has 7 volumes, thousands of pages!
and "Ravzatül-Hüseyin fi Ah Bar-ı Haakayn" (Garden of Huseyin about the summary of Eastern and Western News) by Naima.

[Populus Romanus]

I'm afraid I am confused: are you saying that the thing that is really long that you always skip during the installation that has all your rights and such, says that you have to read history in order to play EB? :laugh4:

[jabarto]

I'm a medievalist, not a classicist - but it's still history, so I still upheld the terms of use as written. :beam:

I'm lucky enough to live near a university library with one of the best collections of medieval history in the region, so I've no shortage of material. I picked up Kiev Rus by B. Grekov for a college project recently and then bought a copy for myself because I liked it so much.

I have a deep interest in eastern Europe, and I think I checked out about a dozen books on Kievan Rus alone in early February. Now I'm resarching Charles the Bold and the Duchy of Burgundy.

[fomalhaut]

I almost picked up a book by a German named Frank Heer simply titled "Medieval Era" or something to that effect, where he argues that the period known as the Dark Ages was actually one of relative cooperation, tolerence, etc. and the rise of the Roman Catholic Church as the unilateral decision maker in the region effectively destroyed that legacy.

Does that sound about right, or even reasonable? I thought it was quite interesting.

[jabarto]

Well, I should probably have said that I'm becoming a medievalist; my knowledge is still very limited. So I don't know if I can really offer an educated opinion on that.

[vartan]

I almost picked up a book by a German named Frank Heer simply titled "Medieval Era" or something to that effect, where he argues that the period known as the Dark Ages was actually one of relative cooperation, tolerence, etc. and the rise of the Roman Catholic Church as the unilateral decision maker in the region effectively destroyed that legacy.

Does that sound about right, or even reasonable? I thought it was quite interesting.
Relative cooperation and tolerance? Woah, hook me up to the time machine and send me back, baby! I could use some of that peace and liberty! Bring on the freedom! Yeah!

Oh, never mind. I completely forgot about rising militarism during what used to be called the Dark Ages. Darn it. Okay, I'll just stick with contemporary imperialism. It's not as bad cause I'm desensitized. Thanks TV!

[fomalhaut]

im not sure if your being sarcastic or not, but here is this

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-World-1100-1350-Friedrich-Heer/dp/1566491975/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

but two reviews but they sum it up

[Lysimachos]

I'm afraid I am confused: are you saying that the thing that is really long that you always skip during the installation that has all your rights and such, says that you have to read history in order to play EB? :laugh4:

Exactly, only that EB's thing, which usually is really long, is really short. Did that sound wrong?

[vartan]

im not sure if your being sarcastic or not, but here is this

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-World-1100-1350-Friedrich-Heer/dp/1566491975/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

but two reviews but they sum it up
Cool. Yeah, was going for the satirical view there.

Bartlett's The Making of Europe is alright. Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850-1520 by Dyer is interesting (though dense) if you're into the production/economy of the time. The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe 950-1250 by Moore is interesting to see how that anti-<insert identity category here> fervor came about. The Two Cities: Medieval Europe 1050-1320 by Barber is also a good general text for this period and region. I would say it differs from Bartlett in that Bartlett's is a good read for looking into mainland European expansion to the east (as opposed to the failed crusader states). These certainly aren't everyday, casual texts, although I'd argue these are for the most part (except Dyer and perhaps Moore) really intelligible by your John Doe.