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clayton ballentine
04-01-2005, 23:30
who is your favorate writter?
who has the most info in there book?
witch writter do you like?
Templar Knight
04-02-2005, 00:30
is this to copy them? ~D
pariya
04-02-2005, 00:31
bernard cornwell

archers tale
the vagabond
and ermm i forget the third book in the series name
Templar Knight
04-02-2005, 00:32
I like Sharpe, and any books on the Crimean War ~:)
Kekvit Irae
04-02-2005, 00:34
Writters? Dont know of any... writters.

If you mean writers, then Gary Gygax takes the prize.
PanzerJaeger
04-02-2005, 00:38
I would think it would be easier to just make a "Your favorite author" thread. I dont see what the difference is..

Mine i guess is Tim Ripley.. here are his best books in my opinion.

http://images.alibris.com/isbn/0/7/6/0/3/0760311684.gif http://images.alibris.com/isbn/0/7/6/0/3/076030937X.gif

He is able to thoroughly cover the subject while still keeping it interesting and even action packed. He doesnt take sides or show favoritism in such touchy subjects as the war in the east, (although he does devote those particular books to the Russians), which is very important in a historian. Well written, lucid, interesting. Thats what i look for in a good historian.
Togakure
04-02-2005, 00:39
I thought Gary Gygax was the architect of D&D ... didn't know he was writing books now. Surely Fantasy/Sci Fi if so, not books on history and warefare??

Clayton, are you asking about fiction books, or books on military history? What genre of writers are you asking about?
Kekvit Irae
04-02-2005, 01:02
I thought Gary Gygax was the architect of D&D ... didn't know he was writing books now. Surely Fantasy/Sci Fi if so, not books on history and warefare??

Clayton, are you asking about fiction books, or books on military history? What genre of writers are you asking about?

He only asked for writers. He never specified any details ;)
Gregoshi
04-02-2005, 03:14
He only asked for writers. He never specified any details ;)
But putting the question in the context of it being asked in a history forum...(I do like Gary's writing too, BTW)



is this to copy them? ~D


That was a cheap shot. :shame:

I can't name a favourite historical writer. Most of what I read was a long time ago and the little I've read recently is autobiographical: George S. Patton Jr., James Longstreet, Joshu Chamberlain and Heinz Guderian. Of these, I thought Guderian wrote a very readable and engaging account of his experiences during WW2 in Panzer Leader, but to be fair it wasn't to the level of detail as these other three.
JAG
04-02-2005, 03:40
Bernard Cornwell's best are his American Civil War books - the Starbuck series. They truly are great and get the period from pre war to Antietam down to a T, very good.
Red Harvest
04-02-2005, 08:33
History/biography, or historical fiction? (Realizing that some autobiographies are "historical fiction" of course... ~D )
Ser Clegane
04-02-2005, 08:35
Just out of curiosity - why does it have to be a male writer? ~:confused:
The Wizard
04-02-2005, 12:32
Because there's a 'Good Female Historians' thread in this forum as well, which is probably why this thread was made.



~Wiz
Templar Knight
04-02-2005, 13:22
That was a cheap shot. :shame:

I know and im sorry..... :stwshame:

I like Trevor Royals books he somehow manages to get his hands on dispatches previously unseen :book:

I also like C S Forester and the Hornblower series
Kekvit Irae
04-02-2005, 22:03
Because there's a 'Good Female Historians' thread in this forum as well, which is probably why this thread was made.



~Wiz

So the difference between a good writer and a good historian is gender? Oiy. There's a difference between a historian and a writer, of course. A writer writes books/novels and gets published. A historian doesnt need to do any of that (and most often are professors or field workers).
Kekvit Irae
04-02-2005, 22:10
And in a non-joking way, the best writer "of history" would have to be the multiple people working on the Ospry series, specifically the Man-At-Arms books. They may not be a 300 page thesis on a period of history, but they condense those specific periods into a form that's easily digestible to non-historians, and fun to read as well. Of course, I'm partial because they are what I make my MTW mods from.
Craterus
04-02-2005, 23:59
My favourite author (this is of historical authors, I am assuming this because this thread is posted in the monastery) is Valerio Massimo Manfredi. He writes historical fiction - the Alexander Trilogy... and others such as The Last Legion and Spartan. Although these books are fiction, they contain a good amount of truth and you learn a fair bit from them. Plus, I really enjoy reading the books.

Currently reading: The Talisman of Troy by (guess who?) Valerio Massimo Manfredi. ~:cheers: ~D
The Wizard
04-03-2005, 11:11
Do watch out with believing the things mentioned in the Alexander trilogy by Manfredi -- he tends to paint a very rosy picture of Alexander's character indeed.



~Wiz
Craterus
04-03-2005, 12:34
I know which is why I put some truth.. I know that some things in the book are definitely not true but it's still an entertaining read. ~:cheers:
The Wizard
04-03-2005, 20:00
Yep, some quite enjoyable books there.

I personally like Gore Vidal a lot. His books, Julian (about Julian the Apostate) and Creation (a panoramic view of the world in the reigns of Darius the Great and Xerxes) are very interesting reads which lend a unique perspective into the world at that time. Another good writer is Wilbur Smith, but that's of a later period.

For historical non-fiction, Adrian Goldsworthy is great. A good historian, but sadly he only deals with the Romans. R. L. Fox is another great historian, although his first book, Alexander the Great, has some theories in it which I doubt personally.



~Wiz
ah_dut
04-06-2005, 17:31
I like Goldsworthy too...only read one book though In the Name of Rome...John Keegan is quite good from what I hav read