Books on Medieval Europe and Rome

[Colovion]

I've read two books by Harold Lamb.

Charlemagne

This was the first of his books I've read and it was a very refreshing look on historical events. It's written in a style that seems as if it's a fictional account, but just happens to be in historic times. Instead, it's a factual account of even the smallest happenings of Charlemagne's rise to power and rule of the first Christian Empire. It was like I was reading a suspense story and was literally thinking "oh no! how can Charles come back from that defeat!" It draws you into the time period and gave me a new perspective on the whole situation. It also drew me to buy a few more of his books.

Alexander of Macedon

I just finished this one. I assume that all of his books are written in a style that harkens to a suspense/documentary. Though it deals with factual events and people most of it was new to me. Through all of his books he finds little tid-bits of information that are startling and intriguing and make you want to read more about these very entertaining people. I never knew the whole Alexander story - this book preaches a much different view that I used to believe - that Alexander was a commander bent on ruling the known world. In fact it turns out that he probably was just interested in exploring, and used the army to help him do that. It's all incredibly interesting.

I have his book on Ghengis Khan and I'll be purchasing his books on the Crusades and Hannibal as soon as I can. This is truly the most interesting and thought provoking way I've ever learned history. Please, at least read one of his books.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

BlackFireStorm,

I have to agree, The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle by Jonathan Sumption is an excellent book - I recently read it for an Independent Studies course on the Hundred Years' War. Also, I think Desmond Seward is a good author.

[Subedei]

Great Siege: Malta 1565 (Wordsworth Military Library.) (Paperback)
by Ernle Bradford (Author)

A great read with some of the most impressive/scary descriptions of siege warfare.

O.k.: Stolen from Amazon the description:
A small group of men on a miniscule island in the Mediterranean didn't exactly stand in Suleiman`s way, but they were a bloody nuisance. They were the Knights of St. John of the Hospital, a relic of the Crusades. Driven from the Holy Land, they had settled in Rhodes and become pirates preying on Moslem shipping. The Turks had twice beseiged Rhodes and finally driven out the pesky Knights, but the Knights took refuge on Malta and continued to be a thorn in Suleiman's flesh.

Suleiman decided to destroy them, capture Malta, and use its port as a base of operations against Europe. He sent an armada and an army to do the job, and a few thousand defenders faced off against tens of thousands of invaders.

The Turks decided to capture the harbor first so that their ships would have a safe haven against possible storms. A small fort called Fort St. Elmo stood in their way. They figured they could overwhelm the Fort in less than a week, occupy the harbor, and the rest of the island would soon fall to their attack.

The seige of Malta is a gripping tale of brutality, courage, and tenacity peopled with larger-than-life protagonists like Suleiman the Magnificent, Grand Master La Vallette, and Dragut the Barbary Coast pirate.

P.S.: my 600th post and I am copying and pasting...nasty me, but well, what can you do?!?!?