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Anything off of the beaten track of Pharoahs -> Greece -> Rome -> GoT -> WWII is pretty under-appreciated. I've been reading more about Byzantium, the Ottomans,
by cjohnson318 2y ago
Anything off of the beaten track of Pharoahs -> Greece -> Rome -> GoT -> WWII is pretty under-appreciated. I've been reading more about Byzantium, the Ottomans, and the Persians and it's been fascinating. We never really scratched the surface of any of that in school.
- fstarship 2y agoWhat does GoT stand for?
- p3rls 2y agoGulf of Tonkin incident and the iron throne of Saigon.
- cjohnson318 2y agoGame of Thrones. I was just making a (bad?) joke about the popular conception of things that happened between Caesar and Napoleon.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoI would have guessed war of the roses, which got us based on.
- Alive-in-2025 2y agoEdit - so GOT does mean "game of thrones"
- cjohnson318 2y agoYep.
- panick21_ 2y agoAs a big history fan, history just writes the best stories. There is so much more. It never ends. I have been binging on the Swedish Empire recently. Currently I'm trying to get a bit into pre-Columbus and early Colonial Americas. That's something I don't know much about because its just so separated from what some world historians call the 'Imperial Core'. If you are interested in late medival times, I highly recommend this series on the Dutch Revolt, its among the best and most detailed series of video on any history topic I have found: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5kdplBvGykV1KKcYbH6XU2gA4F17R5KD https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5kdplBvGykV1KKcYbH6X...
- cjohnson318 2y agoOh man, I'm down. I have The Labyrinth of Solitude on my reading list, it's not pre-Columbian, but I think it's a cultural touchstone, and it's a Mexican writer, not some American that knows just enough Spanish. I read Layered Money, and it talked about the VoC, but I think that's a few decades after the Dutch Revolt. I'll check it out! If you want a wild story, read about Judah P. Benjamin. He was the descendant of Sephardic Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, he was the first openly Jewish U.S. senator (representing Louisiana), eventually a Confederate Cabinet member, and finally a barrister in England. To top it all off, he was likely gay. To put things into perspective, he was a partner in sugar plantation, a slave owner, and an prominent advocate for slavery. Usually when you hear anything about the man, it's his international resume, not the fact of his slave ownership.
- johngossman 2y agoAgreed. Sounds like you're definitely a candidate (or have already read) for the two books I mentioned and I'll add "The Venetian Empire" by Jan Morris, and anything by Peter Brown, John Julius Norwich, and Roger Crowley to the pile. Better than fiction. Oh, and "Ghost on the Throne" by James Romm, which shares an abbreviation and more with Martin's fantasy.
- cjohnson318 2y agoI read a short historical fantasy novella named The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson. It was very good, and it has interested me in Venice ever since. It's from 1987 but it's very gender-bendery and fun. These sound like great places to continue reading. I really enjoyed The Ottomans by Marc David Baer. I love that history is so much weirder (and relevant) than fiction. It's easier to connect with people, and understand where they might be coming from, when you understand some history. You can't say that for a lot of sci-fi/fantasy outside of the Snow Crash and The Lord of the Rings.