My 12 hour drive book this year…
Every year, I drive home to Phoenix for Christmas. It’s 6 hours each way and I always get a new audiobook, hopefully with a history or Christmas theme, to listen to. This year, I found one that fits both criteria! It’s called Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah by Charles King. History, Christmas, and Music! I’m excited.
I’ll let you know how it is but I also wanted to ask if anyone had any other history books they really loved this year that I might want to get on my list.
Comments (29)
I, too, enjoyed Unruly by David Mitchell, although I found his narration a little bit trying at times. I love him as a comedian and I know he is intelligent and a history student but I think I, perhaps, would have enjoyed someone else reading it. It is still an informative, thought provoking and entertaining listen.
Unruly by David Mitchell. The audiobook is read by the author, and the comedian does an amazing job of bringing each era of the English monarchy to life.
As a former middle school teacher, I have a soft spot for really GOOD young adult audiobooks. This one is NOT new but it stands the test of time. "The Green Glass Sea" by Ellen Klages is about a young lady who follows her scientist father to Los Alamos during the 40s when they were developing the atomic bomb. The author truly did the research and the narrator is top notch. p.s. what about the food that was served up at Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer era??
Just saw an interview on https://a.co/d/hWgSEat - looks right up your alley Max!
I’ve never really been a person to enjoy textbooks, but I really enjoyed reading Genghis Khan: His life and legacy by Paul Ratchnevsky. It flows super easy and is actually interesting
I love audiobooks during long commutes as well, but I tend to go with cozy mysteries.
The best history I read this year was The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. It's about the 6 months leading up to the American Civil War and how miscommunication, ego, corruption, and pride factored into everything. As I read it, I was constantly struck by how little has actually changed.... (Probably not a Christmas read, but fascinating!)
Oh, you will love that book! One of my favorite historic quotes comes from the saga of the "Messiah's" premiere. The contralto part was voiced by the greatest actress of eighteenth-century England: Susannah Maria Cibber. But Cibber’s personal life was so scandalous the notoriety had chased her from London. Midway through the premiere performance, Cibber sang “He was despised and rejected of men…” so exquisitely that the Chancellor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral famously stood and shouted, “Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!” ***** At the moment, my favorite historical read is "Doctors on Horseback," first published in 1939. It's eminently readable, and packed with more intrigue than I'd ever dreamed. The first story of John Morgan, a doctor in Colonial America and during the Revolutionary War, is the stuff of Hollywood movies. Safe travels!
For a good Christmas mystery Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
The coldest winter by halberstraum- it's about the korean war but is particularly good at explaining how the war started.
Baroque music at its finest 🤌🏻
Fiction: "Wars of the Roses" book series by Conn Iggulden, they all have a facts section at the end of each book where the author explains what he changed and why, which I really appreciated. "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa Non-fiction: "The Last Duel" by Eric Jager "Unruly" by David Mitchell "Byzantium" by Judith Herrin I also love Stephen Fry's book series about the Greek myths. The last one "Odyssey" just came out.
Sharon McMahon's "The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement" is an interesting book. A bit uneven and a bit uncomfortable to read/listen to, but very illuminating. American history always has hidden stories and this book offered a good and accurate telling of some of them. I love pretty much everything by Erik Larson, too. He just came out with "The Demon of Unrest" which is about the period between Lincoln's election and the shelling of Fort Sumter. Merry Christmas to you and José! Be safe and have a lovely holiday! 🌲🦌🌲
Two great history books from Liza Mundy worth the time: "Code Girls" and "The Sisterhood: A History of The Women Of The CIA". Both worked well on audio but have the speed control handy.
I really enjoyed code girls too!
Merry Christmas Max and Jose! 🎄🎅
Not a rec, just saying I know Handel's story well. His ability to reinvent himself will resonate deeply with you, I'm certain. Please don't get so caught up in the book that you miss your exits!
Not a book, but the Christmas Past podcast by Brian Earl has a lot of back episodes about the history of Christmas, as well as Victorian Christmas short stories now in the public domain. He sounds like you, too -- at first I thought Tasting History was another project of his!
The wager, true story about a secret naval mission in the 1700s that turned shipwrecked. Great read!
Unmentionable by Therese O'Neill. Historical and very funny! Absolutely one of my favourite books. Here's the blurb: Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era? Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.) Unmentionable is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on: What to wear Where to relieve yourself How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating What to expect on your wedding night How to be the perfect Victorian wife.
Try Spock vs Q. Narrated by Lenard Nemoy and John D'Lancie. Entertained me for hours.
Poor John de Lancie... his dad was also named John de Lancie and was one of the great oboists of all time. Every time the actor showed up at some orchestral gig to do something Star Trek based, he'd get swarmed by professional oboists asking about his dad.
OH. and "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
That book is how I learned that my GG-Grampa, who was a train driver in Chicago at the time, must have been driving serial killers around town. It's also how I learned that the family story of them putting my G-grampa in the Liberty Bell as a baby wasn't B.S.
Wow. That looks fantastic! And now I've got Gordon lightfoot's carefree highway stuck in my head...
Two Books (but not that I've read this year): "Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier" by Peter Stark and "Down the Great Unknown," by Edward Dolnick
I guess Punch counts as Christmasy right? Punch by Dave Wondrich on the history and recipies of historical punches is amazing!
Sarah’s gold, it’s history and food
Haven’t really read a history book in years just learn history from YouTube