West Suburban History Book Club

A group interested in entertaining influences of the past on the present.
A tentative list is indicated below, to be prioritized by feedback.
Loose bias towards modern interpretation and recency as bolded.

The Black Count — Tom Reiss

Greek history inspired by Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of The Odyssey:

• The Odyssey — Homer (Emily Wilson translation recommended)
• The Iliad — Homer (Emily Wilson translation recommended)
• Mythos — Stephen Fry
• Heroes — Stephen Fry
• The Greek Way — Edith Hamilton
• History of the Peloponnesian War — Thucydides (as recently quoted extensively)

Roman history inspired by Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of The Odyssey:

• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome — Mary Beard
• The Aeneid — Virgil (Roman claim insertion into The Odyssey)
• Religion of the Romans, Volume 1: A History — Mary Beard, John North, and Simon Price
• The Early History of Rome — Livy (books 1-5 packaged as 1 full book)
• Metamorphoses — Ovid

Popular historical synthesis books:

• The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
• The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
• Collapse by Jared Diamond
• Genesis by Henry Kissinger and Eric Schmidt
• The Bomb by Fred Kaplan

Biographies of interest:

• Napoleon: The Novel by Max Gallo
• Talleyrand, Duff Cooper
• Bismarck: A Life by Steinberg
• Kissinger: 1923–1968: The Idealist by Niall Ferguson
• The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens
• Machiavelli: A Biography by Miles Unger
• Frederick the Great: King of Prussia is a historical biography by Tim Blanning
• De Gaulle by Julian Jackson

Religious History

• Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes — Eamon Duffy
• The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (primary source of Christian mythology)
• The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History by Peter H Wilson
• The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy by Peter Wilson

Other potential books of interest:

• The Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John Mearsheimer
• The Federalist Papers — Hamilton, Madison, Jay
• Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Notes from Underground, The Devils [Demons] and/orThe Idiot
• Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
• The Prince by Machiavelli
• On War by Clausewitz
• Leadership by Henry Kissinger

Select Hardcore History Podcasts by Dan Carlin

• Blueprint for Armageddon
• Thor's Angels
• Prophets of Doom
• Death Throes of the Republic
• Punic Nightmares
• The Celtic Holocaust
• Judgment at Nineveh
• Painfotainment
• Apache Tears