I need to get my 40 year old nephew a birthday present, and was thinking of a history book. He was an undergraduate history major and enjoys reading history, particularly military history although not necessarily limited to that topic.

What I'm looking for is your recommendations as to the absolute best works of history you've read. Not ones that are simply good, but ones that are superb and put others to shame. Military history would be good, but if you've read a great book that's not military history, feel free to recommend it.

Fire 'em at me!

Rise of Theodore Roosevelt- Edmund Morris. 1st of a 3 part biography on TR. Prose in this is so good. Just epic stuff. Especially the section of the rainy train ride and TR in the Badlands.

Empire of the Summer Moon- SC Gwynne. Great book on Texas and the Comanches/quanah parker

1776- David McCullough. Great social history on American Revolution. Washington leaving NY.

Caro series on LBJ. The first volume, "Path to Power." the first 3rd of that book is really a tale of Life in the hill country tucked into a political biography. Great read.

The Cedar Choppers- Ken Roberts, Oral History of how settlers literally made the hill country out of nothing by cutting down cedars and changed settlement forever in the area


The Son- Phillip Meyer. Novel inspired by comanche raids, spanning generations. If you like modern westerns in the realm of "Yellowstone"/ Taylor Sheridan. Also an AMC series.

The Raven- Marquis James. Great work and prose on Houston. Lyrical. Probably the best ending to a biography I have ever read aside from Morris' " Rise of Theodore Roosevelt"

Rudder: From Leader to Legend was great. I had no idea of Rudder's teaching and football background.

Sam Houston- J. Haley is definitive. I like that he touched on SH's time in Oklahoma before crossing the Red River.

Not to hijack this thread, but I am curious to hear more about your assertion as to how LBJ was a "giant fraud."

Bodyguard of Lies by Anthony Cave Brown

A Splendid Savage by Steve Kemper

War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Queda by Jonathan Tucker

And I agree LBJ was a fraud too. The Great Society was one of the worst social programs in the history of this country that in many respects we will never recover from.

In reply to Snowball Read about how he earned his Silver Star in WW2. That was pretty fraudulent

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailers by James Hornfischer

Rebel Yell by S.C. Gwynne

Clear the Bridge by Richard O'Kane

In reply to Jabin Great topic that I will definitely follow to get recommendations.

Texian Iliad - Military history of the Texas Revolution from Mexico. Goes through troup movements, battles, and gear of the different people involved.

Castles of Steel by Robert K. Massie

Helmet for My Pillow...Robert Leckie

With the Old Breed...Eugene Sledge.

Killer Angels... Michael Shaara

The Last Full Measure... Jeffery Shaara

Lewis and Clark Among the Indians...... James Ronda

Blood of Noble Men,... Alan Huffines

In reply to chick79

chick79 said:

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And I agree LBJ was a fraud too. The Great Society was one of the worst social programs in the history of this country that in many respects we will never recover from.

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I never heard from dad speak ill of anyone, even my mom who cheated on and divorced him. Yet any mention of LBJ was met with something along the lines of "that crooked son of a …"

Shattered Sword - a deep look at the Battle of Midway

Endurance - Shackleton's Incredible Journey by Alfred Lansing

Truly an adventure book and an amazing story of leadership, adaptability, and survival that if it wasn't true, would never be published because it is so unbelievable what these guys went through and survived. It is a great story of failed Antarctic exploration mission that if WWI hadn't been raging when they emerged from the ice, they would have been more celebrated in their time.

Also, the audio book is fantastic. Only about 10 hours long and is read in a fantastic way, almost like a radio play. Very high recommend

In reply to Jabin Since you said he likes military history, I recommend either of the following:

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson
- a fantastic, deeply researched but exceptionally engaging narrative of the early stages of the American Revolution, covering both sides of the Atlantic. The first in a trilogy Atkinson is writing to cover the entire war. If he likes this one, Atkinson is due to publish the next one within the next year, This is a military history of the Revolution...not a political one (though the political implications on the military and strategic aspects are clear).


The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War by Donald Stoker
- An expansive history of the Civil War that delves deep into the strategic implications of personalities, decisions, politics, and campaign design. If he is a fan of military history and strategy...and the Civil War, then The Grand Design is a must-read. Even well-read Civil War buffs will understand the war in new ways after digesting Stoker's book.

In reply to Kaa98

Kaa98 said:

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Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailers by James Hornfischer

Rebel Yell by S.C. Gwynne

Clear the Bridge by Richard O'Kane

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Loved Rebel Yell

Downfall by Richard Frank

Tower of Skulls, also by Richard Frank. This is the first of a planned trilogy. Books 2 and 3 have not been published yet.

When Titans Clashed by David Glantz

Me and the Spitter by Gaylord Perry

I found Japan at War: An Oral History, to be pretty damn fascinating.

It is not meant to be a 100% historically precise and objective view of WW2 but rather how the Japanese populace saw the war and their experiences through their own eyes and hands. We know much of the stuff visited here to be different than what the Japanese empire had their people believe of course but to see it in their own words was still really eye opening to me. The power of authoritarian rule and social pressure to conform is at the forefront here and the PTO is an area that is severely underrepresented and often grossly misunderstood by the general populace today.

It is a collection of interviews that roughly correlates to the general timeline of the war and is largely based around what the Japanese civilian population went through and their thoughts during the war.

In reply to Snowball

Snowball said:

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Rise of Theodore Roosevelt- Edmund Morris. 1st of a 3 part biography on TR. Prose in this is so good. Just epic stuff. Especially the section of the rainy train ride and TR in the Badlands.

Empire of the Summer Moon- SC Gwynne. Great book on Texas and the Comanches/quanah parker

1776- David McCullough. Great social history on American Revolution. Washington leaving NY.

Caro series on LBJ. The first volume, "Path to Power." the first 3rd of that book is really a tale of Life in the hill country tucked into a political biography. Great read.

The Cedar Choppers- Ken Roberts, Oral History of how settlers literally made the hill country out of nothing by cutting down cedars and changed settlement forever in the area


The Son- Phillip Meyer. Novel inspired by comanche raids, spanning generations. If you like modern westerns in the realm of "Yellowstone"/ Taylor Sheridan. Also an AMC series.

The Raven- Marquis James. Great work and prose on Houston. Lyrical. Probably the best ending to a biography I have ever read aside from Morris' " Rise of Theodore Roosevelt"

Rudder: From Leader to Legend was great. I had no idea of Rudder's teaching and football background.

Sam Houston- J. Haley is definitive. I like that he touched on SH's time in Oklahoma before crossing the Red River.

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An excellent list! I especially like EotSM and Haley's bio of General Sam.

Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose. A chronicle of Lewis and Clark.

In reply to Eliminatus Two of the things that really made an impression on me with Frank's Tower of Skulls was first, his emphasis on the fact that the war with Japan was really the Asia-Pacific war, not just the Pacific war as Americans tend to think of it. It involved a larger portion of both the Earth's surface and population than did the European war (true, a lot of that area is ocean, and most of the action on the Asian continent wasn't strategically all that relevant after the spring of 1942).

Second is his recounting of the decision making in the Japanese government in the summer and fall of 1941, once the US embargo hit. Part of their problem was they couldn't figure out how to extract themselves from China, especially how to justify backing down to the US demands and coming out of China with nothing to show for the expenditure of blood and treasure, and admitting that Japan was a second rate power. He also shows that Japanese leadership knew they were unlikely to win a war with the US, and leaders would admit that in private, but not to other leaders. He even quotes Yamamoto as saying, "A war so unlikely to be won should not be fought."

I am greatly looking forward to the second and third volumes of the trilogy.

And I need to add to my above list:

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. This is the Civil War volume of The Oxford History of the United States. Alternately, the Ordeal by Fire trilogy is McPherson's stand alone full history of the lead up, war, and Reconstruction.

The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauf is the War of Independence volume of the Oxford History and is also excellent, although a denser read than Battle Cry of Freedom.

Frank Vaderver's 2 volume biography of John Pershing is an amazing read. And reread. And rereread.

Very thorough but so interesting and well written that it is a real page turner.

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