Reading List

[KCDennis]

Since it appears we have some time before we get the chance to play, I'd like to solicit suggestions on reading material on the period. I'm looking for titles that don't focus exclusively on a single nation. Right now, Thomas Pakenham's 'The Scramble for Africa' is at the top of my list. Other suggestions?

[TiFlo]

What about that for a starter: the British Empire - Empire of the Moustache

[Syt]

C.A. Bayly: The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914: Global Connections and Comparisons

Product Description
This thematic history of the world from 1780 to the onset of the First World War reveals that the world was far more ‘globalised’ at this time than is commonly thought.


* Explores previously neglected sets of connections in world history.
* Reveals that the world was far more ‘globalised’, even at the beginning of this period, than is commonly thought.
* Sketches the ‘ripple effects’ of world crises such as the European revolutions and the American Civil War.
* Shows how events in Asia, Africa and South America impacted on the world as a whole.
* Considers the great themes of the nineteenth-century world, including the rise of the modern state, industrialisation and liberalism.
* Challenges and complements the regional and national approaches which have traditionally dominated history teaching and writing.

[Aurelin]

Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is worth a read IMHO.

[Syt]

Argh, forgot to include the classic:
Barbara Tuchman: The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914
Some have claimed that it's biased and not very critical of some aspects, but it gives an interesting overview and pointers for in depth reading on some subjects.

[vorkosigan]

Age of Empire: 1875-1914 by Eric Hobsbawm for an outstanding synthesis of economic and social history of the period (through an unapologetically Marxist stance).

[PhilThib]

Yes, this one was excellent

[Sol Invictus]

The Struggle for Mastery in Europe (1848-1918) by A. J. P. Taylor is an excellent book about the machinations and objectives of the great European powers during the period covered by VGN. I read The Scramble for Africa many years ago and can't really recommend it. It was a chore to read as was Pakenham's The Boer War.

[wowgold79wow]

Let us take a brief look at the historical origins of the conquest in Vanadiel. Although there has been a marked decrease in large-scale coordinated attacks from the beastmen since the end of the Crystal War, constant sweeps are required to hunt down wandering bands of beastmen that threaten small villages and travelers. Yet the nations of Vanadiel are exhausted from the war, and continue to harbor doubts about their allies. As such, they are reluctant to dispatch large numbers of their own troops to deal with the problem aboutFfxi Gil.

[squarian]

I'd have to disagree with the description give above of Thomas Pakenham (aka Lord Longford), The Scramble for Africa (1991). I regard it as the most readable account of late-19th c. European colonialism in Africa I've yet found. Anecdotal, droll in places and anything but dry, while still based on reliable sound research.

[Comtedemeighan]

The Only complaint I had about scramble for Africa which I think is a great book is the fact that it doesn't really give much info on some of the other colonial powers in Africa such as Portugal, Italy, Spain. I did enjoy King Lepolds Ghost a decent history of the Belgian Congo and all the sick stuff that was going on there.

[Cato Uticensis]

The Only complaint I had about scramble for Africa which I think is a great book is the fact that it doesn't really give much info on some of the other colonial powers in Africa such as Portugal, Italy, Spain. I did enjoy King Lepolds Ghost a decent history of the Belgian Congo and all the sick stuff that was going on there.

I tend to agree, but if the poor lad had written anymore he'll be doing a volume of thousands pages.

[Comtedemeighan]

I tend to agree, but if the poor lad had written anymore he'll be doing a volume of thousands pages.

I would have still read it if it was 1000 pages the more info the better in my opinion.

[Cato Uticensis]

I would have still read it if it was 1000 pages the more info the better in my opinion.

When an individual enters the realm of volumes that ,my good friend, is considered a life's work.s. I wouldn't care if I had to read 500,000 pages, but be considerate of the other end since research (to name one of the steps) isn't instantaneous.

An example would be Conceived In Liberty (4 Volume set) by Murray N. Rothbard

For anyone who thinks of Murray Rothbard as only a economic theorist or political thinker, these four spectacular volumes are nothing short of shocking. They offer a complete history of the Colonial period of American history, a period lost to students today, who are led to believe American history begins with the US Constitution.

Rothbard's ambition was to shed new light on Colonial history and show that the struggle for human liberty was the heart and soul of this land from its discovery through the culminating event of the American Revolution. These volumes are a tour de force, enough to establish Rothbard as one of the great American historians.

Although a detailed narrative history of the struggle between liberty and power, Rothbard offers a third alternative to the conventional interpretive devices. Against those on the right who see the American Revolution as a "conservative" event, and those on the left who want to invoke it as some sort of proto-socialist uprising, Rothbard views this period as a time of accelerating libertarian radicalism. Through this prism, Rothbard illuminates events as never before.

Volume One covers the discovery of the Americas and the colonies in the 17th century (531 pages, including index).

Volume Two covers the period of "salutary neglect" in the first half of the 18th century (294 pages, including index).

Volume Three covers the advance to revolution, from 1760-1775 (373 pages, including index).

Volume Four covers the political, military, and ideological history of the revolution and after (470 pages, including index).

[KCDennis]

Just finished Taylor's 'The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918'. Definitely wet my appetite for the game. Not to put too much stock in just one source, but it definitely spells out some things that one hopes will be in the game. First, the fear of "the revolution" in the early part of the time period. Second, the fluid and varied nature of the alliances between the European powers. An alliance meant coming to the defense of your ally only under certain circumstances. Third, a number of foreign policy actions taken to deal with domestic politics. It will be very interesting to see how much any of these things are reflected in the game.
Plan to tackle Hobsbawm next.