tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post2888872622987066645..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: Teaching: An Imaginary Course on Very Cool BooksRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-16175637131267584422011-01-08T12:52:43.382-05:002011-01-08T12:52:43.382-05:00Not a book, but a classic film: A Face in the Cro...Not a book, but a classic film: A Face in the Crowd by Kazan. Watched it recently and was wowed by its relevance to today's politics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-13205769868942657992011-01-07T10:46:10.101-05:002011-01-07T10:46:10.101-05:00What about McPherson's "Battle Cry of Fre...What about McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom?" For those of us doing U.S. history of the Civil War era and beyond, this book is indispensable. It is well-written and comprehensive>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-30262362068999332412011-01-07T02:04:13.021-05:002011-01-07T02:04:13.021-05:00A book that struck me as an instant classic, in th...A book that struck me as an instant classic, in the manner of White's "The Middle Ground" and West's "The Contested Plains," is Pekka Hamalainen's "Commanche Empire." In fact, a class based on those three books would be a very cool course indeed.Philip Wallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-51686527041589403642011-01-06T07:37:52.800-05:002011-01-06T07:37:52.800-05:00I've been trying to work out the criteria I...I've been trying to work out the criteria I'd use. As Heather suggested, a paradigm-changer certainly merits consideration. Even if it's a tough read. But in a perfect world, I'd want to include books that are not only about important ideas, but are written well. With stories and (my favorite) people in them.<br /><br />I'd say, of the things I've read lately, Postel's _Populism_, Richards' _Shays's Rebellion_, Cronon's _Nature's Metropolis_, and Richardson's _Wounded Knee_ stand out.dan allossohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10733670017382794923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-54926206785989292222011-01-05T21:36:07.905-05:002011-01-05T21:36:07.905-05:00Funny you should write that, Dan. I thought about ...Funny you should write that, Dan. I thought about including Laurie's Artisans into Workers on my list. It's an understated gem.<br /><br />And the Visible Hand... yes, a great thesis, but not, to my mind, a great read. Still, ok. It was a paradigm changer. We can put it on the list.<br /><br />Here's a thought: How about if I collect all suggestions here and do a new post on them when they come in?<br /><br />Haven't read the other books here (except Lord of the Flies and Why We Can't Wait-- I loved the latter) but I like the reflections on them. Um... Sorry to be totally stupid, but is there a specific Thucydides text I should read, or is it just Thucydides?<br /><br />And Lisa, I know what you mean. I felt cheated when I read Loos's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Hilarious when it came out; blah today.hcrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07334093881332383848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-24390547943593717542011-01-05T21:05:18.031-05:002011-01-05T21:05:18.031-05:00So the price of success for a text in launching it...So the price of success for a text in launching its ideas into the mainstream is that it becomes ho-hum to later readers. We should all be so lucky. I think I've had that reaction a couple of times, reading for my comps. Or I've just missed the significance of an idea, because it seems so obvious after someone says it - which is no indication of how things seemed before.<br /><br />For example, I think I underestimated Bruce Laurie's _Artisans into Workers_, because I thought everybody already knew that radicals were individualists who would naturally be out of sync with labor unionists and socialists. But I'd just come off of reading Victorian British radicals. Charles Bradaugh was always debating socialists like Henry Hyndman, Annie Besant, and Bernard Shaw (actually, I think Shaw chickened out). He opposed eight hour legislation on individualist principles, but a bunch of his old Labour friends stuck by him, because he'd been such a long-term supporter of workingmen. I didn't realize until recently that Laurie was making a point that didn't have anywhere near the same level of visibility on this side of the Atlantic.dan allossohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10733670017382794923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-86357470532748962132011-01-05T16:37:54.270-05:002011-01-05T16:37:54.270-05:00I love the idea of including a "new classic&q...I love the idea of including a "new classic" that asks the right questions. And now I'll have to go out and buy Red Earth. <br />The larger problem of reading classics with students which are no longer earth-shattering is one that I experience myself when I "finally" get around to reading something that everyone cites or is a classic. I realize I'm underwhelmed. It is so hard, even when watching a classic movie, to remember what paradigms were actually being shattered.Lisa Clark Dillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-79574662585796882222011-01-05T15:47:58.075-05:002011-01-05T15:47:58.075-05:00Great post, Heather. You've just set my readi...Great post, Heather. You've just set my reading list back 3 years. How about Chandler's "Visible Hand"? It boils 80 years of tumultuous American business history down to a handful of concepts that still resonate.Eric B. Schultzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169391149462048777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-43402015358880954472011-01-05T15:03:01.341-05:002011-01-05T15:03:01.341-05:00My imaginary course on very cool books would exami...My imaginary course on very cool books would examine why human beings do what they do - a human history course I suppose. It would utilize my favorite ancient text - Thucydides, Golding's "Lord of the Flies" as well as Tucker Max's new book: "Assholes Finish First." <br /><br />Contrasting why human nature sucks would be the books "One Red Paperclip" by Kyle MacDonald, "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder, and "Why We Can't Wait" by Martin Luther King. These guys believed that friends, relationships, and love made life worthwhile.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-22174602028980524212011-01-05T14:09:23.671-05:002011-01-05T14:09:23.671-05:00Whenever I have used David Oshinky's Worse tha...Whenever I have used David Oshinky's Worse than Slavery it's worked really well. Few students have thought about the crippling race prejudice and legal issues in the period after the CR, and Oshinsky's an excellent writer as well.Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.com