"What History Are You Reading?"

In this episode, Tilly and Abigail discuss favorite history reads from the past year or so. Are there any enduring principles for reading history, when every historian works under some kind of bias? How do you read history with virtue and pull as much wisdom and application from it as possible? How do you judge whether an author is taking a legitimate approach to history? Is there a difference between bias and subjectivity? (Answer: yes.) What are some of the most pleasant ways of absorbing history? BOOKS REFERENCED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY David McCullough John Adams 1776 The Pioneers The Wright Brothers Mornings on Horseback Books About Historical Method Histories and Fallacies — Carl Trueman Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial — Richard J. Evans Excellent book about the trial of a Holocaust denier, with a very detailed, point-by-point demonstration of his illegitimate historical methods. Early American History Of Plymouth Plantation — William Bradford A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America — James Horn The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution, Compared with the Origin and Principles of the French Revolution — translated by John Quincy Adams Give Me Liberty: A Novel of Patrick Henry — Noel B. Gerson American Sphinx — Joseph Ellis Founding Brothers — Joseph Ellis Civil War Era History The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War — Stephen Puleo Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War — Charles Dew Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural — Ronald C. White Jr. WWII / Nazi History The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich — William L. Shirer Ordinary Men — Christopher Browning Hitler's Furies — Wendy Lower History Through Hobby The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose — Frank Muir READ MORE THAN ONE PERSPECTIVE Take care to read at least two views on a person or era. For instance, if you read: Hitler, Churchill, and the Unnecessary War — Patrick J. Buchanan Anything at all by David Irving Also read: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich — William L. Shirer Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War — Tim Bouverie Original source material such as Mein Kampf or Goebbels's diaries Lying About Hitler — Richard J. Evans, specifically dealing with David Irving For something as wide and complex as a war, more than a few books would be ideal. Even a simple biography of one individual would be best understood from more than one author's work. The sources build on and balance each other: Jane Austen: A Life from Beginning to End — Hourly History Jane Austen: Her Life — Park Honan IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.