Top products from r/TheGrittyPast

We found 10 product mentions on r/TheGrittyPast. We ranked the 10 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Top comments that mention products on r/TheGrittyPast:

u/sloam1234 · 4 pointsr/TheGrittyPast

Fantastic recommendation, I got to read Junger's memoir last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Absolutely horrifying and enlightening.

One of my favorite WWI books is A World Undone, by G. J. Meyer. Which is ironic since I don't think I've ever posted a single anecdote from it (an error I need to severely correct).

It's super dense, but probably one of the best overviews of the war, encapsulating a deep amount of academic research, primary sources from soldiers, civilians, leaders- all the while providing important historical context and background for the many many actors/nations involved, their motives, and goals.

I recommend this book to ANYONE interested in WWI besides a passing understanding. At 816 pages it can be daunting to most readers, but if you have the interest, absolutely check out this book.

Another great book is Max Hastings's Inferno, which is one of the best "social histories" of the war IMO. The wide-range of intimate, tragic, surprising, and sometimes funny testimonies collected in the book, along with Hastings's excellent prose, is one of the most "human" retellings of WWII, I've ever read and is a must for anyone who is interested in the war beyond just the military and political aspects.

Edit: I also want to include Hastings's Retribution which covers the Pacific campaign (1944-45) in equally masterful prose and heartwrenching testimony. Learned not only a lot about the Japanese perspective but also of people's lives under Japanese occupation.

Also Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, which is a fantastic (American POV) of the war and incredibly well written.

u/HighCrimesandHistory · 1 pointr/TheGrittyPast

You're going to be in for a tough time! Finding good sources that are non-academic on witch trials and Sabbats is like finding Bigfoot. Part of it is because of the high amount of folklorists who believe they were real witches and treat it with a nonhistorical tint. Often they add facts that are blatantly false. The rest are academics who do good microhistories on witch trials.

My number one suggestion would be to either try out this book (mostly primary sources, but in good English and readable) or read some Carlo Ginzburg. He's the authoritarian on Sabbats and one of the best historians in history. His Night Battles and Ecstasies are both on Sabbats and are the premier work on them.

Sorry I can't be of more help there! If you do stumble upon something better let me know, because it's a problem I'm encountering as well.

u/LockeProposal · 2 pointsr/TheGrittyPast

I would most recommend Richard Pipes' The Russian Revolution, but Orlando Figes' A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 is a very close second. I have both and would almost recommend them equally.

Hope that helps!