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| What remains of my WEM histories stack, minus Lewis and Clark. |
This is a very weird situation: history is also one of my favorite genres; however, I truly struggled with
The Well-Educated Mind history list. As you can see, I DNF-ed eight of these, and I speed-read through many others. I only had one five star; however, I could choose not one single favorite. I had more memorable reads than a particular favorite (so that is somewhat encouraging).
This is the last genre I have completed from TWEM. Currently I am reading through the poetry list. And when I complete that, I will read through plays. Susan Wise-Bauer has since added a list of science books to read, but I have zero plans to ever read them.
Following, the histories in order from least to most memorable:
NO STARS [DNF]
Plato: The Republic (c. 375 BC) [read 100 pages]
Hume: The History of England, Vol. V (1754) [DNF]
Burckhardt: The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860) [read a few chapters]
Miller: The New England Mind (1939) [I started this, but don't remember what happened]
Tuchman: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (1978) [read 22%]
McPherson: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988) [did not attempt]
Ulrich: A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary (1990) [read 30%]
Fukuyama: The End of History and the Last Man (1992) [read 30%]
ONE STAR ⭐
Marx / Engels: The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings (1848)
I loathe Communism. It was my second time reading, and it will always be an evil, divisive, slave-inducing ideology to me.
TWO STARS ⭐⭐
Thucydides: The Peloponnesian War (c. 400 BC)
Bernstein / Woodward: All The President's Men (1087)
A lot of arrogance, but what impressed me here was the level of journalism. You don't see that anymore. Today, journalists are spoon-fed from one source, and it's not even the truth.
THREE STARS ⭐⭐⭐
(These three-star reads were somewhat dull to me, except Herodotus and Galbraith; nonetheless, difficult to get through.)
Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731)
Rousseau: The Social Contract (1762)
Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904)
Plutarch:
Lives (AD 100-125) [read selections]
Machiavelli: The Prince (1513)
I was obviously in absolute agreement with this work because it was the only WEM history that received five stars. And yet, it was not my most memorable.
🌟 MOST MEMORABLE(S) 🌟
(BTW, all of these received four stars, but I could not choose just one; however, if I had to order them from memorable to most memorable, it may look this way:)
Wasn't fond of Du Bois' social arguments, especially against Booker T. Washington, but it was intriguing enough to give four stars and call it memorable.
Entertainingly weird. For sure.
This was a massive undertaking and well done.
Another impressive work. Huge!
I hosted a read-along for this book and it caused me to read more deeply, and therefore, it was quite memorable. Wollstonecraft was one of the first feminists leading to modern-day feminism, and I dare say, she would be flabbergasted if she saw what modern-day feminism looked like: men surpassing women again, as...women? Sad.
Impressive. I think I was even more impressed that I read it.
Love Orwell, and this was great investigative work!
Paine: Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings (1776)
I only read CS, which was a re-read for me. I love Paine's courageous spirit for liberty.
Tocqueville: Democracy in America (1835-40)
An honest and hopeful observation of a young America through the eyes of a Frenchman. Tocqueville would probably weep if he visited America today.
This was also very memorable because of the subject matter. I finished reading it on June 6th. What a DAY!
I just loved this story about Queen Victoria. Well-written and fascinating. I'd either like to read more about Queen Victoria or another history/biography by Strachey. Well-done.
* * *
For other lists:
Or for the complete TWEM booklist:
I'm looking forward to reading Tocqueville this year, probably jn late June. Was there a reason you didn't try McPherson? I can't remember if I've read him earlier in life (my big ACW obsession was in middle & high school), but he has a reputation as a popular author.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if you will read the entire Democracy in America or just part one?
DeleteAs for Battle Cry of Freedom, I had recently finished Roll, Jordan, Roll, and it was almost as long as the Bible. I was feeling burnt out or had lost my focus. (It was #2020 or 2021? and I was so distracted by current events! I had a bad attitude about the world. Not a good time for me for focusing on serious topics from the past.) So I wanted to move on and finish the history section of WEM. That's why I skipped it.
I read Battle Cry of Freedom for college, and it is fantastic! A chunkster, yeah, but very readable. Sometime when you're in a better mindframe for it, definitely give it a whirl.
ReplyDeleteI love The Longest Day and have read it twice.
BTW, I tagged you with The Bookworm Tag. Play if you want to!
That's what I was thinking: I'll only be able to read it when I am prepared to commit to it.
DeleteThanks!! I'll take a look at it. I have a crazy weekend w/ my girls; so I may have to do it Sunday night.