Friday, March 03, 2023

The Well-Educated Mind Histories: from least to most memorable(s)

 

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)

More: Utopia (1516)

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)

Herodotus: The Histories (441 BC)

Galbraith: The Great Crash 1929 (1955)

FOUR STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Plutarch: Lives (AD 100-125) [read selections]

FIVE STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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) ðŸŒŸ

(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:)

Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
     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. 

Friedan: The Feminine Mystique (1963)
     Entertainingly weird. For sure. 

     This was a massive undertaking and well done. 

     Another impressive work. Huge!

Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
     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.

Augustine: City of God (426)
     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. 

Ryan: The Longest Day (1959)
     This was also very memorable because of the subject matter. I finished reading it on June 6th.  What a DAY!

Strachey: Queen Victoria (1921)
     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:

4 comments:

  1. 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.

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    1. Do you know if you will read the entire Democracy in America or just part one?

      As 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.

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  2. 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.

    I love The Longest Day and have read it twice.

    BTW, I tagged you with The Bookworm Tag. Play if you want to!

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    1. That's what I was thinking: I'll only be able to read it when I am prepared to commit to it.

      Thanks!! I'll take a look at it. I have a crazy weekend w/ my girls; so I may have to do it Sunday night.

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