Books - have, want
Right now I'm eagerly anticipating publication of several books - Corambis, Fragile Eternity, the new Paksenarrion books, the sequel to Terrier.
I'm greatly enjoying Hourani's History of the Arab Peoples. It's well-written, tells you when there's debate about a point, and moves you through time and space smoothly. All of those are unusual traits in a big beefy book of history, so I'm very pleased. I'm sure there are points on which there is more debate than I'm getting, but I needed a good beginner's book on the topic, and this seems to be it.
Also, I think I've finally got the originating differences of opinion between Sunni and Shi'ite groups stuck in memory. Only another 1000+ years of history to read before I figure out what the current differences of opinion are, but hey. It's a start. And I'm finally clear on my Ummayad vs. Abbasid caliphs (umm, though I still can't reliably spell Ummayad, sorry).
Mostly, I deal with my lack of historical knowledge by reading forwards as much as possible. I much prefer to start a few thousand years ago and work forward. All of this reading started with a desire to better know the 1800s. Which I got a bit into and then decided - well, to understand this, I need to better know the 1600s. Which I got a bit into and went, well, to understand this, I need to better know the 1400s. Which I got a bit into and went, well, to better understand this, I need to read general histories of earlier empires, and of the continents as a whole.
I figure in about 10 years I'll be ready to start reading 1800s history again.
I'm greatly enjoying Hourani's History of the Arab Peoples. It's well-written, tells you when there's debate about a point, and moves you through time and space smoothly. All of those are unusual traits in a big beefy book of history, so I'm very pleased. I'm sure there are points on which there is more debate than I'm getting, but I needed a good beginner's book on the topic, and this seems to be it.
Also, I think I've finally got the originating differences of opinion between Sunni and Shi'ite groups stuck in memory. Only another 1000+ years of history to read before I figure out what the current differences of opinion are, but hey. It's a start. And I'm finally clear on my Ummayad vs. Abbasid caliphs (umm, though I still can't reliably spell Ummayad, sorry).
Mostly, I deal with my lack of historical knowledge by reading forwards as much as possible. I much prefer to start a few thousand years ago and work forward. All of this reading started with a desire to better know the 1800s. Which I got a bit into and then decided - well, to understand this, I need to better know the 1600s. Which I got a bit into and went, well, to understand this, I need to better know the 1400s. Which I got a bit into and went, well, to better understand this, I need to read general histories of earlier empires, and of the continents as a whole.
I figure in about 10 years I'll be ready to start reading 1800s history again.