looking for a history book

[KnockAr0und-Guy]

First of all i'm 16 years old, but i've been reading history books since I was 7. I like ancient history, mostly eastern, mesopotamian. I like to read about military intelligence, politics and stuff like that. I'm looking for a lil' more than history in my books. I like mystery, conspiracy, stuff that not everybody today knows about. something amazing maybe
or maybe stories [true I hope] of warriors and warfare....hope you get the picture.

+I hope there are books like that.

Thanks alot !

 

[Peder]

KnockAr0und-Guy,
History is not my field, much less ancient history of that region.
There is, however, a modern book, Orientalism, by Edward Said, who very strongly advances the idea that all western perspectives on the "orient," including the middle-east, that have been written since about the 18th century, are heavily filtered through western eyes and are hopelessly biased and all wrong. I don't think that is an overstatement of his views. So, though he doesn't say much about the actual history of the region, it is a book you might want to look into as you yourself delve into its history. There is a thread you can find here on TBF for some reactions to his controversial book.
Best of wishes with you search,
Peder

 

[pwilson]

Try the Bruce Trilogy by Nigel Tranter. Fits your criteria pretty well.

 

[KnockAr0und-Guy]

Thank you, both of you.

and by the way....I DO NOT want fictions.....I want the books to be as accurate as posible. thanks ! [and the reason I'm saying that is because I was looking at a couple of books over the web, mostly Amazon.com, and the serious reviews says that the books are great (story), but with little, or even false history in it :\ ]

 

[ions]

Wow. Very well written post for a 16 year old. Not that it's never done but it's rare.

I'm not very well versed in this field but regardless I have some suggestions.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
1491 by Charles C Mann
Mao by Jung Chang
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee

Also if you're interested in history books Pierre Burton is a very prolific history writer. His books are almost all about Canada though.

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I got this interesting thing called The Truth About History. It has a lot of little-known facts and tells about things that are mistold even in history books. I also have an encyclopedia of mythology, which is sorta history since it's about ancient religions. But anyway, you should check on The Truth About History. It's cool.
Other than that...I don't have much in your field. I prefer historical fiction. I read nonfiction very occasionally.

 

[TheZeroGirl]

My area of specialization is history, however, primarily modern rather than ancient. The few ancient history studies that I have done were in the Greek world (mainly Athens and Sparta) and not Mesopotamia. That said, I offer the following suggestion...Instead of reading books about ancient history, you might want to read works written by ancient writers such as Xenophon, Plato, or Plutarch (for example). Reading primary-source books (rather than modern secondary research) offers you a chance to see the ancient world through the eyes of people who lived it. You would have to keep in mind that ancient sources have not always survived fully intact; we are often only left with fragments of the original. There is also the fact that these are translations of the original and thus their quality is tied directly to the abilities of the translator. However, I would make the following recommendations:

- The Histories by Cornelius Tacitus.

- The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides.