Hello, Duke a/k/a Archibald Cartwright here:
I am an avid reader and a big fan of history. If anyone wants any book recommendations let me know. My particular interest is in Napoleonic, Imperial Russian and Byzantine.
Let this be a great book recommendation thread.
Cavalry Maiden covers at least two of those interest.
It’s about some girlboss Russian who gets the Tsar to be her sugar-daddy and rides off on her horse to kill Frenchmen.
It is also an autobiography.
What are you looking for in these books? Like silly haha history facts? Just cool stories? Trying to understand why things happened? What’s your MO for reading these topics.
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzynes… soltztein? solz… the dude
It’s about being in a gullag or something.
Guessing you already know of anna karina.
The blind owl is Iraqi iirc which if I’m not mistaken was in the byzantine empire.
It’s about guilt.
War as I knew it by patton… not really eastern nor napoleonic.
Autobiography from a hard MF.
That’s about all I got in relation to what you’ve asked about.
EDIT:
Roadside picnic is good.
The social contract and the communist manifesto are interesting political philosophy.
Dune you gotta make time for because it’s awesome.
Mediations by Marcus aurelius is pretty neat but it was the dude’s personal journal, not meant for publishing.
I’ve got a huge backlog I need to make time to get through.
No more youtube before bed-you’ve made it so, Archibald.
The Martian is my traveling book, it goes on any trip I go on.
Also Generation KIll is one I ready once in a while.
Just 2 book off the top of my head.
Unfortunately my literature that could be seen as historical leaning doesn’t super fit with your categories but I do have a few that may be interesting. For historical fiction All Quiet on the Western front is a classic, its not a super long read either and its pretty easy to find a copy if you want physical. For a more personal War story you could try Ernst Junger’s storm of steel, its a compilation of his diary entries and is seen almost like the opposite of All quiet in some peoples view. For a more History focused book Martin Gilbert’s The first World War is an excellent read and super informative on every front of the war including the Eastern Front with the Russian empire.
Magic Treehouse: Civil war on sunday and Magic Treehouse: Revolutionary War on Wednesday
If you’re interested in Napoleonic history, here’s my personal recommendation:
Sadly, it doesn’t cover the 2nd Coalition onwards, since it’s more focused on the early Napoleonic period, such as the prelude to the French Revolution, Napoleon’s rise from Corsica to Metropolitan France, as well as how he exploited the circumstances of the time to his advantage in securing himself as Emperor.
It also covers in depth the perspectives of the Austrians, Russians, British, Prussian & even early American views on the European conflict. I found the last part particularly unique considering the United States was an incredibly young nation, having only recently won independence from the British Crown.
The early “American Experiment” in republicanism and how it interacted with the rapidly changing tides in Europe as a whole were extremely intriguing.
11/10, absolute must-read.
Not too sure if its what you’re after, but christ knows I have to recommend it:The Myth of Sisyphus (Albert Camus) is a pretty good read. Plus, the conclusion is amazing. 'The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. ’
I loved that book as a kid.
That sounds like an interesting read.
I remember that.
I have heard of the man. I will need to take a look. Thank you.
Blindsight by Peter Watts is pretty good if you like relatively hard sci-fi and aliens actually being aliens. Very well written and interesting, definitely thematically appropriate to Aliens.
The Black Company novels by Glen Cook are also pretty good. Sword and sorcery instead of scifi but I could definitely see our server being exactly that kind of semi-dysfunctional but also competent mercenary company.
Armor by John Steakley’s a decent one for anyone who likes space marines or supersoldiers. Kind of the gold standard for it and a better read than Starship Troopers imo.
If you’re into late-stage cyberpunk transitioning into straight up transhumanism, then Eclipse Phase (creative commons) has a lot of great lore in its rulebook. I’ve run a couple scenarios online before and had decent fun clearing out an abandoned lunar hab filled with dysfunctional robots and dinosaurs.
If you want something non-fiction but military, then Storm of Steel and Infantry Attacks by Ernst Junger and Erwin Rommel respectively, give some great insight into what World War 1 was like on the west and east(ish) fronts, also respectively. I didn’t find either boring, but Storm of Steel is definitely a drier read than Infantry Attacks.
I liked crime and punishment but thats the normie book 
