…which three books would you consider vital?
For me, I’d have to plunk down for The Fall of the House of Hapsburg by Edward Crankshaw, Caesar and Christ by Will and Ariel Durant and War Through the Ages by Lynn Montross.
The Fall because it takes us through European History from 1848 to 1914 through the prism of the Hapsburg Monarchy and exposes the various stresses which led to the collapse of European civilization in the cataclysm of the First World War and, also, it cuts through a lot of the fog surrounding that time and shows that for all its errors, there was much merit in a supra-national government as a counter-balance to rampant nationalism.
Caesar and Christ because it covers that pivotal time of human history – more important than any other – which contained within it the life of Christ, the rise of Christianity and the rise and fall of the Roman empire. Understanding our world is not possible without an understanding of that period from approximately 200 BC to 400 AD.
War because an understanding of the military is vital for anyone who wishes to understand the mechanism by which the most startling changes have taken place in our society and how that mechanism reflects the strengths and weaknesses of the societies.
What are your picks, and why?
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