| Interactive Online Historical Timelines
These books take a broader view, looking to describe cultural, religious, economic or historical trends over many centuries. |
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Fernand Braudel
-- one of the fathers of this style
of writing.
Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century These are heavy going, both physically and mentally, but well worth it -- the scope is phenomenal, touching details across centuries of history and different civilizations. Fantastic maps and charts illustrate the concepts, along with period pictures. Vol. I - The Structures of Everyday Life -- Human life in the centuries before industrialization. Vol. II - The Wheels of Commerce - The nature of capitalism and its role in history, examines the machinery of exchange as a whole, from barter to the most sophisticated capitalism. After a survey of the instruments of exchange, then moves on to look at the effects of markets on the economy. Eventually, traders cease to be mere movers of goods from one place to another and start to build production facilities in far off places. Vol. III - The Perspective of the World
These books make excellent background reading for many historical novels that flesh out this fascinating period. The Mediterranean in the Time of Philip II
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William McNeill
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Jared Diamond Guns, Germs and Steel More popularized version of the argument McNeil first made in Plagues and Peoples -- that much of Western civilization's domination of the world can be traced to biological causes. One of the most interesting portions of the argument is the discussion of north-south versus east-west geophysical alignments and how this affected the course of history.
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The Shield of Achilles - War, Peace and the Course of History - Philip Bobbitt
An incredible synthesis of the evolution of the State over the last 500 years. Solid historical argument in support of a radical idea about the replacement of the nation state by the market state. |
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Other:
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