AE Book club

  I have some suggestions for anyone who enjoys a good read related to history:

Books by Gore Vidal:

- Burr (American history 1776-1835)

- Lincoln (American history 1840-1865)

- Creation (World history and religion 520-450 bc. Emphasis on Persia, Greece, India and China. Characters in the book include Buddha, Confucius, Pythagoras, Socrates, Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, and many other important religious/philosophical figures)

- Julian (the story of a Roman emperor ~ 350AD, who turned his back on Christianity, which had recently become the official state religion)

- Empire and Hollywood (Early 20^th century America)

Books by Gary Jennings (they�re kind of formulaic, but they�re real page turners and very well researched):

-          Aztec (Aztec and other pre-Columbian Mexican  civilizations 1480-1523, including their fall to Spanish conquistadors)

-          Raptor (the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. Gothic and Roman civilization 440-510 AD)

-          The Journeyer (the story of Marco Polo and his travels through Asia 1260-1300 AD)

Books by James Clavell

-          Shogun (early 17^th century Japan)

-          Noble House (soap opera, big business and espionage in 1960�s Hong Kong)

-          Tai Pan (foundation of Hong Kong, and the opium wars in the 1840�s China)

-          Gai Jin (1860�s Japan, when westerners were allowed to come back in the country)

-          Whirlwind (the Iranian revolution, 1979)

Books by James Michener

-          the Source (history of Israel/Palestine)

-          Iberia (history of Spain)

-          Hawaii

-          Carribean

Gabriel Garcia Marquez � 100 years of solitude (imaginary Banana Republic in Latin America)

Stephen Lawhead � Byzantium (the pilgrimage of Irish monks to bring the Book of Kells to Byzantium ~800AD)

Wilbur Smith � Birds of Prey, Monsoon, Blue Horizon (the saga of an English family of corsairs, merchants and hunters in South and East Africa, 17^th and 18th centuries)

Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri - The Court of the Lion. (T�ang dynasty China ~730-750AD)

Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri - Deception. (T�ang dynasty China ~650-700AD). They�re both very well researched and real page turners

Dorothy Dunnett -  The House of Niccolo Series (16^th century Europe)

Sharon Kay Penman The Sunne in Splendour (Richard the 3^rd and 15^th century England)

Maurice Druon Les Rois Maudits series (13^th and 14^th century France)

Henryk Sienkiewicz Quo Vadis (Nero and the early Christians in Rome)

Judith Tarr Pillar of Fire (Akhenaten and Moses, 14^th century BC Egypt. If you�re interested in religion this is very interesting)

M.M. Kaye The Far Pavilions (the 1857 revolt in India)

George MacDonald Fraser The Flashman Series (1830-1860, all over the world. Very, very entertaining)

Non-Fiction

Francis Fukuyama - The end of history and the last man

Samuel Huntington - Clash of Civilizations (the two books take opposite views about the course the world is taking. Political science and philosophy)

Yes great list many of which I have read.

I believe you are correct Vagabond that you and I where the only ones that read the last one (maybe Cornelia but she has been away for a while) so now we are in hiatus.

Judith Tarr Pillar of Fire (Akhenaten and Moses, 14^th century BC Egypt. If you�re interested in religion this is very interesting) made me think of another book on the same subject  "Twelve transforming" by Pauline Gedge. Which caused me to think It might be intresting to read two books on the same subject and compare how the authers treated the material. worth a thought.   

Read this book also. What intriqued me is the amount of impetus the Soviet regimes had in secluding a Mongol identity and the disrespect for historical -sacred burial grounds. Many had protrayed Genghis as a tyrant who left nothing but destruction. Yet he was proficient in the shaping of global commerce and international secular law.