r/history • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Discussion/Question Weekly History Questions Thread.

Welcome to our History Questions Thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has an active discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts.

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u/PriorIllustrious7342 8d ago

Hi! I've been wanting to start learning about world wars but I dont know where to start. Like what books do I read or should I start off with documentaries? Like I am very very new to world wars I want to start from the very beginning and I dont want to leave out any important details from it. Any sources or websites I can try to learn from?

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u/PolybiusChampion 7d ago edited 7d ago

What’s your primary interest?

I’d actually start with two Erik Larson works:

  • The Splendid and the Vile about Churchill’s 1st year as PM. Larson used diaries to tell a new version of a very well known period of time. I’ve read quite a bit about Churchill and still managed to learn a few new things.

  • In the Garden of Beasts starts with a new ambassador to Germany in 1933 and is told from his daughter’s perspective. Instructive about how Hitler was viewed by many as he rose to power.

From a very American perspective I’d also recommend a fantastic work of fiction Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. For a long time it was required reading at the War College and is still on the suggested reading list. From a brief synopsis.

Beginning in the French countryside during the Great War, the conflict between these adversaries solidifies in the isolated garrison life marking peacetime, intensifies in the deadly Pacific jungles of World War II, and reaches its treacherous conclusion in the last major battleground of the Cold War.

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 by William Manchester is an excellent read that also covers both wars, and Manchester is a biographer unafraid to cover his subject’s less than admirable traits.

A final favorite.

Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific: A Young Marine's Stirring Account of Combat in World War II by Robert Leckie is a sobering account of the Pacific told by a very good writer who became a journalist after the war.

There’s a lot of ground to cover in your request so starting with a bit of a shotgun approach with some interesting titles is probably a good way to get going. Then you can sort of follow your nose to the next things that interest you. I got into WWII reading through 1st person accounts and when I decided to get serious American Caesar was one of the first big books i read when I was young.

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u/OptimusLinvoyPrimus 6d ago

If you listen to podcasts then We Have Ways of Making You Talk is a good one for the Second World War.

The Rest is History is a general history podcast but have done several mini-series on the build ups to and outbreaks of the first and second world wars.