"Reading history for pleasure" Topic

My favorite historian to read for pleasure is Samuel Eliot Morison.
I love to sit on my front porch, book in hand, beer on the railing, and just read. I am now re-reading, for the umpteenth time, "The European Discovery of America".

Morison was a scholar, professor at Harvard, blue water sailor, Admiral in the Naval Reserve in World War 2, and a fantastic opinionated writer.

His dismissal of those he considers cranks and charlatans are fantastic. "But enough of these fantasies!" or "The solution is easy: some of the Spanish documents on which Madariaga relies are fakes, whilst the mayorazgo or entail of 1498 … is genuine." Isn't such assurance great?

While I would ordinarily be drawn to the loonier crackpot pre-Columbian theories, Morison's credentials as a blue water sailor and naval officer lead me to accept his orthodoxy.
Morison is that rarity: a historian who can actually WRITE. His love and admiration for the old seadogs is contagious.
I hate the hackneyed phrase "later research has blah blah blah…" He sets the bar pretty high.

So, who do YOU read for pleasure?

Stephen Sears does it for me. Also- Gordon Rhea

Morison is fantastic. Recently I've enjoyed Robert Massie (Castles of Steel, Dreadnought) and John Gill (Thunder on the Danube).

Mark

Shelby Foote: "The Civil War: A Narrative."

Arthur Koestler: "The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe."

David Lavender: "Land of Giants: Drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750-1950."

William L. Shirer: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."

I've certainly enjoyed Rick Atkinson and while it has been awhile, Barbara Tuchman and William Shirer gave me great pleasure over the years.

I kid you not…the Official Despatches from the London Gazette…I've got several volumes for several wars printed and (spiral) bound.

Not saying they are the truth (though, some/many are), but they are a good starting point and if one knows (of) the truth…the downright lies can be a real hoot to read!

Robert Massie and Lyn MacDonald leap to mind immediately.

John Gill and Peter Cozzens are brilliant in that I can read them for pure pleasure, or at another sitting trawl for all sorts of "wargaming research".

In no particular order:

David Hackett Fischer
Walter Lord
Bruce Catton
Martin Caiden
Richard Ketchum
David Howarth
Christopher Hibbert.
Edwin P. Hoyt

I just really enjoy the way these authors tell their stories.

For an assignment I recently borrowed a book on Diocletian and the Roman Recovery by Stephen Williams, rather than returning it after the assignment I have kept it to read in the break. He's a good writer and its fascinating!

I always had a soft spot for C V Wedgewood's histories. The opening chapter of The King's Peace which describes a country just before the political and military storm of the Civil War broke always struck me as very eloquent.

She also wrote some good books on Montrose and William the Silent and her book on the 30 years war [imaginatively titled The 30 Years War] actually made some sense of a period I've always struggled to keep up with.

Almost any of them…

I'm with Ed. If it is about history, I can probably read it for pleasure.

For Wedgewood, I am still a fan of hers though it has been many years since I read the 30 Years War. Her description of the Defenstration of Prague was vivid enough to penetrate the mind of a teen.
I would add Christopher Hibbert to the list

Desmond Stewart
Peter Green
Barbara Tuchman

Kevin Brownlow for over 30 years now with my favorites being:

"The Parade's Gone By"
"The War, The West and The Wildnerness"
"Behind The Mask of Innocence"

Desmond Stewart

Seward?

I like Desmond Seward's books on the Military Orders, HYW and WotR(oses).

Runciman is always satisfying.

Does Michener count? (I guess not)

Barbara Tuchman for sure.

I enjoyed the unexpurgated version of Gibbon's History of Rome etc….

I don't usually notice the authors of most of the books I read….

Jonathan Scott, Janelle Greenberg and Donald Kagan are my favourites.

Not the 'normal' author, but a website I'd recommend
for those interested in WWII:

worldwar2plus55.com

David Lippmann is an engaging writer.

Always looking for new authors. It's the subjects I keep coming back to: World War II naval, Mexican War, French and Indian War, Ante-bellum US and the like.

Sometimes I find good'uns, sometimes I find stinkers.

T

Essentially, if it's history, I'll read it, but if it's an especially engaging author, I'll re-read it. A lot.

I've replaced various authors' works several times over (usually dealing with the American Civil War) that I've simply read to pieces, although I've also destroyed Massie's Dreadnought…twice. Ouch.

What amazes me is that I have managed to break myself of my habit of bringing a book everywhere I go, including, say, on a date or to a formal concert (including, no kidding, a Friedman design history).