Here are 24 books that The Blazing World fans have personally recommended if you like
The Blazing World.
Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I am an academic economist, but economics is not only about interest rates and public funding of healthcare. It asks basic questions about individual choices and how they impact economic and political institutions. By taking an empirical perspective on historical episodes of revolts and revolutions, economic analysis can inform us about what enables the establishment and consolidation of democracy. This is obviously of utmost importance at a time when populist politicians on both sides of the political spectrum use rhetoric that may ultimately trigger democratic backsliding.
This is a classic book dealing with the Terror during the 1789 French Revolution.
I like the way it shows how the French revolutionaries quickly resorted to violence. They talked about democracy, equality, and liberty but were quick to deny them to their āenemies,ā chief among them other revolutionaries who were too āmoderateā or too āextreme.ā
In so doing, I like how the book shows how the French revolutionaries established a regime with what a modern observer would recognize as features of a totalitarian dictatorship.Ā
The Reign of Terror continues to fascinate scholars as one of the bloodiest periods in French history, when the Committee of Public Safety strove to defend the first Republic from its many enemies, creating a climate of fear and suspicion in revolutionary France. R. R. Palmer's fascinating narrative follows the Committee's deputies individually and collectively, recounting and assessing their tumultuous struggles in Paris and their repressive missions in the provinces. A foreword by Isser Woloch explains why this book remains an enduring classic in French revolutionary studies.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesāall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueā¦
I am an academic economist, but economics is not only about interest rates and public funding of healthcare. It asks basic questions about individual choices and how they impact economic and political institutions. By taking an empirical perspective on historical episodes of revolts and revolutions, economic analysis can inform us about what enables the establishment and consolidation of democracy. This is obviously of utmost importance at a time when populist politicians on both sides of the political spectrum use rhetoric that may ultimately trigger democratic backsliding.
Acemoglu and Robinson's book is (one of) the best theoretical monograph(s) in political economy.
I like how the book starts from a simple framework and then develops a series of models that emphasize how conflict and the potential for violent confrontation are essential factors for democratization.
Moreover, those models are always presented in perspective with an historical narrative that emphasizes why democracy is able to persist or not.
I am an academic economist, but economics is not only about interest rates and public funding of healthcare. It asks basic questions about individual choices and how they impact economic and political institutions. By taking an empirical perspective on historical episodes of revolts and revolutions, economic analysis can inform us about what enables the establishment and consolidation of democracy. This is obviously of utmost importance at a time when populist politicians on both sides of the political spectrum use rhetoric that may ultimately trigger democratic backsliding.
I like how Tilly's book emphasizes how democracy was often the outcome of popular protest.
Its analysis is careful enough to note that such protest could be peaceful or violent, as well as spontaneous or planned. As such, this book does not provide sweeping generalizations for the development of democratic institutions, and sometimes for their demise.
And its last chapter provides food for thought regarding democratization outside of Europe.
Contention and Democracy in Europe, 1650-2000, first published in 2004, is an analysis of the relationship between democratization and contentious politics that builds upon the model set forth in the pathbreaking book, Dynamics of Contention. Using a sustained comparison of French and British histories since 1650 or so as a springboard for more general comparison within Europe Contention and Democracy goes on to demonstrate that democratization occurred as result of struggles during which (as in 19th century Britain and France) few, if any, of the participants were self-consciously trying to create democratic institutions. Consequently, circumstances for democratization vary from eraā¦
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad.Ā
I am an academic economist, but economics is not only about interest rates and public funding of healthcare. It asks basic questions about individual choices and how they impact economic and political institutions. By taking an empirical perspective on historical episodes of revolts and revolutions, economic analysis can inform us about what enables the establishment and consolidation of democracy. This is obviously of utmost importance at a time when populist politicians on both sides of the political spectrum use rhetoric that may ultimately trigger democratic backsliding.
This book provided me with a fresh perspective on the 1789 Revolution in France.
I like its convincing analysis that the French Revolution was not a movement that directly caused or resulted from the Industrial Revolution.
Instead, it argues that it was a political revolution with āanti-capitalistā consequences: it solidified the agricultural pattern of small landowners, thereby explaining why France had remained relatively more agricultural than England or Germany by the turn of the twentieth century.
Alfred Cobban's The Social Interpretation of the French Revolution is one of the acknowledged classics of post-war historiography. This 'revisionist' analysis of the French Revolution caused a furore on first publication in 1964, challenging as it did established orthodoxies during the crucial period of the Cold War. Cobban saw the French Revolution as central to the 'grand narrative of modern history', but provided a salutary corrective to many celebrated social explanations, determinist and otherwise, of its origins and development. A generation later this concise but powerful intervention was reissued in this 1999 edition with an introduction by Gwynne Lewis, providingā¦
From books to television, one of my favorite qualities of good writing is a rich, inter-generational cast of characters, especially ones that feature significant roles for characters young and old. These stories do not span multiple generations; instead, they showcase characters of all ages interacting at one time, which makes for dynamic plots and relationships.
Easily one of my top favorite books, this novel captures so much: the great character of Lovejoy, the realities of post-war London, and a plot that reflects the human search for beauty amid horror, life amid death.Ā
The motifs, settings, and themes have such a strong impact on me to this day after having read it for the first time so long ago. There is something neat about the older folks thinking of the neighborhood āorphansā as sparrows, frittering away at the building of something special.
'A masterpiece of construction and utterly realistically convincing' JACQUELINE WILSON
'Author Godden here tries her deft writing hand at landscaping a child's heart' TIME
'It is a sentimental tale, well told, with an unlikely and entirely satisfactory ending' NEW YORKER
Someone has been digging up the private garden in the Square. Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of local boys is to blame, but her sister, Olivia, isn't so sure. She wonders why the neighbourhood children - 'sparrows' sheā¦
Louis P. Masur is a cultural historian who has written on a range of topics in American history, from Abraham Lincoln to Bruce Springsteen, from the first World Series to a photograph that shocked the nation. An award-winning teacher, Masur lectures frequently on various topics in American history. His essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and Slate. The Sum of Our Dreams emerged out a course he teaches on the American Dream, which, somehow, he still believes in.
Loewenās book, updated since its original publication, explodes some of the many myths and falsehoods contained in textbooks on American history. Whether stories of the first Thanksgiving or America and the Vietnam War, the book challenges interpretations presented as facts and facts that are contested. The result is an indispensable argument for trying to get the facts right when discussing American history.
Since its first publication in 1995, Lies My Teacher Told Me has become one of the most important - and successful - history books of our time. Having sold over two million copies, the book also won an American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship and was heralded on the front page of the New York Times in the summer of 2006. For this new edition, Loewen has added a new introduction that shows how inadequate history courses in high school help produce adult Americans who think Donald Trump can solve their problems.
Almost Home is a fictional retelling of the last great tragedy of the Civil War.
In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers.Ā Among them are four Indiana soldiersā¦
Iām a literary historian who works on the history of womenās reproductive bodies in the early modern era. I am also a debut novelist who has used my many years of researching the seventeenth century to bring to life the story of a seventeenth-century midwife. My own novel is not a bio fiction in the strictest sense of the term (novels with a named protagonist who was a historical figure) but it is based on the published works of two contemporary midwives, Jane Sharp (fl. 1671) and Sarah Stone who worked in the early part of the eighteenth century. I love reading works where other authors have brought to life figures I both research and teach.
This is the chance to read about a woman on the side of Cromwell and Parliament during the English civil wars. It imagines the life of Oliver Cromwellās youngest daughter, Frances, later Lady Rich and Lady Russell (1638ā1720). It describes the reign of Cromwell, life in the court of the protector, and the end of the commonwealth following her fatherās death. The story is told by Frances herself and features a twist about the real fate of Cromwellās corpse at the end.
Power, passion and a devastating fight for the crown - discover the gripping story of Oliver Cromwell's youngest daughter. Perfect for fans of Anne O'Brien, Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory
'A powerful and superbly researched historical novel' Andrew Taylor, author of The Last Protector
1657. The youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell, eighteen-year-old Frances is finding her place at England's new centre of power.
Following the turmoil of Civil War, a fragile sense of stability has returned to the country. Her father has risen to the unprecedented position of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, and Frances has found herself transported fromā¦
Iām a journalist and writer by profession, one who has a passion for history and historical fiction. Eventually these things came together when I came up with the idea for Drabble and Harris and wrote my first historical thriller ā Rule Britannia. Before going into journalism I studied history at university, a bedrock that continues to support and feed my writing. Iāve also written broadly on various historical topics throughout my career, including for National Geographic. In my protagonists, Drabble and Harris, I have the perfect vehicle to travel back in time to the recent past and revisit it through modern eyes ā and more than that, to challenge our perceptions of it.
Set in the aftermath of the English Civil War; this is the fourth in Andrew Taylorās bestselling series involving a government agent named James Marwood and his friend, Cat Lovett, who happens to be Oliver Cromwellās daughter. In The Last Protector1668 and Marwood and Lovett are on the trail of a mystery that goes back to the days of the republic, one quite literally hidden away in the bowels of the past, but also one which involves a very credible danger to both them individually and society at large. Itās gripping and immersive, and offers delicious personal and political jeopardy right up to the end.
From the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett. Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!
A dangerous secret lies beneath Whitehall Palace...
Brother against brother. Father against son. Friends turned into enemies. No one in England wants a return to the bloody days of the Civil War. But Oliver Cromwell's son, Richard, has abandoned his exile and slipped back into England. The consequences could be catastrophic.
James Marwood, a traitor's son turned government agent, is tasked with uncovering Cromwell'sā¦
I love historical fiction which brings the past to life and allows us to experience other historical periods. For me, historical crime fiction combines this with dynamic plots and interesting characters. My love of history was first kindled by the books of John Prebble which introduced me to the fascinating world of 17th-century Scotland. I went on to study Scottish History at university and research a PhD in the subject. I have gone on to write a history of the Darien Disaster, The Price of Scotland, and a series of historical crime novels set in the late 17th century featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie and his sidekick Davie Scougall.
The Seekertakes us through the streets of Cromwellian London in the 1650s, a period rarely considered by historical crime novelists, but one of paranoia as Cromwellās regime struggles to crush the enemies seeking to overthrow it. The novel introduces the character of Captain Damian Seeker, Cromwellās mysterious agent who is a force to be reckoned with.
Winner of the 2015 CWA Endeavour Dagger for Historical Fiction
London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies, at home and abroad.
London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins. One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell, and thatā¦
Creativity, Teaching, and Natural Inspiration
by
Mark Doherty,
I have woven numerous delightful and descriptive true life stories, many from my adventures as an outdoorsman and singer songwriter, into my life as a high school English teacher. I think you'll find this work both entertaining as well as informative, and I hope you enjoy the often lighthearted reparteeā¦
I'm a writer based in Wisconsin. I write in a genre that exists much like its subjects: lurking in the shadows. It's something I call Gothic Espionage, which is the intersection of the Gothic and Espionage/Spy genres. My first novel, Bite of the Wolf, was the first synthesis of these two worlds, and continues with the follow up, slated for release in September, Operation Frankenstein. Appropriately enough, spies are often referred to as āspooks,ā and these selections will highlight both the spooky and the spooks of Gothic Espionage, and Iāll highlight why both horror and spy novels can both be described as āthrillers.ā
A precursor to Dracula, and largely forgotten today in the mainstream, the globe-hopping adventures of Varney bring to mind many spy adventure tales.
In this novel, one of the original āpenny dreadfulsā the episodic tone (due to its original publication as a continuing weekly serial from 1845-1847), contributes to the espionage feel, especially as Varney takes on a cover as āBaron Stolmuyer Saltsburghā in order to further his activities.
Also notable is, among the other vampiric Gothic traits displayed by Varney, he is also able to be revived by moonlight, a trope which is now more attributed to werewolves.
Varney the Vampire (1847) is a penny dreadful novel by British writers James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. Originally serialized in cheap volumes, the novel introduced some of the most recognizable tropes of vampire fiction still used today, including the depiction of fangs and the use of a Gothic setting. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, Varney the Vampire is a story of tragedy, damnation, and revenge that pioneered many of the themes common to horror and pulp fiction today. Sir Francis Varney was condemned to an eternity of vampiric life following his actions during the reign of Oliver Cromwell.ā¦
