Bumping this thread because there's not enough history going on
I'm keen to stock up on literature for the shit weather/further lockdown restrictions, so it'd be great to have some recommendations for books about the following:
- The Atlantic slave trade (particularly the 19th century)
- The recent Yugoslav Wars
- The end of WW2 - Yalta, the Marshall Plan, Operation Unthinkable, all that good stuff.
Frankly I'm less interested in military history and more into sociological/human/personal stories behind the conflicts, but would be receptive to easily accessible stuff of all stripes.
Just to do a bit of giving as well as hopefully taking, here are some of my favourites:
- Stasiland by Anna Funder (stories from the people whose lives were massively affected by or were involved in the East German secret police)
- Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick (a brilliant, detailed book about real lives in North Korea, the author avoids patronising the people whose stories she tells and is a very good resource on Korean history dating back to Japanese occupation)
- The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chan (a haunting but incredibly well-researched book about an atrocity that must rank among the worst in human history)