Recently we had to pick a book for a book report that's coming up before long. I ended up picking out Old Willis Place, a really crappy book made for people like half my age. I like reading, but my English teacher doesn't let me use the books I like to read, because they're too "edgey".

Recently we had to pick a book for a book report that's coming up before long. I ended up picking out Old Willis Place, a really crappy book made for people like half my age. I like reading, but my English teacher doesn't let me use the books I like to read, because they're too "edgey".

The last book I read was "The Merchant of Venice" By William Shakespeare.

The last book I actually read was some book on japanese culture. I forget the name, but I learned some interesting things about them.

I also learned I am hungry for sushi for no reason.

I read a book of global history detailing pretty much every nation and its battles in a ascending timescale.it was very interesting.the only person on vizzed who "possibly" knows more about history than me would be elara.

Zamiel : Yeah, I had the same though. I really hope he doesn't take six years writing the next one.

thenumberone : Interesting book. How much detail did it go into and how far back did it go?

It starts with the early man,detailing as much as is know/theorised.it goes over the first civilizations and trys to rule fact from legend with the tales of civilizations like atlantis.
Some things get more attention than others.it gives an even cover of all the lands,inca,chinese,mongal,british,etc etc.
On every page it also lists things that dont get described in a timeline too like(picks up book and flips to random page)1168 amalric,king of jerusalem,captures cairo.
Iv got some pretty massive books that better cover certain areas,including a collosal one that actualy has every battle fought.unlike this one though,it dosent follow the rise and fall of nations which is interesting.the things you can find in charity shops.2 quid,bargain =p

I read the harry potter last book again.

Just to see how it was after watching the movie.

Well the book I read recently was Amulet it is an awesome book I love it! I would recommend it when u start reading like 3 pages your eyes won't be off that book until your done reading the whole book so yeah

I recently read the last Harry Potter book, again, its very different from the movie. But I like both of them. Good book.

Elara : thanks for the sticky

pacman1755 : No problem, man. It's a great thread.

thenumberone : Bargain indeed! I recently picked up a bunch of books on the cheap but not that good of a deal. I got The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire  by Edward Gibbon though, and that made me happy. Also got Thucydides by Donald Kagan, The French and Indian War by Walter Borneman, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, and a copy of The Federalist Papers which includes a copy of the U.S. Constitution (those last three books I figured would be good for my American history classes... after all I did specialize in it as well as Ancient history)

I'm currently reading Nancy Grace's book The Eleventh Victim. It's interesting for the most part...can't wait to finish it!

Elara : iv read a book called democracy in america,i cant be sure it was the same one though. I primarily used it for researching the civil rights movement,good book.
The roman empires always interesting too.you bought quite a few books there.should keep you going a while.
I started reading a book a while ago called the scottish empire which lists the development of scotland from 1600 onward,and the vital nature it played in the formation of the british empire.
Its going to take me a long time to read though,its small print,big paged, and has over 500 pages to it.its the hardest history book iv ever read,it deals with politics,wars,economics and even the average citizens from the uk,to india,to the americas.
I actualy learned a fair bit of information about other countries from it.
E.g the governor of the southern colonies was scottish and refusued to allow frontiersmen to expand west,determined to keep the truce that was promised to the americans.this was a major factor in the war of independence,as many americans wanted to make there fortune by expanding.

thenumberone : Yeah, I think your Democracy in America might be different... this one was written in the 1800s by a Frenchman that traveled from the east coast to the west. It is supposed to be a really interesting, and it's the book that called the great plains of the midwest the "Great American Desert" and started the whole "purple mountain's majesty" thing.

That book on Scotland sounds awesome! And those history books are honestly the kind I prefer, because you really cannot just ignore what was going on with other countries at the same time. Everything is connected, and if you take out pieces and lose context, it doesn't make sense.

Heh heh so that is another reason why so many Tories (loyalists) were in the South... it's a given fact that the southern colonies were not as into the Revolution as the northern ones... but they mostly play up the Southern Aristocrat thing because it leads nicely into the Civil War.

Elara : so is his book written like a personal account or is it more like a novel?
thats actualy what the book said,lol.
A huge amount of the loyalist citizens were scottish,they apparently got very much into the whole 'for king and country buissiness.' in a slightly more sinister fashion the kkk's burning cross is also scottish,clan leaders used it to summon there members to battle,then a bunch of retards who forgot the origins of it used it as a racist call card and named themselves using greek words:ku klux klan.idiots.
Its funny cus in the uk tories means outlaws.
And thats true,if you fractionalise things the context,and thus the true message,becomes obscured.
I was especialy surprised at the fact the majority of scottish governors refused to allow missionaries in(especialy in india,hence why still majority hindu)and refused to bar the native religions,because that was normaly the first thing any conquering nation did.
The conclusion there is,i love this book and will hopefully learn a lot more from it.i better,it cost me £20 =(
Although to be fair,the author spent years researching in scotland,india,america,england etc to get the information.
There was a story about the first clan regiment to be enrolled in the british army.it makes me laugh pretty hard.they were sent to london for inspection by the king,half way there a man said they were destined for deployment to the east indies.given they were infested with malaria,cholora,etc,they didnt fancy that,threw all there stuff in a field,and started marching home.the king found out,sent out the army,and dragged them back to london.and they were then deployed to the east indies.i dont know why,but i find that hilarious.nope,dont fancy that,hell with the king.

thenumberone : The Tories were thought of as outlaws here too, which is probably why they called them that.

Tocqueville's book is written as a first person narrative as kind of a long essay, and it's hilarious because it starts out by talking about how equal everyone is... maybe it is the same book you read. The whole book examines the strengths and weakness of America's developing political system (remember this was 1831) and also talks about how it could be a possible model for post-revolutionary France.

The volume I got (the Penguin Classics version... I find that the Penguin translations of historical texts are often the ones preferred by historians) also includes two of his lesser known essays that talk about his travels among the Iroquois and Chippeway as well as a trip to Lake Oneida.

This is the pile of nerdiness that I mentioned previously:

Elara : wow,how sad.sad that i dont own those =( i may have to rectify that depending on your review of em.what is in that thucydides book?he was a pretty famous historian.is it about him,or what he wrote?

thenumberone : It is about him and his work and how he has influenced the school of history.

I recently finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. Good book. Lately I've been reading this book on human sexuality. Interesting stuff to say the least.