Posted on 09/17/2024 8:02:20 AM PDT by Titus-Maximus
Question: Please list the top 100 books most often cited by universities for History majors.
Answer: Compiling a definitive list of the 100 most cited history books across universities is challenging due to the diverse nature of historical studies and the vast array of topics. However, I can provide a list of many key texts that are frequently referenced in university history programs. These books cover a range of themes, from historiography and methodology to specific periods and movements. Here is a comprehensive list, organized by category:
Historiography & Methodology
1. "The Historian’s Craft" – Marc Bloch
2. "What Is History?" – E.H. Carr
3. "The Idea of History" – R.G. Collingwood
4. "The History of the Peloponnesian War" – Thucydides
5. "A Study of History" – Arnold J. Toynbee
6. "On History" – Fernand Braudel
7. "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World" – Fernand Braudel
8. "The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914" – C.A. Bayly
9. "The Annales School" – Peter Burke
10. "The Practice of History" – Geoffrey R. Elton
Ancient & Classical History
11. "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" – Edward Gibbon
12. "The Histories" – Herodotus
13. "The Rise of the Roman Empire" – Polybius
14. "The Republic" – Plato
15. "The Twelve Caesars" – Suetonius
16. "The Aeneid" – Virgil
17. "The Persian Wars" – Herodotus
18. "The History of Rome" – Livy
19. "Roman Revolution" – Ronald Syme
20. "SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome" – Mary Beard
Medieval History
21. "Feudal Society" – Marc Bloch
22. "The Making of Europe" – Robert Bartlett
23. "The Medieval World" – Jacques Le Goff
24. "The Civilization of the Middle Ages" – Norman F. Cantor
25. "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century" – Barbara Tuchman
26. "The Three Orders: Feudal Society Imagined" – Georges Duby
27. "Europe in the High Middle Ages" – William Chester Jordan
28. "The Investiture Controversy" – Uta-Renate Blumenthal
29. "The First European Revolution" – R.I. Moore
30. "The Black Death" – Philip Ziegler
Early Modern History
31. "The Prince" – Niccolò Machiavelli
32. "Leviathan" – Thomas Hobbes
33. "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" – Max Weber
34. "The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806" – Jonathan Israel
35. "The Thirty Years War" – C.V. Wedgwood
36. "The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century" – Geoffrey Parker
37. "The Rise of the West" – William H. McNeill
38. "The Reformation" – Diarmaid MacCulloch
39. "Society and Economy in Early Modern Europe" – R. Po-Chia Hsia
40. "Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe" – Robin Briggs
Modern History
41. "Capital" – Karl Marx
42. "The Making of the English Working Class" – E.P. Thompson
43. "Orientalism" – Edward Said
44. "The Communist Manifesto" – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
45. "Imagined Communities" – Benedict Anderson
46. "The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848" – Eric Hobsbawm
47. "The Origins of the First World War" – James Joll
48. "The Age of Extremes" – Eric Hobsbawm
49. "The Guns of August" – Barbara Tuchman
50. "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945" – Tony Judt
World History
51. "Guns, Germs, and Steel" – Jared Diamond
52. "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World" – Peter Frankopan
53. "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" – Samuel P. Huntington
54. "A Short History of Nearly Everything" – Bill Bryson
55. "A History of the World in 100 Objects" – Neil MacGregor
56. "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" – David S. Landes
57. "A People’s History of the United States" – Howard Zinn
58. "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" – Charles C. Mann
59. "The Columbian Exchange" – Alfred W. Crosby
60. "Empires in World History" – Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper
Economic History
61. "The Great Transformation" – Karl Polanyi
62. "The Wealth of Nations" – Adam Smith
63. "An Economic History of the World Since 1400" – Donald J. Harreld
64. "A Farewell to Alms" – Gregory Clark
65. "The Birth of the Modern World" – C.A. Bayly
66. "The Rise of Capitalism" – Karl Marx
67. "Debt: The First 5000 Years" – David Graeber
68. "The First Industrial Nation" – Peter Mathias
69. "The End of Poverty" – Jeffrey Sachs
70. "Globalization and Its Discontents" – Joseph Stiglitz
Cultural & Social History
71. "The Invention of Tradition" – Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger
72. "The History of Sexuality" – Michel Foucault
73. "The Mediterranean" – Fernand Braudel
74. "The Cheese and the Worms" – Carlo Ginzburg
75. "Discipline and Punish" – Michel Foucault
76. "The Great Cat Massacre" – Robert Darnton
77. "The Rituals of Dinner" – Margaret Visser
78. "Society and Culture in Early Modern France" – Natalie Zemon Davis
79. "The Return of Martin Guerre" – Natalie Zemon Davis
80. "From Dawn to Decadence" – Jacques Barzun
Colonial & Postcolonial History
81. "The Wretched of the Earth" – Frantz Fanon
82. "Black Skin, White Masks" – Frantz Fanon
83. "The Scramble for Africa" – Thomas Pakenham
84. "King Leopold’s Ghost" – Adam Hochschild
85. "Empire: A History of the British Empire" – Niall Ferguson
86. "Decolonising the Mind" – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
87. "The Black Jacobins" – C.L.R. James
88. "The Battle for Algeria" – Alistair Horne
89. "The Empire Writes Back" – Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin
90. "The Cold War" – John Lewis Gaddis
Gender History
91. "Gender and the Politics of History" – Joan Wallach Scott
92. "The Second Sex" – Simone de Beauvoir
93. "Gender Trouble" – Judith Butler
94. "A Room of One’s Own" – Virginia Woolf
95. "Women, Race, and Class" – Angela Davis
96. "The Creation of Patriarchy" – Gerda Lerner
97. "Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World" – Kumari Jayawardena
98. "Gender in History" – Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
99. "The History of Sexuality" – Michel Foucault
100. "Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center" – bell hooks
This list encompasses some of the most widely cited works in history across various fields. While the rankings can differ depending on the specific course or institution, these books are frequently included in reading lists for history majors.
Who is missing?
Who should be off this list?
57. “A People’s History of the United States” – Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn has done more damage to this country than just about anyone.
Will Durant.
Uh. Gibbon?
Solzhenitsyn?
First, a moment about such lists.
There was a Top 100 Novels of the English Language pre Year 2000. The American Library Assoc or something selected it.
It was pretty damn good. A fine list.
And it came under immediate attack. Not for reasons of quality. For reasons of author diversity. There were some women on the “original list” and there were some minorities. But not many.
The defense was that the list was about quality, not agenda.
That defense was rejected and amended lists were released by other orgs.
I do with ChatGPT were used for more solid purposes. Like how many nuclear explosions have occurred on Earth. Or how many fatal ferry boat accidents have there been? Questions with factual answers.
#11 is Edward Gibbon
Gender History?
That is a waste of time and resources.
“57. “A People’s History of the United States” – Howard Zinn”
If people want to understand why younger generations HATE THE COUNTRY and hate Americans to the point of having them shoot presidential candidates, then read this book. You know, the book your kids use in Public Schools, but are not allowed to bring home. You can buy it for yourselves, to see just what you are subjecting your kids to, so you can maintain your ‘nice’ lifestyle.
That’s to replace St. Paul and St. Augustine.
Until you get to “World History” and the categories under it, it’s pretty standard.
However, once you get to that area, you get into politically correct, academically compliant products. Few primary sources, many “analyses.”
Basically, all AI systems are built on the ability to do a massive, almost instantaneous search of things related to the search terms you put in.
So while the lists from World History on down (with a couple of exceptions) are debatable, that simply shows you what Chat GPT has gathered from references: what most people are reading, what academics are assigning, what is being referenced in other articles, etc.
So that means the anti-Western left dominates our academic discourse.
Actually, this is Chat GPT surveilling college reading lists for History degrees, it is more objective than an opinion.
St. Augustine in Philosophy of History
St. Augustine’s works, particularly The City of God and Confessions, are widely studied in college courses on philosophy of history. His philosophical ideas on time, human nature, and the nature of history have significant implications for understanding the development of Western philosophical thought.
Key Concepts
Time and Eternity: Augustine’s concept of time, as discussed in Confessions, has influenced philosophical debates on the nature of time and its relationship to eternity.
Human Nature: His ideas on human nature, as presented in The City of God, have shaped discussions on the human condition, free will, and the role of human agency in historical events.
Historical Narrative: Augustine’s narrative style in The City of God, which blends philosophical and theological insights with historical accounts, has influenced the development of historical writing and the philosophy of history.
College Coursework
St. Augustine’s works are often included in college courses on:
Philosophy of History
Medieval Philosophy
Christian Philosophy
Theories of Time and Eternity
Human Nature and Free Will
In these courses, students analyze Augustine’s ideas and their impact on the development of Western philosophical thought, particularly in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
Influence on Later Thinkers
St. Augustine’s philosophy of history has influenced many later thinkers, including:
Thomas Aquinas
René Descartes
Immanuel Kant
Friedrich Nietzsche
These thinkers have engaged with Augustine’s ideas, critiqued them, or built upon them, shaping the course of philosophical debates on history, time, and human nature.
In summary, St. Augustine’s works are a fundamental part of college coursework in philosophy of history, and his ideas continue to influence philosophical discussions on time, human nature, and the nature of history.
Mary Beard should be hurled off the list with great force.
And, I know I am going to get push back on this, but Jared Diamond is pop history and should not be on there.
Marx thrice
Far too much Leftist crapola. Almost no military history. No overtly conservative works of history. Nothing on the US founding or civil war. No histories of science or religion.
“Hey Hey Ho Ho.....Western Civ has got to go!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.