#Historathon2024

[@KatJack-vl8xj]

I read The Fatal Shore many years ago, when I was preparing to go to Australia. It's very well-written, eloquent at times, and very evocative of the physical landscape. Hughes was described as the greatest art critic of his time.

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

"Fatal Shore" just made it into the "definitely reading" category because Debs just offered to read it with me. And as far as art criticism goes, I've always been more partial to Arthur Danto and Clement Greenberg - but "Nothing If Not Critical" was a great little collection of essays, wasn't it?

[@passageoftime8561]

Your book selections are always so cool. I like the looks of Fatal Shores and Leviathan and the Pump.

[@richjordan6461]

How cool that your French Revolution book is announced right before Bastille Day (July 14th)

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

I’ve leapfrogged Q3 by having just started _The White Rajahs: A History of Sawarak from 1841 to 1946._ Oops. Oh well, my year-long Library of America project has me reading _The History of the United States_ by Henry Adams, so that has me covered. If I choose to slip back into the correct period I’m afraid these books might be too deep for me (though the Bailyn sounds real good and I’ve vaguely heard of its reputation). Swift’s biography sounds interesting - I’d love to hear about it - but I’m sure that I’m not up for that. Keeping books in shrink wrap and not reading them … tsk tsk 😂

[@joshuacreboreads]

Hey John, a lot of interesting books here. Those French Revolution books look fascinating. I hope your vacation went well!

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Had a great time! Glad you found something that struck your fancy.

[@CallosumBooks]

welcome back! hope you enjoyed the time off

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Certainly did. Thanks.

[@Gruso57]

Im so excited for the Enlightenment read! I've been needing to get into a thick book like that for awhile so it'll be a fun time. Also, thanks for growing my TBR again John :)

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I just asked Justin the Discord where you were! Hadn't seen you in a while. Let me know when you're ready to start. Give me at least until mid-July to finish off a couple of things I'm working on now, then I should be ready to go.

[@Gruso57]

Haha yea just been wanting to get off of the digital space for awhile. Sounds good. Ill throw you a message on Discord here soon too!

[@marianamasbooks]

Knowledge Lost sounds fascinating! There’s a lot of knowledge lost in the histories I’ve been reading. (Spanish Conquest / New Spain). There are some very interesting projects from early New Spain that seeked to conserve Aztec knowledge. The Sleepwalkers also caught my attention 👀 Historathon reading has definitely taken over my life, but I’m not complaining 😂 I’m having so much fun with it. (And the discord!)

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Yeah, you read a lot of stuff that's more (or at least more explicitly) tied up with colonialism, so imperialism's attempts to hide and quelch knowledge is very important to that history. I was thinking about you when I picked up a book several months ago: "Hernando Colon's New World of Books: Towards a Cartography of Knowledge". It looks to be about Christopher Columbus's son's library, which was apparently pretty impressive. Kinda looked up your alley. Thanks for the comment, Mariana!

[@marianamasbooks]

@@NicholasOfAutrecourt that does sound up my alley. The books they read is a topic that interests me a lot. One of my current favorite pieces of trivia is that, because of the printing press, the conquistadors were the first generation of readers. (Columbus’ son was not very well liked in Spanish society, from what I’ve read recently 😅)

[@angiejones5918]

Struggling to type, I can't see through the glare 😂. Citizens, now that's a good idea. I've had my eye on that one for a while now. My plan is to read it, then follow up by re-reading A Tale of Two Cities or a first read of A Place of Greater Safety. Historathon has also shaped and driven my choices and as a result I've read so many great books, certainly a few I wouldn't have considered without the gentle push of Historathon. Although I can get a little anarchic with the quarters, I've been hanging out in the 20th century the last two weeks, reading about various mountaineering expeditions - the Albigensian crusade will have to wait a little longer. Thanks for sharing your POP.

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Don't make me feel even more self-conscious about the glare than I already am! I definitely need to start thinking about filming at night or without this giant window open. 😆 And speaking of Hilary Mantel ... Wolf Hall (the whole trilogy, actually) stares at me every time I enter the library; I found really nice hardcovers of all three last year for a song, so that's a sign I should probably get on that project. Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to spend a couple of weeks in July finishing off a Thomas Becket biography, and then another about Chaucer. I promise I'll not tell anyone you're breaking the rules if don't. Always lovely to see what you're reading, Angie. :)

[@BooksFictionWords]

Oh, Knowledge Lost sounds good.🌸

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing it. Thanks for dropping by!

[@TriumphalReads]

Leviathan and Air Pump would probably be the one I'm most interested in. Reminds me a bit of a book I recently read Natural Magic about Darwin and Dickinson. Yeah ngl Peter Ramus is in the cobwebs of my mind haha so definitely right about never seeing him mentioned. The Sleepwalkers is another one I've meant to read at some point. Great vid John. Also my Q3 pile is gonna be not as cool as yours haha

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I'd love to read something (anything on this list, or anything else I have within reach) together this summer if you have the time and/or interest. Maybe we can enthrall the Discord with a Ramist line-by-line dissection of all the Aristotelian syllogisms. You know where to find me.

[@maewyn01]

I don't really have an idea what I want to read this quarter. But you gave me some interesting ideas.

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I'm always happy to provide some fuel for the fire. Thank you so much for the kind words.

[@anthonyruggier7029]

I need to get to Bailyn's book. I dnf'd the Israel book, though I was a freshman in high school when I attempted to read it, so maybe I should go back to it. I have the Robertson and have dipped in and out of it. One book which I would recommend for this period that would be right up your alley is The Dark Side of the Enlightenment, which is really a series of essays that are socio-cultural studies of a few figures.

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I just saw on Goodreads that you gave it five stars where the average rating is 3.15 (which is so low I'd usually otherwise avoid it). I'd be interested to know what you saw in it that everyone else didn't. Thanks for the heads up, Anthony.

[@anthonyruggier7029]

@@NicholasOfAutrecourt So I think the overall thesis is weak and weakly argued and that probably put people off. If you go in expecting some new systematic interpretation of the Enlightenment, then you will be disappointed. But as a study of a few figures, it is excellent. He looks at people like Cagliostro and Julie de Krudener, as well as like occult activities during the Enlightenment. Just approach it like it is a series of connected socio-cultural-literary essays and you will like it a lot.

[@geezozz8755]

After my heart with that French Revolution choice there John David, I’ve recently been bingeing novels on it after a decade of hibernation on the subject & ‘Revolutionary Ideas’ is certainly on my list of to reads so I’d be very interested in a follow up video if you do happen to get to it :-)

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I eventually (though it may take months) post a long-form review of every single book I ever read. So if I get to it, you'll certainly hear me ranting about it eventually. Thanks so much for leaving a comment. I really appreciate it!

[@geezozz8755]

@@NicholasOfAutrecourt Wonderful, wonderful, that’s lovely to hear, I’ll with tempered expectations look forward (perhaps) to that

[@RaynorReadsStuff]

Fancy buddy reading The Fatal Shore? Great selection of possibilities 😊

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Yes, I most certainly do. I'll be free after the middle of the July. Just shoot me a Voxer and let me know when I should make time. Glad you found something we can dig into together! 😀

[@BryanM.R.-wt9eb]

Nice picks all around. I have that Enlightenment monster. Maybe I'll eventually get over the intimidation and read it. Ditto on several Jonathan Israel titles. Shade thrown with the Bailyn commentary! 😉 "Leviathan" sounds like my bag. And "Sleepwalkers" is great when taken in total. The early sections are easy to quibble over, but the Kepler section in is especially fantastic. In fact, I think I read somewhere that the book began life as a Kepler biography with a prologue and epilogue that sort of expanded out of control. The only thing I'm committed to so far for Q3 is a Robert Hooke biography. Peg and Bill Ruttenberg have me working on a great D-Day project. It's amazing how well that turned out considering that so little seemed to go "right" on the day. Fortunately for the western Allies, the thousand year Reich couldn't just triumphantly will its dangerously overstretched and poorly commanded military into launching an effective counter before it was too late. Oh, and I should get back to Plato as well. 😁

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

I'm reading it with Gruso (who also commented on this thread) from the Discord group. Let us know if you'd like to join in if you have the time and/or interest.

[@BryanM.R.-wt9eb]

​@@NicholasOfAutrecourtBarring something delightful served up by Horrifying Randomness, why the hell not? Just let me know when y'all are ready to move on it. Thanks for the invite! 😁

[@Gruso57]

Nice! Glad you are joining Bryan

[@BryanM.R.-wt9eb]

@@Gruso57 😊

[@The_Witch_of_Noccalula]

"Knowledge Lost" and "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution" noted. Both titles seem currently relevant... " I will just leave that there and not comment any further...". Obviously, I'm curious about the book on magic and superstition. I really need to educate myself on Ramus - not to be confused with Remus as in Remans... as in a Star Empire and not Rome. Drink a daiquiri for me! Cheers! (It's not like Rome is burning....)

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

The magic book is apparently one of the classics in its field. I always see it on syllabi and in the recommended reading lists in other books on the subject. Pitcher of margaritas in the freezer waiting for later. Happy semiquincentennial!