Presidential Bio / Historical Non-Fiction

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by Hobbesarable, Feb 25, 2013.

  1. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    What are some of your favorites of the genre?

    I'll go first.

    Presidential Bios:
    1. Washington: The Indispensible Man by James Thomas Flexner
    2. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates
    3. Woodrow Wilson by H.W. Brands (short/compact Bio)


    Historical Non-Fiction
    1. Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis
    2. Patriots: The Men Who Started the Revolution by A.J. Langguth
    3. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
     
  2. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    I saw Lincoln if that counts.

    I know a lot of people thought it was boring and too long but I enjoyed it.
     
  3. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    Thanks, Sly! Movies are welcome as well.

    Here are a couple of other Historical movies I enjoyed watching:
    Glory
    Gettysburg
     
  4. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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  5. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    I don't have a favorite as I've only read one translation in English.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-War-S...mm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1361852920&sr=8-10

    Although, my Chinese students showed me the actual text in Chinese with their translation into English.
     
  6. BLAZER PROPHET

    BLAZER PROPHET Well-Known Member

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    Lincoln- Carl Sandburg

    Team Of Rivals (Lincoln)- Doris Goodwin

    Truman- David McCullough

    Truman- An Oral Biography

    John Adams- David McCullough

    And although not a President, the 3 books on Churchill by Manchester.
     
  7. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

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    The Teddy Roosevelt Trilogy (E. Morris) was pretty awesome.

    Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (W. Shirer).
     
  8. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

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    If you have a couple of months, one of the things that War College has us do pretty quickly is an in-depth comparison of Sun Tzu, Mao and von Clausewitz. It's pretty interesting to see the difference in thought for someone in an insurgency vs. in a moblization environment vs. in a state-driven total war scenario.
     
  9. julius

    julius Living on the air in Cincinnati... Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Obama's birth certficate.

    8)
     
  10. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    Sounds interesting. Can you expand on what the differences in thought are?
     
  11. BLAZER PROPHET

    BLAZER PROPHET Well-Known Member

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    HAHAHAHAHA!!

    I thought we weren't supposed to list fiction.
     
  12. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    I had one book of that trilogy, Theodore Rex. It was a good flowing read.
     
  13. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    I recently read American Sphinx (Thomas Jefferson bio) by Joseph J. Ellis. I'm looking for other Jefferson bios without a bias one way or the other. Any suggestions?
     
  14. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Glory gets me crying everytime I watch it. I love that movie
     
  15. Hobbesarable

    Hobbesarable Cartoon Character

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    My father and I did the same while watching "Platoon." He's a Vietnam vet, so a lot of emotional feelings occur for him when watching war movies like that.
     
  16. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    My dad cried during "We were once Soldiers"... I admit I did too. He didn't cry so much during Platoon. My Dad was a Vietnam Vet too.
     

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