America

• John Adams
  A fantastic book. A new look at John and Abigail, interesting and moving.
  
  
• America's First Dynasty: The Adamses,...
  After that, read about the entire family...
  
  
• Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
  Then read about the others involved...
  
  
• Redcoats and Rebels : The American Revolution Through British Eyes
  by Christopher Hibbert
  
  
• Founding Mothers & Fathers : Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society
  Mary Beth Norton. Excellent book from one of the preeminent women's historians.
  
  
• Liberty's Daughters : The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800
  Mary Beth Norton. Another excellent book by M.B. Norton. This was my source for most of the information in the Short History of Women in the Revolution.
  
  
• Andy Adams: Log of A Cowboy
  Firsthand account of the real cowboy life. Fantastic book, it may be the best eight dollars you'll ever spend.
  
  

England

• The Golden Bough
  By James George Frasier. On myth, folklore, and primitive customs
  
  
• Wellington: A Personal History
  By Christopher Hibbert. A terrific book on Wellington.
  
  
• George III : A Personal History
  By Christopher Hibbert. (Clearly I like Hibbert's books)
  
  
• Every Man Will Do His Duty : An Anthology of Firsthand Accounts from the Age of Nelson-Burns
  Edited by Dean King and John B. Hattendorf
  
  
• The Beggar's Opera
  A video of the play by the English Baroque Soloists featuring Roger Daltry amd Bob Hoskins. Great fun.
  
  
• John Gay The Beggar's Opera
  From Penguin Classics. The full text will a good introduction.
  
  

Scotland

• The Wars of the Roses
  by Alison Wier. I enjoy her books.
  
  
• Royal Blood : Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes
  by Bertram Fields. Did he or didn't he? And how do we judge Richard III?
  
  
• Life of Elizabeth I
  by Alison Weir. I read this after watching the video Elizabeth - to get my history straight - and enjoyed it much more than the video!
  
  
• Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles : A Novel
  By Margaret George, who did one on Henry VIII with great success.
  
  
• Mary Queen of Scots
  The biography by Lady Antonia Fraser. Excellent, of course.
  
  
• Robert the Bruce : King of Scots
  by Ronald McNair Scott
  O.K., so I don't have any songs about the Bruce yet - but this is a great biography so I put it here anyway. When I can find the music to The Field of Bannockburn it will be on my site...
  
  
• The Bruce Trilogy/the Steps to the Empty Throne/the Path of the Hero King/the Price of the Kings Peace
  Nigel Tranter - enough said.
  
  
• Freedom's Sword
  by Peter Traquair
  An EXCELLENT book on Scotland's Wars of Independence, including Wallace, Robert the Bruce to the Treaty of Berwick in 1357.
  
  
• A Woman Nobly Planned : Fact and Myth in the Legacy of Flora MacDonald
  by John J. Toffey
  
  
• Highlanders : A History of the Gaels
  by John MacLeod
  
  

Ireland

• The 1798 Rebellion : An Illustrated History
  Recreates the rebellion using accounts and artwork of the time.
  
  
• How the Irish Saved Civilization
  by Thomas Cahill
  
  
• Last Night's Fun : In and Out of Time With Irish Music
  by Ciaran Carson
  
  
• A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music
  by Gearoid O hAllmhurain, Gearoid O. Naimhurain, Gearoid C'Hallmurain
  
  
• Paddy's Lament : Ireland, 1846-1847 : Prelude to Hatred
  by Thomas Gallagher
  
  
• The Great Hunger : Ireland, 1845-1849
  by Cecil Blanche Fitz Gerald Woodham Smith, Cecil Woodhadonotuse-Smith, Charles Woodham
  
  

Wales

• A History of Wales
  by John Davies
  
  
• The Real King Arthur : A History of Post-Roman Britannia A.D. 410-A.D. 593
  by P. F. Turner
  
  
• National Redeemer : Owain Glyndwr in Welsh Tradition
  by Elissa R. Henken
  
  
• Medieval Wales
  by Jack Ian, R. Ian Jack, Geoffrey R. Elton
  
  
• Rebirth of a Nation : Wales, 1880-1980
  by Kenneth O. Morgan
  
  

Life at Sea

• Iron Men, Wooden Women : Gender and Seafaring in the Atlantic World, 1700-1920
  Margaret Creigton, ed. A collection of articles about women and seafaring. A couple are pretty dry, but most are fascinating accounts of women at sea.
  
  
• Hen Frigates : Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail
  Joan Druett
  
  
• The Making of a Sailor/or Sea Life Aboard a Yankee Square-Rigger
  Frederick Pease Harlow
  
  
• Adventures at Sea in the Great Age of Sail : Five Firsthand Narratives
  Elliot Snow, ed.
  
  

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