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***YOUR FAVORITE HISTORY BOOK***

***PRE-1945, ANY COUNTRY, FICTION OR NON-FICTION***


Okay everyone, it's that time of the month - time to nominate! Anyone who would like to nominate one book may do so in this thread.

The theme this quarter is YOUR FAVORITE HISTORY BOOK (pre-1945, any country, fiction or non-fiction). Of course we're flexible! If your favorite history book takes place in the 1950s, go ahead and nominate it. Even though this is the history read, royal nominations are perfectly fine. I'm trying to get books that people are passionate about and will lead to a good discussion because the history read has been dead lately!

A list of every book this group has read together is at the end of this post (alphabetically by author, then by title if we've read more than one book by that author), so please try not to nominate a book we've already read together (the European Royalty read will revisit past reads every now and then, so if you missed a great book the first time around, we may get to it again sometime).

Please try to check amazon or some other site to make sure the book is easily available - the last thing we want is to nominate some great book that no one can get! If you nominate more than ONE book, only the first book listed will make it into the voting poll (so save additional books for the next months!). Also, if the book doesn't fit the theme, I won't add it to this month's voting poll, but I will carry it over to the next theme that it does fit under if you would like.

Feel free to nominate one book of your choice in this thread until February 20th, 9pm Eastern.

At around that time, I'll make a voting poll and list all the nominated books in it, and people can vote in the poll until the poll closes (set to last through February 24th). Discussion will start on April 1st.

Happy Nominating!



BOOKS WE HAVE READ AS A GROUP (PLEASE DON'T NOMINATE):

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

Christina, Queen of Sweden: The Restless Life of a European Eccentric
by Veronica Buckley

The Greatest Knight: The Story of William Marshal by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Andrea Di Robilant

The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier

The 19th Wife: A Novel by David Ebershoff

Stealing Athena by Karen Essex

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's
Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and
Emperors by Michael Farquhar

Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser

Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron by Nicholas Fraser

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

The Last Queen: A Novel of Juana la Loca by C.W. Gortner

The White Queen: A Novel by Philippa Gregory

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Courtesan: A Novel by Diane Haeger

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The
Secret Female Pope by Eleanor Herman

The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer

The Traitor’s Wife by Susan Higginbotham

A Hollow Crown: The Story of Emma, Queen of Saxon England by Helen Hollick

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye

Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

The Concubine: A Novel by Norah Lofts

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline P. Murphy

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O’Brien

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy

Victoria Victorious: The Story of Queen Victoria by Jean Plaidy

Catherine the Great: Love Sex and Power by Virginia Rounding

The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd

Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd

Avalon: A Novel by Anya Seton

Devil Water by Anya Seton

Katherine by Anya Seton

The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton

Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir

The Lady Elizabeth: A Novel by Alison Weir

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor

The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth

I nominate Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman.

I'll nominate The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago. Since a lot of my favorite history books have already been read here, I went with one that I recently read and really enjoyed.

I'm putting The Constant Princess up again! I'll never stop! Hahahahaha!
Eventually enough people will vote for it - even if it's only so that I stop nominating it, lol!

Is it ok to nominate my own book?
The Great Leap-Fraud works through the European and Middle Eastern history of religious terrorism, fraud and (intellectual) poverty. It evaluates the Judaic scriptures of the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims for their potential to stir hatred, violence, and terrorism. It searches for messages in the scriptures that may alter the economic behavior of societies. While its approach is respectful toward religious minds, it is thought provoking.

A.J. wrote: "Is it ok to nominate my own book?
The Great Leap-Fraud works through the European and Middle Eastern history of religious terrorism, fraud and (intellectual) poverty. It evaluates the Judaic scri..."

Sure, you can nominate your own book. Is it mostly history based? It was a little hard for me to tell the time period covered.

Mandy wrote: "I'm putting The Constant Princess up again! I'll never stop! Hahahahaha!
Eventually enough people will vote for it - even if it's only so that I stop nominating it, lol!
[bookcover:Th..."

I'm stumped for a nomination but I'll second that and I might actually read it if it wins.

Sara: While naturally connecting to the present, The Great Leap-Fraud is entirely history based, except for the last chapter, What Now? It works through 2300 years of the role of religion in history and travels along the thought process of the leading royals, religious leaders, and contemporary writers. It looks at history from a novel perspective. The book has received the Editor's Choice Award. The reviewers used such terms as

-enlightening chronological rundown of frauds used to create cunning scriptures that lead to prejudice and persecution.
- Perhaps, the most eye-opening instance of this is the fraudulent account of Jesus.
- The prose is peppered with light humor.
- Meticulous and alert research has led to an enlightening work.
- The provocative findings work toward engaging the audience.
- Through meticulous research, the author does an excellent job of showing, historically, how religious fraud has laid the groundwork for social economic injustices. He naturally ties all this into contemporary events.

I hope that this helps in the nomination process.

A.J. wrote: "Sara: While naturally connecting to the present, The Great Leap-Fraud is entirely history based, except for the last chapter, What Now? It works through 2300 years of the role of religion in histor..."

Thanks for the clarification A.J.! It can certainly be nominated.

For this group, the books for The Great Leap-Fraud are on me, of course, if nominated. No strings attached. Somebody might like to look into the available information on ajdeus.org and the preview on books.google.com to let the others know. It is not a light reading novel but rather a saga that works itself through primary material in order to find the clues that alter economic behaviour and acceptance or rejection of violence. In doing so, it incorparates the role of the royals through the ages. Nevertheless, the material and its interpretation keeps the readers on their toes.

Nominating is closed! Time to vote!