I like authors of original non-fiction, non-textbooks. In fact, I’m reading A History of the American People by Paul Johnson right now. I also enjoy Martin Gilbert’s stuff.

I like non-fiction work the best. And historical fiction if done right is good as well. I find critical expositorys a bit biased at times (But non fiction stuff can go that way as well.)

Where do you start in a study of  history.  There have been literally thousands of books written over the years, some good, some bad, some dated, some incredibly one-sided, some just simple lies.  Some have been written strictly for students, others for the general public, and many for the serious history nuts like myself.  Some are small books with lots of pictures, others are huge volumes with absolutely no pictures but 50 pages of notes in back.  And then there are collections of the writings of historical figures, not to mention the classics, the seminal works.  How is any reasonably sane person supposed to know where to start on their personal journey of exploration of the Wonderful World of History?Sorry, I can?t tell you where to start, but I can give you some hints on how to pick what books to read, based on more than forty years of experience and spending hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours slowly thumbing through catalogues, wandering aisles, pulling books off of shelves, trying to decide what books I could buy,  which ones I should buy, and those gems that I absolutely must buy even if I have to sneak them in the house.What follows is my own method for identifying and classifying history books.  Any resemblance to anybody else?s system is purely coincidental, or possibly serendipitous. First, all books on  history can be broken down into four main classes: Source, Secondary, Biography, and Reference.  Source books consist of the collected writings of historical figures; books written by observers of,  participants in, or contemporary reporters of, historical events, as well as memoirs and autobiographies of historical figures.  Be warned that starting one of these is very much like jumping into the deep end of the pool and I recommend at least a broad familiarity with the person, subject, or period.  On the other hand, the rewards of reading them can be incredible because they can bring a person, event, or a time period alive like nothing else can.  Secondary books are written after the fact by someone who has investigated the subject through both source and other secondary material.  These books are typically about some specific topic or period in history.  They have the greatest variety in type, quality, and topic and can run the gamut from very good to incredibly bad, both in content and writing.  On the plus side, you can probably find a book somewhere that covers just about any topic in history that interests you.Secondary books can be further subdivided into popular or mass market, and academic.  Popular history books can be found in most any general bookstore as well as some racks in general merchandise stores.  Academic books are most often found in college bookstores although they will sometimes show up in regular bookstores, especially those that are fairly close to a college campus. They are usually published by a university press and often have a large section in back devoted to notes.  One clue that a book is academic rather than popular is a title that is highly informative but not terribly exciting.  The thing to be careful about with academic books is that they are often written to prove or support a very specialized argument or theory of the author?s and, unless you are very interested in the same thing, it could be a very difficult read.  Also be warned that academicians are not always renowned for their creative writing skills because they are writing for other academics and their intent is to inform and not entertain.  I consider Biography a separate classification of history books rather than being lumped in with Secondary books.  My reason is that, because they focus on people rather than events, they have a different perspective on those events they discuss.  Because of this, a well-written biography can often provide some interesting insights into specific events and people, in addition to the information and insights it gives you on the subject of the book.  It can really get interesting when different biographies discuss the same event or person and give very different perspectives.And that is what makes the study of history so damned interesting.  There are no absolute truths.  There are specific facts that provide the framework but the interpretation of the stuff inside that framework is only as valid as the logic used to make the analysis of those facts.  In many ways it is like science except that all scientists, regardless of how theoretical their work may be, can hope that their theory will one day be proved, even though they may be long dead.  The student of history can only hope that further evidence will support their theory.The final classification is Reference works, those books that one never reads in their entirety but that can be worth their weight in gold when you?re reading something and one of those annoying little ?But I thought?? or ?Wait a minute?? or ?Who is this guy?? questions pop into your head.As to how to pick a book from the thousands available, the best way, or at least the way I developed, is to go to your local bookstore, then to the  history section and start scanning the shelves.  When you see a book with a title or sub-title that sounds interesting, check out the table of contents because that will give you some idea of how the author approached the subject, and then flip through the book, maybe read a paragraph or two on random pages.  If you?re still interested, stick it under your arm and keep scanning the shelves.  Once your have an armful, find some place to sit and, starting with the top book, read the introduction, at least the first few paragraphs.  If it still sounds interesting, start reading the first chapter. If you keep reading and don?t want to stop, buy it.  If it?s kind of interesting, put it in your ?maybe? pile.  You?ll be able to tell the ?return to shelf? ones pretty quickly.  After that, what you buy is a matter of budget and, for all you fellow married men, what you can get away with or sneak into the house.  As you may have guessed, I am a huge fan of those bookstores that also include comfy chairs and coffee bars.  I should warn you that this method of book selection is being recommended by someone who learned at his father?s knee that there is no such thing as too many books, only not enough time to read.  My old library, of mostly military and world history books, and accumulated over 20 years was somewhere over 500 before my interests changed and I gave them away.  My current one, accumulated over the last three years and devoted primarily to early American history, is slightly less than 150.  My father had some 2000 when he died.  I also buy books that I plan to read sometime in the future, so my library has some thirty books that I haven?t read, yet. That doesn?t stop me from buying more.  My wife does however.  Sometimes.

I think the best thing I could do would be to send you my current list of books that I have read in the last 5 years.  The only reason I have a list is that most have been highlighted while I read (a habit I picked up in college) and then I go back and type up notes on what I highlighted (it helps me remember).  My list breaks down my current library into read with notes completed, read with notes pending, read with no notes, and unread, and no I am not by nature that anal, but I love history and have actually written a book that I tried to get published (no luck, what a shocker).  So I now have some 1700+ pages of notes (thank god for computers) on about 80 books with another 14 books that I haven't written notes on, and may never, another 30 books on my “to be read someday” list, am currently reading 4 books, and that's not even counting various reference and coffeetable type book like “The Civil War Archive”  and “The West Point Atlas of American Wars.”  That's why I call myself a history wonk.  I'm sure that some who read this message would call me other things, but hey, I'm happy and have an otherwise normal life.  I am more than happy to share any of this information with anybody that's interested because I think that Americans need, no must, acquire a better understanding of their history if our country is ever to fulfill its enormous potential for good, instead of continuing on its current path of repeating the same stupid mistakes.  I am a firm believer that history is to a nation or society as memory is to an individual.  It prevents you from repeating past mistakes while allowing you to repeat past successes.

I read mostly non-fiction history and biographies. Am currently reading “Portals To Hell”  by Lonnie R. Speer about the horrid conditions of all the Civil War prisons.I also learn a lot from this forum Thanks fellows !!!!!!