Books You have to Read before Starting Gradschool?

[Riotbeard]

I thought this might be interesting. What books have you been told by Profs or personal inclination etc. that you have to read before history grad school?

For me:

These are have to's for examples of the great theory and historical writing not for my field:

Carlo Ginzburg The Cheese and the Worm (this is what I am reading when it's delivered)

Foucault Discipline and Punish (Read most of it for a paper as an undergrad)

Focus Specific

George Fredrickson The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914 (Just finished this. It was written at the End of the Civil Rights movement, and ends with an amazing call to action. Very Moving!)

Lacy K Ford Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (2009)

Tim Lockley Welfare and Charity in the Antebellum South (2007, This is for my specific research interests)

Edited April 14, 2010 by Riotbeard

[deuterides]

I thought this might be interesting. What books have you been told by Profs or personal inclination etc. that you have to read before history grad school?

For me:

These are have to's for examples of the great theory and historical writing not for my field:

Carlo Ginzburg The Cheese and the Worm (this is what I am reading when it's delivered)

Foucault Discipline and Punish (Read most of it for a paper as an undergrad)

Focus Specific

George Fredrickson The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny 1817-1914 (Just finished this. It was written at the End of the Civil Rights movement, and ends with an amazing call to action. Very Moving!)

Lacy K Ford Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (2009)

Tim Lockley Welfare and Charity in the Antebellum South (2007, This is for my specific research interests)

One of my professor's suggested I go through an American history textbook to go over some the minor events to make sure I know them. He even gave me a teacher's edition textbook.

I can totally affirm reading discipline and punish. Fantastic book.

[Squawker]

I'm going into an MA next year, and this summer I'll probably just read some stuff by potential advisors at PhD programs I plan to apply to in the fall. Somehow whenever I do "summer reading" for the courses I'm about to begin, I always somehow read the irrelevant stuff or completely miss the point I was supposed to get, and have to re-read everything once I'm more acquainted with my courses.

[ChibaCityBlues]

One of my professor's suggested I go through an American history textbook to go over some the minor events to make sure I know them. He even gave me a teacher's edition textbook.

I can totally affirm reading discipline and punish. Fantastic book.

Since you'll never have time to read anything other than school-related materials ever again, and since no one ever suffered for not knowing everything about their field before beginning grad school, I'd recommend enjoying these last few months of reading-freedom in other ways.

[VampireLincoln]

Since you'll never have time to read anything other than school-related materials ever again, and since no one ever suffered for not knowing everything about their field before beginning grad school, I'd recommend enjoying these last few months of reading-freedom in other ways.

Indeed! I am currently on book 3 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

Of course, I may also not be going to grad school in the fall, so there you are.

[chlobot]

Since you'll never have time to read anything other than school-related materials ever again, and since no one ever suffered for not knowing everything about their field before beginning grad school, I'd recommend enjoying these last few months of reading-freedom in other ways.

Agreed. Read some trash while there's still time.

[Riotbeard]

<br />Agreed.  Read some trash while there's still time.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I have been out of the game for a year, so I kind of miss reading history and have had my fill of random reading, but if were going straight in from undergrad, I might be less inclined.

[Hetty]

I was told to read my supervisor's newest. Big surprise! On the other hand, it's a very useful book.

[chickadee21]

My advisor told me there was nothing in particular I needed to read, but since I'll be studying WWII and I haven't done general WWII reading for a little while I'm planning to read Richard Evans' Third Reich trilogy. It'll help me brush up my chronology, people, etc.

[TMP]

I am pretty much already on top of my readings as I just finished my MA thesis relevant to what I plan to study for the doctoral programs! I consulted my potential advisors' books and they were pretty recent.

Now I am reading a novel, One Thousand White Women, about what would happen if President Grant had agreed to trade 1,000 women for 1,000 horses so the Cheyenne tribe could "assimilate" into the American society. I also am reading Sarah Palin's Going Rogue and took out two relevant books. I kinda forgot how much fun politicans' autobiographies can be to read... they have a set agenda but it's quite interesting to see their thought process through each major event and how they were raised. I have a few more novels that I hope... to... finish by the end of the summer (regardless of what I'm doing in the fall) including Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Um, yeah, so you can see how I'm basically reading a lot of... non-field relevant books at the moment after 2-3 years of straight field-relevant reading!

[RockEater]

If you haven't read anything by James Michener or Edward Rutherfurd, it's hard to call yourself a history geek. I recommend anything by the two. Be prepared for a good, long read, though.

After I finish Secret History of the Mongols, I plan on reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy.

Of course, I also recommend the seminal classic: Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way, by Bruce Campbell.

[VampireLincoln]

Of course, I also recommend the seminal classic: Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way, by Bruce Campbell.

WIN.

I've gotten really into reading fake history books lately. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was surprisingly good (I was disappointed by Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, so wasn't expecting much). If anybody hasn't yet read it, World War Z by Max Brooks is REALLY well-written.

[Riotbeard]

<br />Of course, I also recommend the seminal classic: <u>Make Love!  The Bruce Campbell Way</u>, by Bruce Campbell.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

i am partial to If Chins could Kill personally, but both are great.

[amercanist]

For Americanists, I'd recommend:

That Noble Dream - Peter Novick (good luck through this slog though)

The Houses of History - Troup & Green

[amercanist]

Indeed! I am currently on book 3 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

Of course, I may also not be going to grad school in the fall, so there you are.

ohh, i haven't read the dark tower series in ages! I need to finish that. I think I stopped after the 3rd book when I was a kid since the rest of the series wasn't finished until recently (well, relatively recently).

[Paradeplatz]

Just out of curiosity (as the question kind of bugs me, Foucault and Ginzburg are really bascis)....

How large is/was/will be your personal library by the time you graduate?

[deuterides]

Just out of curiosity (as the question kind of bugs me, Foucault and Ginzburg are really bascis)....

How large is/was/will be your personal library by the time you graduate?

Well, thanks to some very accessible library book sales around here, I have about 500 books now (graduate with my BA in two weeks), so I'm a little afraid to see what happens by the time I finish the PhD.

[Postbib Yeshuist]

Edward Said

Orientalism

Culture and Imperialism

Foucault

History of Sexuality

and most importantly...

Kate L. Turabian

A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and Dissertations

[StrangeLight]

Just out of curiosity (as the question kind of bugs me, Foucault and Ginzburg are really bascis)....

How large is/was/will be your personal library by the time you graduate?

when i moved across the continent to start my MA, i donated about 100 or 150 books. i've got around 100 or 150 left.

piece of advice: don't buy your coursebooks. buy the ones you'll need for your dissertation or that you think you'll reference constantly, but don't buy the seminar books. get them through interlibrary loan and take strong, detailed notes on the reading (4-6 pages single-spaced, divided by chapter, key concepts in bold). you'll save $400-600 a semester and those notes will be perfect for studying for your comps. i bought books and wrote right in them and i now realize that when i do my comps in two years, i'll have to re-read most of the books from my first year.

getting the book through the library forces you to make really high-quality notes because you won't be able to consult the book on your shelf when you want to reference an idea or a model a few months later.

[Riotbeard]

I am just bringing ten editions of the bible, each with more accessable and poorly written prose.

[John_E]

Theory:

I second Novick's That Noble Dream. It's for both Americanists and non-Americanists, I think.

Writing will be your ticket not only to good grades/impressing your professors, but also to publishing and getting a job. Very crucial.

Style:

Strunk & White, Elements of Style

Williams, Style

Content:

Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments

Good luck!

[natsteel]

I also recommend Novick, though I generally read it in small chunks rather than slogging straight through. I have found a firm grasp of American historiography can help set you apart. I would also suggest getting a subscription to one or two of the main journals in your field (for me it's the William and Mary Quarterly and the Journal of the Early Republic) since it is important to have a firm grasp of what is going on in the field at the moment and being able to discuss "that article on xxxxxx in the last issue of xxxxxxx" with your professor helps show you are serious.

As far as general works go, I would also suggest:

Georg C. Iggers, Historiography in the 20th Century

Richard Evans, In Defense of History

David Hackett Fischer, Historians' Fallacies

Of course, you should already have Turabian.

[thepoorstockinger]

Georg C. Iggers, Historiography in the 20th Century

That Iggers book is absolutely terrible.

[aquiles]

That Iggers book is absolutely terrible.

If you don't mind my asking, could you please elaborate as to why?

[rising_star]

I would also suggest getting a subscription to one or two of the main journals in your field (for me it's the William and Mary Quarterly and the Journal of the Early Republic) since it is important to have a firm grasp of what is going on in the field at the moment and being able to discuss "that article on xxxxxx in the last issue of xxxxxxx" with your professor helps show you are serious.

Many journals are electronic now and available through your library for free, which is awesome. The big journal clearinghouses (Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, ScienceDirect, etc.) will all let you sign up to be emailed the table of contents of each new issue of a journal when it becomes available. I receive email notifications this way for all of the journals I keep track of (which is a lot as I'm in the social sciences doing interdisciplinary research). I find it to be extremely helpful since then I have a handy link to the article when I want to read it in my inbox already.