Kate’s Top Ten Book Recommendations for…

Historical Rhetoric, 19th Century to Present Day

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#1) Ian Kershaw, The "Hitler Myth": Image and Reality in the Third Reich

#2) Eugen Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France, 1870-1914

#3) Stephen Kotkin, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization

#4) Gabrielle Hecht, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II

#5) Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

#6) Dominic Sandbrook, Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles

#7) Kathleen Paul, Whitewashing Britain: Race and Citizenship in the Postwar Era

#8) Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy

#9) James C. Scott, Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

#10) Lynn Hunt, Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution: With a New Preface, 20th Anniversary Edition

I’ll be featuring a review for each of these works in due time. These are the works that I fell in love with during my graduate program at George Mason University. I challenged myself by breaking away from my interests in modern Ireland by taking courses on revolutions, modernity, and rhetoric to help broaden my historical horizons. I ended up truly enjoying learning about the rhetoric and language a leader can use to manipulate and sway the people, especially during times of political turbulence. I decided to use my newly found interest in historical rhetoric to help me get through the comprehensive exams I needed to stay in the graduate program - these particular books were ones I referenced when I had to finally sit and write the tests!

They are in no particular order…but Ian Kershaw’s The “Hitler Myth” is riveting. I’d totally recommend reading that first, especially if you already have an interest in Nazi Germany. Kershaw’s argument about the ‘myth’ built around Hitler’s rise to power is spellbinding, and he provides effective evidence. If, however, you want more of an introduction to historical rhetoric, definitely check out number ten on this list - Lynn Hunt’s Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution.

Happy reading!

Many happy returns,

-Kate