The Enemy at the Gate by Andrew Wheatcroft

 Excellent history of the great Siege of Vienna in 1683, when the Habsburgs, supported by other European forces, defeated the last great attempt by the Turks to overrun Europe.

Hitler's Greatest Defeat by Paul Adair

This refers to Operation Bagration, the Soviet Summer Offensive that began on June 22, 1944. We in the West focus primarily on DDay as the major military event of Summer '44, but it was Bagration that really did in the Wehrmacht, which saw 30 divisions destroyed in the matter of a few weeks.  This book is a concise, quick read on the subject.

The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark

An excellent explanation of why Christianity was indispensable to the rise and success of Western Civilization. Stark traces everything from representative government, to civil freedoms, modern financial structures to their historic roots in Christianity. Excellent.

The Modern Scholar: A History of the Church in the Middle Ages by Thomas Madden

A series of lectures reviewing church history spanning the Middle Ages. Good but not great. Listened to this while running.

Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

A comprehensive look at human history for a resolutely secular perspective. Eh.

Making Man in Reason's Image: The Enlightenment and the Birth of Modern Humanity

A series of lectures from the Teaching Company that I listened to while running. Good overview of the Enlightenment. By James Schmidt

The Enlightenment by Margaret Jacob

An excellent short introduction to the history and thought of the Enlightenment.

We Were There at The Battle of the Bulge by David Shepherd

This is an (older) children's book that I remember from my youth. I happened to stumble across it while surfing Amazon and figured - why not pick it up for a couple of bucks? It's just as good as I remember and a great way to introduce kids to military history. I also have We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg somewhere that I got many years ago... I can't remember if I ever got around to reading it to the kids.

Verdun by John Mosier

Interesting take on the Battle of Verdun in WW1 that takes on the conventional wisdom. Mosier makes a strong case that it was not, nor was intended to be, a battle of attrition. He points out things like the fact that the German casualty rate was no lower before and after the battle than during it. He also makes a good case that the first German Chief of Staff, von Falkenhayn, was way ahead of everyone else (both in Germany and among the Allied nations) in understanding the nature of the war.

Firebase Illingworth by Philip Keith

Excellent Vietnam battle story, late war.

Blood Red Snow by Gunter Koschorrek

Memoirs of a German soldier who served on the Eastern Front from the Battle of Stalingrad to the end of the war. Maybe the best of this type of book and the most intense first-person account of war I've ever read.

The Enlightenment and Why It Still Matters by Anthony Pagden

A history and defense of the Enlightenment, well-written and fascination, although I ultimately disagree with Pagden's interpretation of the Enlightenment.

The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark

Account of the crucial contributions of Christianity to the development of Western Civilization in terms of science, politics and culture.

Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius

War memoirs by German Tiger tank ace and Knight's Cross winner.

Cotton Kingdom by Frederick Law Olmstead

Chronicle of Olmstead's tour through the antebellum South, as he takes the measure of the slave culture. Some of the fascinating things that come out: Just how much poor whites hated slavery, seeing it (rightly) as impoverishing them by displacing their labor; the number of Southerners who frankly acknowledge the immorality of slavery, but are at a loss at how to end it due to the practicalities involved; the differences in the attitudes toward slavery among the states (fireeaters in South Carolina vs a skeptical North Carolina). Olmstead had a keen eye for detail and his descriptions of slave life are well worth the effort. There are also a few very disturbing episodes, none more so than when Olmstead witnesses the savage beating of an 18 year old slave girl by an overseer.

Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian

Memoirs of the famous Hurrying Heinz of the Wehrmacht.

Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tully

This is a thorough and somewhat revisionist history of the Battle of Midway. The authors don't challenge the conventional history - a glorious American victory based on superior intelligence, planning, tactical flexibility, individual initiative and a good bit of luck - but they do reveal many fascinating details that expose some unsung heroes and also overturn a few well-known but false truisms concerning the American triumph. Among the former is Lt. Dick Best, perhaps the most accurate dive-bombing aviator in the U.S. Navy. It turns out that only three dive-bombers attacked the Japanese carrier Akagi in the critical attack that sank three flattops. Best and his element were winging over to attack the Kaga when he noticed that it was also being attacked by the more famous C. Wade McCluskey and his planes. At the last second, Best changed his target to the Akagi and, among the three planes attacking, scored the only hit. But that hit was enough to turn the Akagi into an inferno. Had Best gone after the Kaga, the Akagi would have been left unscathed and capable of delivering a possibly devastating counterattack on the U.S. fleet. Best also scored a hit on the Hiryu in a later attack. Among the false notions concerning the battle is the claim that the Japanese carriers were caught with flight decks full of planes being refueled and rearmed. By analyzing the timeline of events the authors show that this cannot be true. In fact, the origin of the notion was probably as a means for the Japanese commanders to save face, as they could blame the disaster on unfortunate circumstance rather than poor planning and tactical performance. Highly recommended.

The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw

Riveting account of an I&R platoon in the 99th Division during the Battle of the Bulge and afterwards in captivity. I knew remotely the story of a platoon that held up the entire northern German thrust for a day, but this book provides the first hand account details of how 18 men more or less ruined Wacht Am Rhein the first day of the operation.

Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley

Outstanding work of narrative history concerning the contest for control of the Mediterranean Sea in the 16th century. From the conquest of Rhodes, to the Siege of Malta, to the Battle of Lepanto, it's all here, told in thrilling style. One of the most enthralling history books I've ever read.

Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas

Since reading Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson, I've been looking forward to reading more about Hernan Cortes. Ruthless, ambitious, pious, charismatic, brave, perceptive and clever, Cortes is an altogether fascinating man. Hugh Thomas's account of the conquest of Tenochtitlan does him justice.