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The list of history books which are artifacts themselves is pretty short, and Gibbon pretty much tops the list. That and Eusebius are the two that come to mind. I don't really like either of them, in that the polemic bleeds through enough that it's hard to take seriously at times, but they're both remarkable works of comprehensive research and narrative-building and, as a result, they are to ancient western history nerds what I assume "Citizen Kane" is to film nerds.
I work on intellectual history (or history of thought or history of ideas) so my favorites are slanted that direction, and the look to the medieval period forward more than its ancient roots. But if you are interested in medieval Europe than these could have some appeal to you.
THE HOW-WE-GOT-FROM-PREMODERNITY-TO-MODERNITY CATEGORY:
1. Karsten Harries "Infinity and Perspective" - A difficult classic that's hard to sum up here, but his angle is to examine the growth of the two titular concepts, infinity and perspective, in text, art, and architectural examples from the medieval through Renaissance periods in order to understand how these ideas grew the sort of human intellectual freedom that we'd understand as "modern".
2. Louis Dupre "Passage to Modernity" - A similar objective to Karsten Harries, but with a focus on the development of the self-as-subject as the result of the crumbling synthesis offered by nominalist thought. He takes in a wider breadth of familiar evidence then Harries does, so if Harries enthusiasm for Nicholas of Cusa seems a bit too obscure then you've got Dupre paying more attention to some bigger figures like Shakespeare and Cervantes, among others.
3. Hans Blumenberg "Legitimacy of the Modern Age" - A classic, but a real commitment. Again, a similar focus to the previous two guys, but with an emphasis on the development of curiosity from a species of intellectual vanity to an essential trait for the development of human knowledge. This one ranges further back into the ancient period, but it's a tough, tough read.
BIG BOOK, CLOSE FOCUS
1. Peter Brown "The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity" - Not a lot of historians with more than one legitimate classic on their resume, so Brown is one of the few (his biography of Augustine is his other classic). This book is so cool because it's systematic review of writers could just as easily allow its use as a textbook for the first few centuries of Christian history, but he frames each discussion so well that the theme of a conversation within Early Christianity on what the body was good (and bad) for really emerges. It's excellent.
2. Mary Carruthers "The Book of Memory" - I use this daily as I try to work on the early modern memory. This one's focus is on ancient Greek and Roman through medieval Christian discussions on the use and scope of the memory. It's very big, very dense, and very good. Nice, slow read.
LIGHTNING ROUND CHOICES IF YOU'RE ALREADY CONSIDERING DECLINE AND FALL
1. Robert Louis Wilken "The Christians as the Romans Saw Them" - Just what it sounds like, colliding/assimilating cultures.
2. Rodney Stark "The Rise of Christianity" - Deeply obnoxious writer crunches the numbers behind narratives of early Christianity and creates a book I wanted to hate but just couldn't.
3. W Frend "The Rise of Christianity" - Starts early, very detailed, takes a long time to finish. An "if you only own one..." type of book. ______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
--Walleye's Dad
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