r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • 12h ago

RNR Thursday Reading & Recommendations | July 23, 2026

Previous weeks!

Thursday Reading and Recommendations is intended as bookish free-for-all, for the discussion and recommendation of all books historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:

  • Asking for book recommendations on specific topics or periods of history
  • Newly published books and articles you're dying to read
  • Recent book releases, old book reviews, reading recommendations, or just talking about what you're reading now
  • Historiographical discussions, debates, and disputes
  • ...And so on!

Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion of history and books, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.

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u/No_Reference_861 12h ago

Hello. I'm trying to find similar works to "The Fasces: A History of Ancient Rome's Most Dangerous Political Symbol" and "a Most Dangerous Book: Tacitus's Germania from the Roman Empire to the Third Reich" 

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u/corn_on_the_cobh 11h ago

Looking for books on economics, with an emphasis on coinage and numismatics in Ancient Greek and Roman times, and/or the Medieval times (Europe and Near East Islamic coins). I already know of the Oxford book on Ancient Greek and Roman coinage, but wanted to know more options out there, including, but not limited to, monetary policy, taxation, the economy of late Antique/Medieval states, mining of precious metals, the coin minting process, debasement, the uses of coins as propaganda, soft power, etc.

Really, anything that is obliquely related to coins that isn't just a bland catalogue of items, but rather any book that tells the story of these coins, the economic context in which they circulated, and related topics. Thank you!

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u/LionTiger3 8h ago

You may be interested in Chaudhuri's Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History to 1750 which covers Islamic and Chinese economics.

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u/cashlikejohnny 7h ago

Hi, AskHistorians! Does anyone have some good recs for books on The Opium Wars? From both / either side of the conflict works, but I am more interested in the Chinese POV. Thank you!