Li's comments (member since Nov 28, 2008)

Li's comments from the Our History group.

Favourite historian...hmm, tough choice. My newest favourite has to be Orlando Figes, who wrote The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia. It was an interesting read and the sources he used were just phenomenal...Sheila Fitzpatrick is also a favourite given the clarity she brings to Russian historiography. Margaret MacMillan is also an interesting read, I enjoyed her Paris 1919. And despite some errors here and there, Arthur Herman was also a good read for me, introduced me to the world of British Naval History :)

I don't read a lot of historical novels and such, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading Edward Rutherford's Russka; the book basically covered Russia from its earliest times right up to the post-Soviet period through the perspectives and stories of one particular family (whose name I cannot remember at the moment). The scope's pretty massive, but it was a good read :)

Over the past few years, I've developed this fascination for Russian history, probably because you don't get a lot of coverage about their history in high school classes and whatnot so my shelf is littered with Russian history books and stuff. I'm also interested in Roman history (especially the Empire period), British history (especially their political and naval history) and Church history. I also like large-scale aspects about history, like trends that have shaped the course of human development and international relations. Then there's the odds and ends that I like as well, like the Medici family and stuff :)