Basket.

Well, it's been a slow week so far, with most of it spent either in front of the computer or absorbed in Martin Gilbert's A History of the 20th Century: Volume 2 1933-1951. It's a great series, mainly because it is simply so readable with a simple, fluid prose style. His 3-volume series will always be one of my favourite books, up there with John Toland's The Last Hundred Days (of the Third Reich, not the Soviet Union, and which I have read three times cover to cover; it contains an incredibly detailed account of the Yalta Conference, which though boring, gives a brilliant overview of what exactly happened there to shape the postwar world - in addition it also gives extremely graphic accounts of the horrific firebombing of Dresden and the Battle for Berlin. A lot of information, and presented very well), David Eggenberger's Encyclopedia of Battles (1,500 of the major actions and conflicts that have shaped the world we know today, from The first battle in recorded history at Megiddo in 1467 BC to the First Gulf War) and the mammoth 927-page Taiko, by Eiji Hosokawa, a work of historical fiction that encompasses japan's turbulent Sengoku period and the rise of Toyotomi Hideyoshi from a mere sandal bearer to ruler of all Japan.

Erik Durschmied is also good. I was impressed by The Hinge Factor, sceptical at times about the intricate detail of his accounts (how did he find THAT out?), but taken in by his breathless prose and fast-paced narration of the brutality particularly of hand-to-hand combat. On a trip to Kinokuniya that day I picked up another of his books, the exact title escapes me currently, but it was great too. I had time to read just one account, of the Spartan king Leonidas' heroic stand against the vastly superior Persian host of Xerxes I at the pass of Thermopylae in 486 BC, but was sufficiently impressed. I know at least book I'm going to pick up when I return armed with discount coupons.

If you ask me though, we need more good alternate histories. Niall Ferguson's Virtual History was pretty alright, but I feel covered too short a time period. Kinokuniya once stocked a book called What If, but I was unable to find it when I went recently. And Civilization 2: Fantastic Worlds just doesn't cut it; fun but not, erm, altogether realistic, to understate a tad.

Hm, if only History S let us choose texts, like Lit S does. Now that will sure be fun, and beneficial. We need to study a larger time period than just the past two centuries, or the knowledge gained is simply not enough.