We all get inspired by fiction, be it scifi/fan/etc, but what about the non fiction stuff? Recently I've been digging into a book by Peter Hopkirk called "On Secret Service East of Constantinople"(spying, betrayal,political intrigue and high adventure in Central Asia or thereabouts). It's been great for my long in development WHFRP campaign. Check that. I've used the book before for other games. What about you folks - any good non fiction stuff you have found useful for your games?

Regards,
David R

Deleted due to being irrelevent.

Non-Fiction books that I have found interesting and useful for gaming.

Dungeon, Fire, and Sword- A history of the Knights Tempelars.

The Slave Trade- An examination of the slave trade and its economic impacts
                        between 1492 and 1870.

Xenophon: The Persian Expidition- A first hand account of war from the  Greek
                                              warrior Xenophon.

Well criminy, I mindblanked on the whole non-fiction part...must be this crazy song stuck in my head. Most inspiration I gained from a non-fiction book for a character is from the book Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. I'm a big fan of the Viking period, and the Northmen in general.

For inspiration on making world-buidling more logical (and generally accessible excellence), I would recommend Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Quote from: willpaxFor inspiration on making world-buidling more logical (and generally accessible excellence), I would recommend Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel.

All the books listed so far sound interesting.

Willpax could you give me a  little more detail about this book.

Regards,
David R

Greetings!

Here are a few of the books in my personal library at home that I have found informative and enjoyable. In addition, the large majority of them have also been very useful for designing campaigns, plots, characters and such for gaming.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

THE SHARK LIBRARY

Medieval History
(31 Books Listed)

A History of The Vikings; Jones, Gwyn. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); 504 pages.

Medieval Technology and Social Change; White, Jr, Lynn. (New York/London/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964); 194 pages.

The Medieval Military Tradition: State, Society, and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe; Ayton, Andrew and J.L. Price, Eds. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1998); 208 pages.

Witchcraft In Europe: 400-1700 A Documentary History, Second Edition; Kors, Alan Charles and Edward Peters, Eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001); 451 pages.

Fighting Techniques of The Medieval World AD 500-AD 1500: Equipment, Combat Skills, And Tactics; Bennett, Matthew; Bradbury, Devries, Dickie and Jestice; (New York: St. Martins Press/Amber Books, 2005); 256 pages.

1066: The Hidden History of The Bayeux Tapestry; Bridgeford, Andrew. (New York: Walker and Company, 2005); 354 pages.

The Bayeux Tapestry; Musset, Lucian. (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2005); 266 pages.

Crusades; Madden, F. Thomas, ed. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005); 224 pages.

The Crusades: A History; Riley-Smith, Jonathan. (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2005); 353 pages.

The First Crusade; Asbridge, Thomas. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); 408 pages.

The Oxford Illustrated History of The Crusades; Riley-Smith, Jonathan. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); 436 pages.

Historical Atlas of the Crusades; Konstam, Angus. (London: Mercury Books/Thalamus Publishing, 2004); 191 pages.

The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims; Bostom, Andrew G. Ed. (Amherst/New York: Prometheus Books, 2005); 759 pages.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England; Saul, Nigel. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2000); 308 pages.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe; Holmes, George, Ed. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); 398 pages.

Dungeon, Fire, & Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades; Robinson, J. John. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1991); 494 pages.

A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times: Important Technological Achievements, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450; Hill, Donald. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1984); 263 pages.

Daily Life in Medieval Times: Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval Village; Gies, Frances and Joseph. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1990); 397 pages.

Atlas of the Medieval World; McKitterick, Rosamond. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); 304 pages.

The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success; Stark, Rodney. (New York: Random House, 2005); 281 pages.

The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason; Freeman, Charles. (New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 2002); 432 pages.

Medieval Europe: A Short History; Bennett, M. Judith and C. Warren Hollister. (New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006); 383 pages.

The Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present—A Narrative History; Fraser, Rebecca. (New York/London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005); 829 pages.

A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance; Manchester, William. (Boston/New York/London: Back Bay Books, 1993); 322 pages.

Readings In Medieval History, Volume I: The Early Middle Ages, Third Edition; Geary, Patrick J. Ed. (New York: Broadview Press, 2003); 352 pages.

Readings In Medieval History, Volume II: The Later Middle Ages, Third Edition; Geary, Patrick J. Ed. (New York: Broadview Press, 2003); 520 pages.

The Byzantines; Cavallo, Guglielmo, Ed. (Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992); 293 pages.

The Oxford History of Byzantium; Mango, Cyril, Ed. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2002); 334 pages.

Theodora: Empress of Byzantium; Cesaretti, Paolo. (New York: Magowan Publishing, 2004); 400 pages.

A Chronicle History of Knights; Hopkins, Andrea. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2004); 191 pages.

Medieval Worlds: A Sourcebook; Anderson, Roberta and Dominic Aidan Bellenger, Eds. (London/New York: Routledge, 2003); 328 pages.

Asian History
(8 Books Listed)

A New History of India: Seventh Edition; Wolpert, Stanley. (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004); 530 pages.

India: A History; Keay, John. (New York: Grove Press, 2000); 576 pages.

All Under Heaven: A Complete History of China; Kruger, Rayne. (Southern Gate/Chichester/West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons, 2004); 422 pages.

1421: The Year China Discovered America; Menzies, Gavin. (New York: Harper Collins, 2003); 649 pages.

Ancient China; Fitzgerald, C.P. (New York: American Heritage/iBooks, 2006); 298 pages.

China: Empire and Civilization; Shaughnessy, Edward L. Ed. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); 256 pages.

The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years In The Heart of Asia; Wood, Frances. (Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002); 270 pages.

The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia; Grousset, Rene. (New Brunswick/New Jersey/London: Rutgers University Press, 2002); 687 pages.

Middle Eastern/Near Eastern History
(11 Books Listed)

Chronicle of The Pharaohs: A Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt; Clayton, Peter A. (New York/London: Thames & Hudson, 2001); 224 pages.

The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt; Manley, Bill, Ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003); 304 pages.

Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Reference to the Myths, Religions, Pyramids and Temples of the Land of the Pharaohs; Oakes, Lorna and Lucia Gahlin. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2003); 512 pages.

Historical Atlas of Ancient Mesopotamia; Hunt, Norman Bancroft. (New York: Checkmark Books/Thalamus Publishing, 2004); 190 pages.

Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?; Dever, William G. (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003); 255 pages.

Battles of The Bible: A Military History of Ancient Israel; Herzog, Chaim and Mordechai Gichon. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1997); 320 pages.

The Babylonians: An Introduction; Leick, Gwendolyn. (London/New York: Routledge, 2003); 182 pages.

God Against The Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism; Kirsch, Jonathan. (New York: Viking Compass, 2004); 336 pages.

Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth; Her Stories and Hymns From Sumer; Wolkstein, Diane, and Samuel Noah Kramer. (New York: Harper & Row, 1983); 227 pages.

The Ancient Gods; James, E.O. (Edison: Castle Books, 2004); 359 pages.

Phoenicians: Lebanon's Epic Heritage; Holst, Sanford. (Los Angeles: Cambridge and Boston Press, 2005); 374 pages.

General History
(23 Books Listed)

Quest For The Past; Kramer, Ann and Lindy Newton, Eds. (New York: Reader's Digest Association, 1984); 320 pages.

Warfare In The Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome; Warry, John. (London: Salamander Books, 1980); 224 pages.

Roots of Strategy: The 5 Greatest Military Classics of All Time; Sun Tzu, Vegetius, De Saxe, Frederick The Great, and Napoleon; Phillips, T.R. Ed. (New York: MJF Books, 1940); 448 pages.

The Myth of The Goddess: Evolution of an Image; Baring, Anne, and Jules Cashford. (New York: Penguin Group, 1993); 782 pages.

The Warrior Queens: The Legends and Lives of the Women Who Have Led Their Nations in War; Fraser, Antonia. (New York: Vintage Books, 1994); 383 pages.

Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed; Diamond, Jared. (New York: Viking, 2005); 575 pages.

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies; Diamond, Jared. (New York/London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999); 494 pages.

The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny; Hanson, Victor Davis. (New York: Anchor Books, 1999); 480 pages.

Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think; Hanson, Victor Davis. (New York: Doubleday, 2003); 278 pages.

Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power; Hanson, Victor Davis. (New York: Anchor Books, 2002); 506 pages.

Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud; Watson, Peter. (New York: Harper Collins, 2005); 822 pages.

Ideas That Changed The World; Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. (London/New York/Melbourne/Munich/Delhi: DK Publishing, 2003); 400 pages.

Druids: Their Origins and History; Spence, Lewis. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1949); 199 pages.

The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution; Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca, and Francesco Cavalli-Sforza. (New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books, 1995); 300 pages.

Timelines of World History; Teeple, John B. (London/New York/Munich/Melbourne/Delhi: DK Publishing, 2002); 666 pages.

In Search of Myths & Heroes: Exploring Four Epic Legends of the World; Wood, Michael. (Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005); 272 pages.

The Encyclopedia of Mythology: Norse, Classical, Celtic; Cotterell, Arthur. (London: Hermes House, 1996); 256 pages.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology; Cotterell, Arthur and Rachel Storm. (London: Hermes House, 2005); 512 pages.

Ancient Civilizations: The Illustrated Guide To Belief, Mythology and Art; Woolf, Greg, Ed. (London: Duncan Baird Publsihers, 2005); 688 pages.

Panorama of The Classical World; Spivey, Nigel and Michael Squire. (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004); 368 pages.

The Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World; Fagan, Brian M. Ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2004); 304 pages.

Egypt, Greece And Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean, Second Edition; Freeman, Charles. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); 714 pages.

A History of The Ancient World, Fourth Edition; Starr, Chester G. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1991); 742 pages.

History of Ancient Greece
(20 Books Listed)

Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History; Pomeroy, Sarah B. and Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999); 512 pages.

The Histories; Herodotus. (London: Penguin Books, 2003); 716 pages.

History of The Peloponnesian War; Thucydides. (London: Penguin Books, 1972); 648 pages.

The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives; Plutarch. (London: Penguin Books, 1960); 318 pages.

The Life of Alexander The Great; Plutarch. (New York: Modern Library, 2004); 72 pages.

The Campaigns of Alexander; Arrian. (London: Penguin Books, 1971); 430 pages.

The Peloponnesian War; Kagan, Donald. (London: Penguin Books, 2003); 511 pages.

The Hellenistic World; Walbank, F.W. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992); 288 pages.

The World of Odysseus; Finley, M.I. (New York: New York Review Books, 2002); 205 pages.

The Greeks At War: From Athens To Alexander; Souza, Philip de, Waldemar Heckel and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004); 285 pages.

Ancient Greece; Hale, William Harlan. (New York: iBooks, 2001); 254 pages.

Alexander The Great; Cartledge, Paul. (Woodstock/New York: The Overlook Press, 2004); 368 pages.

The Spartans: The World of The Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece; Cartledge, Paul. (New York: Vintage Books, 2003); 306 pages.

In The Footsteps of Alexander The Great; Wood, Michael. (Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001); 256 pages.

In Search of The Trojan War; Wood, Michael. (Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998); 288 pages.

Alexander The Great: Son of The Gods; Fildes, Alan and Joann Fletcher. (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002); 176 pages.

History of Ancient Greece; Harris, Nathaniel. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2004); 192 pages.

The Iliad and The Odyssey: Troy; Demont, Paul. (London: Octopus Publishing, 2004); 254 pages.

A War Like No Other: How The Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War; Hanson, Victor Davis. (New York: Random House, 2005); 397 pages.

The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece, Second Edition; Hanson, Victor Davis. (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1989); 271 pages.

History of Ancient Rome
(32 Books Listed)

The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146 BC; Goldsworthy, Adrian. (London: Cassell, 2003); 412 pages.

The Early History of Rome; Livy. (London: Penguin Books, 1971); 487 pages.

Fall of The Roman Republic; Plutarch. (London: Penguin Books, 1972); 361 pages.

Plutarch's Lives, Volume One; Clough, Arthur Hugh, Ed. (New York: Modern Library, 2001); 766 pages.

Plutarch's Lives, Volume Two; Clough, Arthur Hugh, Ed. (New York: Modern Library, 2001); 706 pages.

The Rise of the Roman Empire; Polybius. (London: Penguin Books, 1979); 574 pages.

Ancient Rome: An Introductory History; Zoch, Paul A. (Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 1998); 300 pages.

Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey Through The Roman Empire; Speller, Elizabeth. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); 328 pages.

A History of the Roman People, Fourth Edition; Ward, Allen M, Fritz M. Heichelheim, and Cedric A. Yeo; (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003); 579 pages.

The Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire; Gibbon, Edward. (New York: The Modern Library, 2003); 1258 pages.

The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome; Parenti, Michael. (New York/London: The New Press, 2003); 276 pages.

The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome: An Illustrated military and political chronicle of the world's greatest empire: its leaders and generals, wars and campaigns; Rodgers, Nigel and Hazel Dodge. (London: Hermes House, 2005); 256 pages.

History of Ancient Rome; Harris, Nathaniel. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2004); 192 pages.

Roman Britain; Bedoyere, Guy De. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2006); 288 pages.

The Complete Roman Army; Goldsworthy, Adrian. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003); 224 pages.

Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rome From Romulus To Augustus; Matyszak, Philip. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003); 240 pages.

Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome; Scarre, Chris. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2002); 240 pages.

A Dictionary of the Roman Empire; Bunson, Matthew. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); 494 pages.

Cannae: The Experience of Battle In The Second Punic War; Daly, Gregory. (London/New York: Routledge, 2003); 253 pages.

The Antonines: The Roman Empire In Transition; Grant, Michael. (London/New York: Routledge, 1996); 210 pages.

Rome At War: Caesar and His Legacy; Gilliver, Kate, Adrian Goldsworthy, and Michael Whitby. (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2005); 288 pages.

Roman Warfare; Goldsworthy, Adrian. (New York: Harper Collins, 2005); 240 pages.

The Punic Wars; Goldsworthy, Adrian. (London: Cassell, 2000); 412 pages.

In The Name of Rome: The Men Who Won The Roman Empire; Goldsworthy, Adrian. (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003); 415 pages.

The Middle East Under Rome; Sartre, Maurice. (London/Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005); 665 pages.

Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle In Classical Antiquity; Lendon, J.E. (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2005); 468 pages.

The Last Frontier: The Roman Invasions of Scotland; Kamm, Anthony. (Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing, 2004); 192 pages.

Ancient Rome; Payne, Robert. (New York: iBooks, 2001); 278 pages.

The Enemies of Rome: From Hannibal To Attila The Hun; Matyszak, Philip. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2004); 296 pages.

The Fall of The Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians; Heather, Peter. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2006); 572 pages.

The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization; Ward-Perkins, Bryan. (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); 239 pages.

The Provinces of The Roman Empire, Two Volumes; Mommsen, Theodor. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1909, 1996); Volume One 367 pages; Volume Two 374 pages.

Quote from: Harry JoyDo you have a program for that? I could use one. Tons of books collected. Mostly history. Not a big fan of fiction, any. But when a thread like this goes up, I don't have a handy way of collecting relevant stuff without a lot of typing.

I posted a link to a book collection site (kind of like dvdspot.com) many months ago on nothingland (before the change to SO), but i've totally lost track of the site.

:doh:

Quote from: Harry JoyDo you have a program for that? I could use one. Tons of books collected. Mostly history. Not a big fan of fiction, any. But when a thread like this goes up, I don't have a handy way of collecting relevant stuff without a lot of typing.

Greetings!

Hey Harry! A program? Hmmm...no, it is just something I typed up to keep track of various books in my library by subject. By the way, all of the books in the SHARK Library listed here are *non-fiction.*

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: SHARKGreetings!

Here are a few of the books in my personal library at home that I have found informative and enjoyable. .

A few. You know something Shark, I'm really beginning to dig your style.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: SharkDaily Life in Medieval Times: Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval Village; Gies, Frances and Joseph. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1990); 397 pages.

I'll second this recommendation. These books are written to be easily accessible to non-specialists, but don't oversimplify or talk down to the reader. Great sources of little details about how people lived with that level of technology.

About Guns, Germs, and Steel: the basic question the book seeks to answer is: why did the Europeans (and their offshoot cultures such as the United States) get the cargo--i.e., the guns, resistance to germs, and steel of the title? Most of the traditional answers rely, to some degree, on theories of racial or genetic superiority which are both distasteful and hard to reconcile with the actual evidence. The situation is: around 11,000 b.c., human beings had spread over most of the planet, and everyone was at roughly the same level of technology. What happened to create the vast differences we see today?

To answer this question, Diamond synthesizes a lot of research from a lot of different fields. His basic answer has to do with material resources available to early societies--domesticable animals, basic food crops, topography--and the common social responses to those material resources.  For example, specialization and political hierarchy tend to occur when a population group grows to around 50,000 people. If the topography splits groups into smaller units (such as in Polynesia), then governmental systems stay small and unspecialized, causing innovation to suffer from lack of specialists. If the topography has so few borders as to keep everyone in one big political unit (as in China), then lack of competition can stifle innovation.

How this relates to world building: by giving a very detailed big picture of the interrelation of various factors that go into cultural development, the book helps one make a campaign world more internally consistent (as well as better understand the ramifications of various things in the real world). While one certainly doesn't have to make a fantasy world make sense, I think that working within a logical framework with more deliberate, thought-out departures makes for more engaging fantasy.

Another recommendation for the 'Medieval' books by Frances and Joseph Gies, and Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.

Quote from: David RA few. You know something Shark, I'm really beginning to dig your style.

Regards,
David R

Greetings!

Thanks David R!:)

As for Guns, Germs and Steel, it's a good book. However, in Carnage and Culture, historian Victor Davis Hansen disputes Jared Diamond's thesis with great energy. Hanson makes the case that it is not germs or weapons or technology that determines the rise or fall of civilizations, but culture and thinking. Interesting stuff.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: SHARKHanson makes the case that it is not germs or weapons or technology that determines the rise or fall of civilizations, but culture and thinking. Interesting stuff.

Must check both books out. In the same vein, does anybody know of a good book about how diseases were confronted/contained during the Renaissance period and to a lesser extent during the Medieval period. I'm looking for little details that would translate well to my long in development fantasy masquerading as sci/fi campaign.

I'm also following the discussion on how magic would affect a setting in Cyberzombie's thread. Good stuff. Gives me an idea how magic would affect some plague ridden corners of my setting.

Regards,
David R

I'm surprised no one's said the Bible... oh sorry, nonfiction...