Good historical sources?

[MonsterMash]

Recommendations would depend a lot on which period you are looking at. Lots of the ones already recommended are useful so I'll concentrate on adding more.

Liza Picard has written a number of books about life in London in different eras, Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London is the closest in time period to the medieval period, the other volumes are Restoration London (1660s), Dr Johnson's London (mid 18th C), and Victorian London (1840-1870).

The Sicilian Vespers and three volume history of the Crusades by Steven Runciman are good, but a little dry.

 

[Steverooo]

3 Quickies:

The Encyclopedia of the Sword, by Nick Evangelista. General reference on all swords, in all times & countries, as well as fencing, etc. Good basic reference.

A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor In All Countries and In All Times, by George Cameron Stone. A favorite of Gygax, used in the original AD&D, and now cheaper, in paperback! A classic.

Records of the Medieval Sword, by Ewart Oakeshotte. As recommended, above. Rather dry.

More when I have more time...

 

[Aust Diamondew]

In addition to genuine scholarly books I recommend reading historical fiction for inspiration for d&d. I've read Michael Curtis Ford and found his books to be good. His books are enterntaining and for the most part historically sound (although his latest book, The Sword of Attila contained a few glaring historical inaccuracies but so will any d&d game ).

I paticuarly enjoyed his book The Last King one of the main characters of the book, Mithridates the Great, really reminded me of one of the PCs in my game, if the PC had failed at his goals (instead of succeding) the player would have probably Role played him similar to how Mithridates was portrayed in the book at the end of his life.

I also enjoyed The Gates of Fire and The Last Amazon by Stephen Pressfield.

Currently I'm reading a translation of The Histories by Herodotus which is actually enjoyable one you get use to the way in which history was written by a greek guy 2400 years ago.

 

[Thunderfoot]

The Year 1000 by Lancey & Danziger
Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
A Knight's Own Book of Chivalry by De Charny (translation by Kennedy)

Any of David Macaulay's illustrated books-Castle, Pyramid, City, Cathedral, etc.

Any of Joseph & Frances Gies's Life In A Medieval... books (Life in a Medieval City, ...Village, ...Castle, A Medieval family, Daily Life in medieval Times, The Knight in History, etc.)

I'll agree with all of these choices!!! Especially the MaCaulay books, even though they were originally written for children, they don't talk down and use simple straight forward language. And though they are essentially architechtural in nature, they do describe the social reasoning of the age behind the construction methods. A very quick and dirty socio-political look at life in several different time periods. Along with the Gies' books, you can create a medieval town complete with NPCs without ever having to consult a chart or graph or ever making a die roll.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Especially the MaCaulay books, even though they were originally written for children, they don't talk down and use simple straight forward language. And though they are essentially architechtural in nature, they do describe the social reasoning of the age behind the construction methods. A very quick and dirty socio-political look at life in several different time periods.

I love David Macaulay's books. I check a few out from the library every few months, just to reread them (don't know why I haven't just bought them by now...). There was also a series of TV shows produced by either the BBC or PBS back in the 80s based on him books, and they are easily found in many libraries. They are worth watching as well. They take the story that goes throughout the book and animates it in addition to showing real life examples of specific pieces of architecture.

 

[Thunderfoot]

CL - You are so right! I own the Castle! book and have checked out the video from my local library about 6 times. They don't have Cathedral but that is the one I'm aiming to find next.

I have to admit, that that book and the AD&D 2E Castle Guide are what I use for the basis of building strongholds in my game. The 1M gp flat tag on a stronghold in 3.0 & 3.5 makes me more than a little ill and was, frankly the one thing I absolutely loathe about the new system.

 

[genshou]

CL - You are so right! I own the Castle! book and have checked out the video from my local library about 6 times. They don't have Cathedral but that is the one I'm aiming to find next.

I have to admit, that that book and the AD&D 2E Castle Guide are what I use for the basis of building strongholds in my game. The 1M gp flat tag on a stronghold in 3.0 & 3.5 makes me more than a little ill and was, frankly the one thing I absolutely loathe about the new system.

If it's the one thing you absolutely loathe, does that mean that if there were a fix, you would happily play under one or the other of the 3.x rulesets?

Because...
This wonderful book does exactly that...

 

[diaglo]

Sun Tzu? Or "The Art of War in the Middle Ages", C.W.C. Oman?

yes.

i meant Sun Tzu, but i knew that other books with this title could also be included.



if you want to get thru the religious text and just look at the historical thinking or concepts or references included... The Bible, The Torah, and The Koran

 

[Thunderfoot]

If it's the one thing you absolutely loathe, does that mean that if there were a fix, you would happily play under one or the other of the 3.x rulesets?

Because...
This wonderful book does exactly that...

I've poked around with it but, I just don't feel the love. I basically used the old system and just adjusted fire a touch. I already had a workable system in place, so why scrap it? Not that the SBGB is a bad book, if I were having to start from scratch, it would be on my must have list!

 

[Greg K]

For information on Native American tribes, one book that I would recommend is "This Land was Theirs: A study of Native Americans" by Wendell Oswalt. It includes chapters covering all the major regions of North America with the apparent exception of the Great Basin (Bannok, Gishute, Ute, Paiute, Western Shoshone Washoe)*. The useful information would be the sections on Aboriginal life, Early History, Traditional Life and Ceremonies for each group as well as the Appendix on tools, weapons, nets and traps. The groups discussed are:
1) Arctic Seal Hunters- Netsilik Eskimo
2) Subartic- Chipewyan
3) Plateau Fishers and Hunters- Lower Kootenai
4) Great Plains Bison Hunters- Crow
5) Desert Gathererrs- Cahuilla
6) Salmon Fishers (California)- Yurok
7) Salmon Fishers (Alaska)-Tlingit
8) Desert-Farmers- Hopi
9) Southwest Desert- Navajo
10) Eastern Woodland Farmers -Iroqouis
11) South East Farmers- Cherokee
12) Deep South: Natchez


*Note: My copy is currently in storage and I am using a result for a google search for content covered.