Useful history books and resources

Bedrockbrendan · November 11, 2016, 06:14:31 PM

Starting this thread so we can have an ongoing list of useful history content for campaigns. Basically just post links to books, websites, etc that you think are helpful for GMs who want to incorporate some history into their gaming. If it is a book you've read, perhaps offer a one paragraph description on the content and why you think it is useful.

wombat1 · November 12, 2016, 01:58:20 PM

Hmm, I am kind of surprised this hasn't gotten much play yet, so I suppose I will lead off:

Frances and Joseph Gies, Life in a Medieval City
Life in a Medieval Castle
Life in a Medieval Village

Three very short books that describe exactly what their titles say--not very long and very accessible to general readers.

Greentongue · November 12, 2016, 03:10:10 PM

Life on a Mediaeval Barony by William Stearns Davis
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chirine ba kal · November 12, 2016, 05:28:05 PM

Quote from: Greentongue;930249Life on a Mediaeval Barony by William Stearns Davis
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Required reading for us back in the day!

My suggestion: "The Crossbow", by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey; everything you didn't know about non-gunpowder missile weapons, backed up by practical research in museums, armories, and on the baronet's estate. (There's a photo on line of his personal arsenal; bet he got no hassles from the neighbors!) very hand for the GM and the player, and well worth the read. The pictures ain't bad, either.

soltakss · November 13, 2016, 07:47:40 AM

Wikipedia - Just the right level for RPGs with a lot of drilling down into detail if required, but be prepared to lose whole days compiling information.

RPGPundit · November 19, 2016, 03:30:46 AM

Quote from: soltakss;930426Wikipedia - Just the right level for RPGs with a lot of drilling down into detail if required, but be prepared to lose whole days compiling information.

For historical material, if you don't want to go too far into depth, wikipedia is excellent.

Spinachcat · November 19, 2016, 05:12:56 AM

Wikipedia is freaking amazing, but Soltakss is right, prepare to lose days down the rabbit hole.

jeff37923 · November 19, 2016, 08:30:35 AM

For the engineering and science in your science fiction, you just cannot beat the Atomic Rockets Website. Winchell Chung (Warpwar, Annic Nova) covers just about every possible science fiction subject dealing with spacecraft.

Xanther · November 19, 2016, 02:03:41 PM

Quote from: jeff37923;931574For the engineering and science in your science fiction, you just cannot beat the Atomic Rockets Website. Winchell Chung (Warpwar, Annic Nova) covers just about every possible science fiction subject dealing with spacecraft.

Just take some of the conclusions with a grain of salt. Especially those on how easy it would be to detect a heat signature in space. He's just a guy who has read a lot of books, his "experts" can also be dubious. I say this from being a former researcher for the AFOSR, in the space arena.

AndrewSFTSN · November 19, 2016, 06:20:32 PM

Eric Newby - A Book of Travellers Tales is a really handy 'sourcebook'. It's a compilation of excerpts, gazetter style, from travellers from biblical times up to present day, catalogued by continental region. They tend to focus of strange encounters, local customs, etc. etc. and vary in length from a paragraph to a couple of pages - pretty inspiring stuff!

Blusponge · November 21, 2016, 03:50:51 PM

The Cambridge Factfinder
Encyclopedia of World Religions
History’s Timeline: A 40,000 Year Chronology of Civilization, Jean Cooke, Ann Kramer, Theodore Rowland-Entwistle (1989)
A Short History of the World, Alex Woolf (2008)

Can't recommend these enough. History's Timeline shows up a lot in Barnes & Nobles' discount area. Alex Woolf's book can be found at Half Price Books.

Elfdart · November 22, 2016, 10:39:44 AM

Here are a few of my favorites:

Hellhounds, Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld

Internet Medieval Sourcebook

The Year 1000 (this book is where I got my nickname)

Encyclopedia of Fairies

In Search of the Dark Ages You can watch the TV version on Youtube. Michael Wood's videos about the Trojan War, King Arthur and Beowulf are also great sources for material for a campaign:

[video=youtube;1C0sFXU0SLo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C0sFXU0SLo[/youtube]

Useful history books and resources

wombat1