A level History: Wider/Pre reading - Help me!

I'm taking History for AS level and likely A level. We study Stalin's Russia and the Civil Rights movement, but I want to get some knowledge in the summer through the use of books. What good books are there that will get me in the know for these two topics? The exam board is Edexcel btw :smile:

Reply 1

A.L. C-Brown

11

Original post by nkf176

I'm taking History for AS level and likely A level. We study Stalin's Russia and the Civil Rights movement, but I want to get some knowledge in the summer through the use of books. What good books are there that will get me in the know for these two topics? The exam board is Edexcel btw :smile:

'The Court of the Red Tsar' is a good one for Stalin.

Reply 2

username163092

19

Access to History's In Depth series is a series of great little books designed for A level student - there's one on Stalin, but I can't find a civil rights one. Obviously, your textbooks are also a good bet. Another set of great little books are the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions.

In the back of all of these books you should (hopefully) find suggested further reading to go into more depth.

Reply 3

greenfly125

14

Original post by Aemiliana

Access to History's In Depth series is a series of great little books designed for A level student - there's one on Stalin, but I can't find a civil rights one. Obviously, your textbooks are also a good bet. Another set of great little books are the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions.

In the back of all of these books you should (hopefully) find suggested further reading to go into more depth.

There is a civil rights one, cause I used it :biggrin:

Very in depth, and gives good guidance towards exam questions.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Civil-Rights-1945-68-Access-History/dp/0340965835

Reply 4

username163092

19

Original post by greenfly125

There is a civil rights one, cause I used it :biggrin:

Very in depth, and gives good guidance towards exam questions.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Civil-Rights-1945-68-Access-History/dp/0340965835

I meant the In Depth ones - they're A5 sized and like 200 pages. However, I love the entire Access series so it's nice to know that they've cover this pretty important topic!

Are you a member of the history soc? Seeing as you've answered at least 3 history threads in the last few minutes, maybe you want to join if you aren't?

Reply 5

greenfly125

14

Original post by Aemiliana

I meant the In Depth ones - they're A5 sized and like 200 pages. However, I love the entire Access series so it's nice to know that they've cover this pretty important topic!

Are you a member of the history soc? Seeing as you've answered at least 3 history threads in the last few minutes, maybe you want to join if you aren't?

Oo, my bad, not reading properly! :colondollar:

I will do!

Reply 6

Orwell

3

Robert Conquest on Stalin is good, if you want to get stuck into some reasonably heavy stuff.

Reply 7

Winter Frost

Hey! I've had the privilege of studying Stalin for AS, A-Level and at university. Here are a few recommendations for in-depth stuff:

during AS/A-level time, I found 'Stalin's Russia' by Chris Ward really helpful, covered everything
Stalinism - Gill Graeme
'Orthodox' historians e.g. Conquest
'Revisionist' historians e.g. J. Arch Getty
If you want to look at normal everyday life, Fitzpatrick is good
If you want to look at cult of personality/resistance/popular opinion etc, Sarah Davies is brilliant

Reply 8

Clumsy_Chemist

10

Original post by Aemiliana

Are you a member of the history soc? Seeing as you've answered at least 3 history threads in the last few minutes, maybe you want to join if you aren't?