Book recommendations

I have an awesome quarter this time around. My classes are Modern European History, Russian Film and Fiction, and Organized Crime. My fouth class is an ILE class on Joint Maritime Operations, but I'll leave that one alone. I was talking to Dad and he recommended I let you all know what I'm reading, most of which is outstanding. In European History, we have 8 books, and we've already read two of them:

"The Old Regime and the French Revoltuion" by Alexis de Tocqueville
"Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier" by Jakub Walter
"Earthly Powers" by Michael Burleigh
"History Derailed" by Ivan Berend
"Barbarism and Civilization" by Bernard Wasserstein
"On Violence" by Hannah Arendt
"The Concept of the Political" by Carl Schmitt
"Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder

These go in order from the French Revolution to World War II. I think the best one will be Bloodlands. Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier was really good about the 1812 campaign to Moscow. It's pretty brutal. The Tocqueville book in really interesting, but it's mostly theoretical and might not be of interest to you guys although I'll include a very interesting obeservation he made on America and religion. Keep in mind, this was written in 1856:

"I have sometimes asked Americans whom I chanced to meet in their own country or in Europe whether in their opinion religion contributes to the stability of the State and the mainenence of law and order. They always answered, wihtout a moment's hesitation, that a civilized community, especially one that enjoys the benefits of freedom, cannot exist without religion. In fact, an American sees in religion the surest guarantee of the stability of the State and the safety of individuals." p. 153

There's some interesting talk that explains European socialist leanings, too. Party on.

Ben