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@japcraw - can I ask - can you give a link to the list?
I used the list here, under the heading " The Ultimate List: 100 Books to Read before You Die”.
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Doing my D3 module for the diploma…lots of reading to do…WSET has a very dry and dull prose style.
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This is still a fantastic book, despite its age. Jefford is a first class writer.
Just a little gloat about my next read. I feel so pleased to have my grubby paws on this. Just a few pages in and already I feel soothed.
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Can I recommend to everyone not a book as such, but the London Review of Books?
It’s bleeding wonderful. I subscribe, and pretty much every copy contains at least one article that will surprise, or enthrall me, and often many more. I recommend also their bookshop, and their selection of books. They have some fearsomely good booksellers and they pick (more like curate) wonderfully. Buy from them and not from … you know who.
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Could not agree more. Great publication.
This is my other half’s favourite publication. Well, only publication he reads, really. I love it by-proxy 
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I am trying to read 3 books at once:
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Christopher Clark: The Sleeepwalkers how europe came to go to war in 1914
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Margaret MacMillan: The war that ended the Peace in 1914
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Thomas Otte The July crisis 1914
Trying to untangle the 5 weeks of European Diplomacy between June 28th and August 4th 1914 is not proving easy.
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I have now finished the terrific The Pursuit of Italy, which reached some thought-provoking conclusions about the Risorgimento movement and the aftermath of Italian nationalism/reunion. A bit like Graham Robb’s The Discovery of France, it had taught me so much stuff I didn’t know about Italy the State and its regions. Highly recommended!
I’m now delving into Spain, with a book that is already feeling painful to read:
This book explores the ‘pact of silence’ regarding the Civil War and its division, which seem to still exist under the surface. Some difficult stuff…
I know how to enjoy myself! 
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I will definitely seek out Ghosts of Spain having recently read this by Tobias Buck, an FT journalist based in Spain. It mainly focuses on the fall out from the financial crisis (as to be expected) but also explores the long running political clashes between Madrid and the Basque Country and Catalunya.
Your post has reminded me that I have that Graham Robb book kicking around somewhere unread! Must seek it out.
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I know I have said this several times - so excuse the boring repetition - but it really is one of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking/eye-opening books about France I’ve ever read.
His book about Paris is also fantastic, though the style was at times a little too over-wrought for me; still, the chapter about Hitler visiting Paris during the war, and the one about Emile Zola were fascinating! 
I’ve read Parisians and would agree with your take.
I’ve mainly been reading fiction recently to lighten the mood.
“Nightingale” by Marina Kemp was very good and I’ve just started “Killing Commendatore” by Haruki Murakami (I’ve read most of his books). Looking forward to trying “Klara and the sun” mentioned up the thread next,
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