• The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize - All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil by Stephen Alford
  • The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize - Augustus The Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco by Tim Blanning
  • The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize - The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
  • The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize - Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King by Dan Jones
  • The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize - The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon by Adam Shatz

The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster

A good historical biography should help us redefine and rethink what makes a person historically significant, says Roy Foster, chair of the judging panel of the Elizabeth Longford Prize. He talks us through the brilliant books that made the 2025 shortlist, including the lives of various monarchs who left their mark on European history, a portrait of an early modern spymaster, and a biography of Frantz Fanon, the anti-colonial writer.  

  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century by Joya Chatterji
  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire by Nandini Das
  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by Nicholas Radburn
  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Our NHS: A History of Britain's Best Loved Institution by Andrew Seaton
  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg
  • The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize - Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022 by Frank Trentmann

The Best History Books of 2024: The Wolfson History Prize, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch

To win the Wolfson History Prize, a book must be both original and accessible to the general reader. British historian Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the prize’s judges, talks us through the six books that made the 2024 shortlist, from the voyage of an English diplomat to Mughal India to the intimacy of a South African marriage, from the barbarity of the slave trade in the 18th century to the history of an institution that provides free health care to all.

  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper
  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - Lenin: A Biography by Robert Service
  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - Mao: The Man Who Made China by Philip Short
  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - The Hitler of History by John Lukacs
  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948 by Ramachandra Guha
  • The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders - A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion by Tom Segev

The Best Biographies of 20th Century Leaders, recommended by Michael Mandelbaum

The first half of the 20th century was an era when individuals could have a huge impact on the course of history—whether for good or bad, argues political scientist Michael Mandelbaum. He recommends the best biographies to read about the eight world leaders who feature in his latest book, The Titans of the Twentieth Century, from Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) to Mao Zedong (1893-1976).

  • The best books on Modern Greek History - Freedom and Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
  • The best books on Modern Greek History - Che Committed Suicide by Petros Markaris
  • The best books on Modern Greek History - That Greece Might Still Be Free by William St Clair
  • The best books on Modern Greek History - A Concise History of Greece by Richard Clogg
  • The best books on Modern Greek History - Byron's War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution by Roderick Beaton

The best books on Modern Greek History, recommended by Yanni Kotsonis

If you’re heading to Greece this summer, it might be worth learning more about the modern history of the country you’re visiting. Yanni Kotsonis, a professor of history at NYU and author of The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism, recommends a variety of books to get you started, from a short history of Greece to a novel by one of the country’s greatest writers.

  • The best books on The Lessons of History - On History by Howard Zinn
  • The best books on The Lessons of History - Why History Matters by John Tosh
  • The best books on The Lessons of History - The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal
  • The best books on The Lessons of History - Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography by Robert Irwin
  • The best books on The Lessons of History - Anarchy in Action by Colin Ward

The best books on The Lessons of History, recommended by Roman Krznaric

History is too complex to be an easy guide for navigating the present, but that doesn’t mean the experience of those who came before can’t shed valuable insights into our current dilemmas. In his latest book, History for Tomorrow, social philosopher Roman Krznaric looks at ten crises currently facing the world and how lessons from the past might be able to help.