History Books
recommended by historians
Last updated: September 12, 2024
History is the study of the past and so is very broad in scope. For a great introductory book to the subject, we recommend History: A Very Short Introduction by John Arnold. It opens with a murder and bills itself as a "work of enthusiasm" about history, laying out how history has been studied down the millennia and why it matters. If you're less interested in history as a discipline and just want to know what happened when, you could start out with A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich, aimed at teenagers.
For a more detailed look at specific topics or events, we’ve spoken to hundreds of historians over the past 15 years, asking them to recommend the best books in their field of study. You can find their recommendations by browsing below:
World history | Military History | American History | World War 2 | Popular History | Chinese history | British history | Ancient history | Medieval history | New History Books | History Books for Kids
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1
The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe
by James Belich -
2
Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945
by Halik Kochanski -
3
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers
by Emma Smith -
4
The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators between Qing China and the British Empire
by Henrietta Harrison -
5
African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History
by Hakim Adi -
6
Vagabonds
by Oskar Jensen
The Best History Books of 2023: The Wolfson History Prize, recommended by Sudhir Hazareesingh
The Best History Books of 2023: The Wolfson History Prize, recommended by Sudhir Hazareesingh
The Wolfson History Prize is the UK’s most prestigious history book prize. The judges, all professional historians, pick out books that combine excellence in research with readability. Oxford University historian Sudhir Hazareesingh, one of the Wolfson judges and author of Black Spartacus, talks us through the six terrific books that made the 2023 shortlist, from the Black Death and its critical impact on economic development to the magic of our relationship with books.
The best books on World War II, recommended by Antony Beevor
The popular military historian Antony Beevor recommends some of his own favourite books about the Second World War.
The best books on World War I, recommended by Jonathan Boff
It’s been more than 100 years since World War I ended, but there is still very little consensus about what caused it, or what its consequences were. Historian Jonathan Boff talks us through the latest books and best modern interpretations of World War I.
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The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
by David McCullough -
2
Wilderness At Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent
by Ted Morgan -
3
The Story of American Freedom
by Eric Foner -
4
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
by Drew Gilpin Faust -
5
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
by Hampton Sides
The best books on American History, recommended by Brent Glass
The best books on American History, recommended by Brent Glass
Which are the best books on American history? Brent Glass, Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the world’s largest museum devoted to telling the story of America, chooses five standout books in a crowded field.
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The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
by Kenneth Pomeranz -
2
Cotton: the Fabric that made the Modern World
by Giorgio Riello -
3
The City of Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World
by Anne Gerritsen -
4
Vermeer's Hat: The seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world
by Timothy Brook -
5
Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science
by James Poskett
The best books on Global History, recommended by Maxine Berg
The best books on Global History, recommended by Maxine Berg
From the Indian cottons that were traded around Asia and Africa in the Middle Ages, to the global dominance of the blue-and-white pottery of Jingdezhen, historian Maxine Berg introduces five books that transformed our understanding of the past millennium and are significant milestones in the development of the vibrant field of global history.
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The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748–1789
by Robert Darnton -
2
France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain
by Julian Jackson -
3
Monet: The Restless Vision
by Jackie Wullschläger -
4
Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
by Christopher Clark -
5
Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire
by Nandini Das
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2024 Duff Cooper Prize, recommended by Susan Brigden
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2024 Duff Cooper Prize, recommended by Susan Brigden
If you’re looking for nonfiction with a literary sensibility and a historical bent, the books highlighted by the annual Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize are a great place to start. British historian Susan Brigden, author of Thomas Wyatt: The Heart’s Forest and one of the prize’s judges, talks us through the 2024 shortlist — from war and revolution to the splendours of Mughal India and Monet’s garden at Giverny.
The best books on Ancient History in Modern Life, recommended by Mary Beard
Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, talks us through the books that have had the deepest impact on her thinking about the ancient world and explains why studying Classics is absolutely relevant to modern life.
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A Concise History of Modern India
by Barbara Metcalf & Thomas Metcalf -
2
India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy
by Ramachandra Guha -
3
A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B. R. Ambedkar
by Ashok Gopal -
4
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum
by Katherine Boo -
5
Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
by Suketu Mehta
The best books on Modern Indian History, recommended by Dinyar Patel
The best books on Modern Indian History, recommended by Dinyar Patel
Whether we're thinking about democracy versus authoritarianism, corruption versus good governance, or rich versus poor, there is a lot we can learn from India's recent history, says Dinyar Patel, a historian at SPJIMR in Mumbai. He talks us through some good books on the modern history of a country that has long been the world's largest democracy and is now its most populous country.
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1
Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline
by Paul Cooper -
2
The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War
by Nick Lloyd -
3
1177 BC: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed
by Eric Cline & Glynnis Fawkes (illustrator) -
4
Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City
by Dennis Romano -
5
An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence
by Zeinab Badawi
New History Books, recommended by Sophie Roell
New History Books, recommended by Sophie Roell
A magisterial account of the Eastern Front in World War I and a lively graphic history of the Late Bronze Age are among the new books that’ll be out in coming weeks. Our running list of new history books, picked out by Five Books editor Sophie Roell.
The best books on Ancient Rome, recommended by Tom Holland
How accurate is what we think we know about the Romans? Tom Holland, the author of Rubicon, tells us about the exercise of power, the staging of ceremony and the influence of religion in ancient Rome.