History Books

Best-selling author Thomas Keneally explains that the Cold War biographies couldn’t afford to say that Stalin was attractive, or that Lenin was magnetic, but they were, because otherwise people wouldn't have followed them. He picks some great introductions to Revolutionary Russia.

The Professor of Social History at the University of Hertfordshire takes us on a tour of the history of magic and ritual.

The journalist, author and editor of the journal Public Archaeology, explains why the history of archaeology is a surprisingly bloody affair - 80% of the Polish archaeological profession died one way or another during WW2

The editor-in-chief of Slate Group says what is charming about Bush is his wit and physicality, but he needs to cut people down and does it in a very effective and cruel way. He called Karl Rove "Turdblossom"

The Director of the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands talks to us about the history of the Highland Clearances in Scotland. Interesting reading on 19th Century Scottish history

Who was Osama bin Laden? How critical was he to the 9/11 attacks on the United States? What happened in the first 100 days at Guantanamo Bay? Who was in charge of the United States when George W Bush went into hiding? What should we make of all the conspiracy theories that have sprung up around the events of that day? Yosri Fouda, the veteran Egyptian investigative reporter, author and TV host talks us through his choice of the best books on 9/11.

Egyptologist Elizabeth Frood recommends books that take us away from the elite context of Egyptian history and focus on the 'normal' lives of Egyptians.

For anybody wanting to go into politics a mastery of the French Revolution is an enormous help and a knowledge of history essential, says Peregrine Worsthorne, the columnist and former editor of Britain’s Sunday Telegraph. He recommends the best books on the French Revolution, both for and against.

One of Ireland's best-known contemporary painters discusses five books on early Irish history and explains that the myriad of oddly named and often eccentric Irish saints are in fact mythical ancestors or local gods

David Chandler, one of the foremost western scholars on Cambodian history—and author of the first study of S-21, the Khmer Rouge interrogation centre—recommends the best books on Cambodia.