History Books
recommended by historians
Last updated: September 14, 2025
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Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends
by Lonnie Johnson -
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The Siege of Vienna: The Last Great Trial Between Cross & Crescent
by John Stoye -
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Maria Theresa
by Edward Crankshaw -
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Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World
by Richard Cockett -
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The Man Without Qualities
by Robert Musil -
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The Capuchin Crypt (aka The Emperor's Tomb)
by Joseph Roth
The best books on Austria, recommended by Nicholas Parsons
The best books on Austria, recommended by Nicholas Parsons
Today, the Republic of Austria is a small country in Central Europe, but for centuries, it was the fulcrum of events going on in Europe, as the Habsburgs led the Holy Roman Empire—and later the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire—until it all fell apart after World War I. Nicholas Parsons, author of the excellent The Shortest History of Austria, introduces us to books and novels that bring to life the history of a political, intellectual, and cultural powerhouse.
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, 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.
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The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
by Kenneth Pomeranz -
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Cotton: the Fabric that made the Modern World
by Giorgio Riello -
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The City of Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World
by Anne Gerritsen -
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Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
by Timothy Brook -
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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 -
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France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain
by Julian Jackson -
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Monet: The Restless Vision
by Jackie Wullschläger -
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Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
by Christopher Clark -
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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 -
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India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy
by Ramachandra Guha -
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A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B. R. Ambedkar
by Ashok Gopal -
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum
by Katherine Boo -
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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.
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.
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Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico
by Camilla Townsend -
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Los Conspiradores
by Jorge Ibarüengoitia -
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The Life and Times of Pancho Villa
by Friedrich Katz -
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Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story
by Ruth Behar -
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The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade
by Benjamin Smith
The best books on Mexican history, recommended by Timo Schaefer
The best books on Mexican history, recommended by Timo Schaefer
In Mexican history, power developed in marginal locations away from the center has often played a major role in critical historical events, says award-winning historian Timo Schaefer. He recommends some of the best books on Mexican history, from a biography of the extraordinary Malintzin (c1500-1529) to a myth-busting history of the drug trade.
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The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe
by James Belich -
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Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945
by Halik Kochanski -
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Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers
by Emma Smith -
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The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators between Qing China and the British Empire
by Henrietta Harrison -
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African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History
by Hakim Adi -
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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.