History Books

To write The Shortest History of Ancient Rome, bestselling author Ross King went back to the insightful and often entertaining accounts Roman and Greek historians gave of the city's past. He talks us through some of his favourites, from Polybius—who wrote during the Roman Republic's heyday—to Cassius Dio, who penned his magnum opus as the Roman Empire was in its decline.

Mesopotamia, the fertile region between the Tigris and the Euphrates, is a hugely significant part of human history, yet has often been left out of the classical civilisations curriculum. Here, Moudhy Al-Rashid, author of Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History, recommends five recent books about Mesopotamia that shed light not only milestones of history, but on individual lives thousands of years ago.

With hindsight, it seems inevitable that the Allies would eventually defeat the Axis powers in World War II, but at the time it seemed anything but. Tim Bouverie, author of the prize-winning Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler, talks us through some of the best nonfiction books about the war and the alliances that led to Allied victory.

Machu Picchu has become the symbol of Peru, but this symbol has never been straightforward. Mark Rice recommends five books that give the full picture of the iconic site: from the record by its 'discoverer,' to the views of Pablo Neruda and Che Guevara, right through to the latest archaeological and historical works.

Stonehenge does not stand alone: it is surrounded by earlier monuments, it was built alongside a settlement and other sites, and it presides over graves and shrines from people who lived centuries and even millennia later. In modern history, it has inspired a Druidry movement, hosted a military airbase, drawn festival crowds and seen police brutality. Susan Greaney pulls out five books that tell the many stories of Stonehenge, the astonishing monument that continues to surprise us with each new excavation.

The Allied army that ultimately won against the Japanese in Burma was one of the largest in the world, with a million men under command. Military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson, whose grandfather fought in the Burma campaign, talks us through the best books to understand more about it, from big-picture strategic overviews to heart-wrenching memoirs and firsthand accounts of soldiers who were there.

Heroic explorer or harbinger of doom? The impact of Christopher Columbus has become the focus of intense debate—in both academia and the arena of popular opinion—in recent years. We asked noted scholar of colonial Latin American history Matthew Restall to recommend five of the best books that explore Columbus's life and legacy.

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 past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," wrote L.P. Hartley. The question is: in what ways? Historian Ian Mortimer talks us through five influential books that shed light on daily life in medieval England—from monastic communities and great households to the gruelling lives of the peasantry.

Remote and romanticised, Easter Island – or Rapa Nui – has often been misportrayed as a mysterious site of ecocidal ruin. Terry Hunt chooses five books that paint a truer picture of the island’s history, from the accounts of early voyages to the pressures of joining the modern world. The tale that emerges is one of ingenuity, resilience, and mighty 'statues that walked' – as well as a lot of rats.