History Books

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.

The author of The Scandal of the Season – and Princeton University professor – gives an 18th century literature specialist's view of the Enlightenment.

The Times journalist calls Simon Wiesenthal a liar. He’s just not this secular saint that everyone says he is - his memoirs all contradict each other and are at odds with the rest of the evidence

Christianity has been profoundly influenced by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), but the fifth-century North African bishop has impacted almost every area of western thought: philosophy, theology, political theory, linguistics, and rhetoric. His Confessions is one of the most recommended titles on Five Books, but is it really the first autobiography? Professor Catherine Conybeare introduces us to the life, thought, and personality of this controversial yet brilliant figure. She picks the best books to learn more about St. Augustine and explores how he has been unfairly maligned.