History Books
recommended by historians
Last updated: July 02, 2025
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Five Plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov -
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De Administrando Imperio
by Constantine Porphyrogenitus -
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The Alexiad
by Anna Komnene -
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Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North
by Ibn Fadlan -
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Landscapes of Power
by Caterina Franchi (Editor), Maximilian Lau (Editor) & Morgan Di Rodi (Editor)
Peter Frankopan on History
Peter Frankopan on History
What kind of books should we read to get a broader sense of history? Peter Frankopan, professor of global history at Oxford University, talks us through the books that inspired him.
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Oscar: A Life
by Matthew Sturgis -
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Empress: Queen Victoria and India
by Miles Taylor -
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Birds in the Ancient World: Winged Words
by Jeremy Mynott -
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Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice
by Mary Fulbrook -
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Trading in War: London's Maritime World in the Age of Cook and Nelson
by Margarette Lincoln -
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Building Anglo-Saxon England
by John Blair
The Best History Books: the 2019 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch
The Best History Books: the 2019 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Every year the Wolfson History Prize sets out to pick the very best history books written in the past year. Historian and Wolfson prize judge, Diarmaid MacCulloch, talks us through the wonderful books that made the 2019 shortlist: history books that are both great reads and serious scholarship.
The best books on Racism and How to Write History, recommended by Francisco Bethencourt
Racism is not innate but emerges under special conditions, says the King’s College professor and author of the sweeping history Racisms: From the Crusades to the Twentieth Century. He chooses five books that inspired him.
The best books on Divine Women, recommended by Bettany Hughes
Ancient history was a man’s world – but women were considered closer to the gods. The historian and TV presenter Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets of Athenian priestesses, Byzantine empresses and Stone Age fertility goddesses.
The best books on Thucydides, recommended by Johanna Hanink
The Greek historian and general Thucydides wanted his History of the Peloponnesian War “to be a possession for all time.” In that, he’s been remarkably successful, with his name still echoing in the corridors of power. But what lessons should we take away from his great work? Translator and classicist Johanna Hanink talks us through books to better understand Thucydides and the mythical Athens he lived in and wrote about.
The best books on Life in the Tudor Era, recommended by Ian Mortimer
History is not about understanding the past for the sake of it, it’s about understanding human nature, says the historian and novelist Ian Mortimer.
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Westphalia: the Last Christian Peace 1643-48
by Derek Croxton -
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Monro, His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment (called Mac-Keyes-regiment) levied in August 1626
by Robert Monro -
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Wallenstein: His Life Narrated
by Golo Mann -
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European Weapons and Warfare 1618–1648
by Eduard Wagner -
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Tagebuch Eines Soldners Aus Dem Dreissigjahrigen Krieg
Peter Hagendorf (ed. Jan Peters)
The best books on The Thirty Years War, recommended by Peter Wilson
The best books on The Thirty Years War, recommended by Peter Wilson
It was a war that devastated Europe and left more than one-fifth of the German population dead. The complex peace agreement that ended it, the Treaty of Westphalia, is still credited with establishing our modern state system. Peter Wilson, Chichele Professor of the History of War at Oxford University and author of the most recent general history of the war, Europe’s Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War, recommends books to read for a nuanced picture of Europe’s cataclysmic 17th-century conflict.
The best books on The Holocaust, recommended by Steven Katz
In the years immediately after World War II, the Holocaust was little studied. That all changed with the publication of Raul Hilberg’s book, The Destruction of the European Jews. Steven Katz, professor of Jewish Holocaust Studies at Boston University and former Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, introduces the best Holocaust books.
The best books on Modern Irish History, recommended by Richard Bourke
A “powerful and aggravating absence of consensus” came to define the Irish political experience, says the historian Richard Bourke. Here he picks the best books for gaining a range of perspectives on Irish history, singling out James Joyce as offering insight into the divergence of nationalist opinion.
The Best History Books to Take on Holiday, recommended by Suzannah Lipscomb
Which history books are ideal to take on holiday, authoritative and yet entertaining? We turned to historian Suzannah Lipscomb—whose most recent book, The Voices of Nîmes, uncovers the lives of ordinary women in Languedoc in early modern France—for her top five.