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History

Most Recommended Books

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

“Grossman was the very first person to make the moral equivalence between Nazism and Stalinism.”

Antony Beevor, Military Historian and Veteran

Read more

On War by Carl von Clausewitz

“Most military historians and most students of war will say there’s never been a book as important as Clausewitz’s On War.”

Hew Strachan, Military Historian and Veteran

Read more

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

“The takeaway from reading this horror-filled book is that depredations on the scale of those that Browning describes can be perpetrated anywhere and by anyone.”

Lawrence Kaplan, Journalist

Read more

The Iliad by Homer

“Part of the Iliad’s brilliance is that it only takes four or five days of the action but you feel like it captures the 10 years’ war as a whole.”

Christopher Pelling, Classicist

Read more

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Browse book recommendations:

History

  • Ancient History
  • Contemporary History
  • Early Modern History
  • Historical Events & Topics
  • Historical Figures
  • History of Science & Ideas
  • History of the Everyday
  • Medieval History
  • Military History
  • Modern History
  • Prehistory
  • Regional and National History
  • Religious History
  • The Future

From Herodotus to the most recently published masterpieces, our Five Books history section contains recommendations of all the great works. You can use our reading lists to find the best history books ever written on a variety of subjects.

Our history interviews are currently organized by important historical  events (such as the Renaissance or the Cultural Revolution or the French Revolution) or historians talking about the best way of writing history (Peter Frankopan of Oxford University, Francisco Bethencourt of Kings College London). We have some regional history (Irish history, American history) and are also building up our reading lists on important historical figures (Hitler, Elizabeth I, Charles de Gaulle).

    The Best History Books of 2018, recommended by Paul Lay

  • Read

    1

    Thomas Cromwell: A Life
    by Diarmaid MacCulloch

  • Read

    2

    Milk of Paradise: A History of Opium
    by Lucy Inglis

  • Read

    3

    Iran: A Modern History
    by Abbas Amanat

  • Read

    4

    Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain
    by Nadine Akkerman

  • Read

    5

    Power, Pleasure, and Profit: Insatiable Appetites from Machiavelli to Madison
    by David Wootton

The Best History Books of 2018, recommended by Paul Lay

From female spies during the English Civil Wars to the enduring distinctiveness of Iran, there is much left to be understood about history globally. Editor of History Today Paul Lay recommends the best history books that hit the shelves this past year.

    The best books on Global History, recommended by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

  • Read

    1

    The Bible
    The New Oxford Annotated Bible

  • Read

    2

    The Muqaddimah
    by Ibn Khaldun

  • Read

    3

    The Communist Manifesto
    by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

  • Read

    4

    A Study of History
    by Arnold Toynbee

  • Read

    5

    Science and Civilisation in China
    by Joseph Needham

The best books on Global History, recommended by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Embracing global history allows us to see humans with a much clearer perspective. Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto introduces us to some of the trailblazing books in the field, starting in the 2nd century BCE.

    The best books on World War I, recommended by Jonathan Boff

  • Read

    1

    The First World War
    by Michael Howard

  • Read

    2

    The First World War, Volume 1: To Arms
    by Hew Strachan

  • Read

    3

    The Last Great War
    by Adrian Gregory

  • Read

    4

    Learning to Fight
    by Aimee Fox

  • Read

    5

    Rites of Spring: the Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
    by Modris Eksteins

The best books on World War I, recommended by Jonathan Boff

It’s been 100 years since World War I ended, but there is still very little consensus about what caused it, or what its consequences were. Historian Jonathan Boff talks us through the latest research and best modern interpretations of World War I.

    The Best Military History Books, recommended by Hew Strachan

  • Read

    1

    On War
    by Carl von Clausewitz

  • Read

    2

    Yorck and the Era of Prussian Reform 1807
    by Peter Paret

  • Read

    3

    L'or et le sang: Les buts de guerre économiques de la Première Guerre mondiale
    by Georges-Henri Soutou

  • Read

    4

    Vessel of Sadness
    by William Woodruff

  • Read

    5

    The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One
    by David Kilcullen

The Best Military History Books, recommended by Hew Strachan

It’s no longer enough for military history to be just about battles told from the the winning side. One of the great military historians of our time, Hew Strachan, talks us through what makes a great military history.

    The Best History Books: the 2018 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand

  • Read

    1

    Out of China: How the Chinese Ended the Era of Western Domination
    by Robert Bickers

  • Read

    2

    The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
    by Lindsey Fitzharris

  • Read

    3

    A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War
    by Tim Grady

  • Read

    4

    Black Tudors: The Untold Story
    by Miranda Kaufmann

  • Read

    5

    Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation
    by Peter Marshall

  • Read

    6

    Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea
    by Jan Rüger

The Best History Books: the 2018 Wolfson Prize shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand

Which were the best history books published this past year? Each year, the UK’s Wolfson Prize tries to sort through the hundreds of history books that are published to find outstanding books that are both important and readable. Wolfson Prize judge Carole Hillenbrand introduces the six books that made this year’s shortlist.

    The best books on Ancient Greece, recommended by Christopher Pelling

  • Read

    1

    The Iliad
    by Homer

  • Read

    2

    The Histories
    by Herodotus

  • Read

    3

    Medea
    by Euripides

  • Read

    4

    Democracy: A Life
    by Paul Cartledge

  • Read

    5

    Greek Fire
    by Oliver Taplin

The best books on Ancient Greece, recommended by Christopher Pelling

Ancient Greece’s legacy can be seen all around us, including in our political system — but many of us don’t know that much about it. Fortunately, we have someone who has devoted his life to studying this remote time and place to give us a reading list. Chris Pelling, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, recommends his top five books on Ancient Greece.

    The best books on World War II, recommended by Antony Beevor

  • Read

    1

    Life and Fate
    by Vasily Grossman

  • Read

    2

    Hitler
    by Ian Kershaw

  • Read

    3

    Leningrad
    by Anna Reid

  • Read

    4

    A Woman in Berlin
    by Anonymous

  • Read

    5

    Bloodlands
    by Timothy Snyder

The best books on World War II, recommended by Antony Beevor

The popular military historian, Antony Beevor, recommends some of his own favourite books on World War II.

    The best books on Boston, recommended by Jane Kamensky

  • Read

    1

    The Journal of John Winthrop
    by John Winthrop

  • Read

    2

    Black Bostonians: Family Life and Community Struggle in the Antebellum North
    by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton

  • Read

    3

    Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families
    by J. Anthony Lukas

  • Read

    4

    Interpreter of Maladies
    by Jhumpa Lahiri

  • Read

    5

    Mapping Boston
    by Alex Krieger and David Cobb (editors)

The best books on Boston, recommended by Jane Kamensky

The idea of Boston as “a place of revolutionary fervour because liberty is somehow baked into its bones” is loaded with a “very heavy dose of self-mythologizing,” says American historian Jane Kamensky. Here, the Harvard professor lifts the veil on this quintessential New England city and recommends five books for understanding its history

    The Best Books on the History of Christianity, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch

  • Read

    1

    An Ecclesiastical History of the English People
    by the Venerable Bede

  • Read

    2

    The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    by Edward Gibbon

  • Read

    3

    The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland
    by Margo Todd

  • Read

    4

    The Church in Africa, 1450-1950
    by Adrian Hastings

  • Read

    5

    The Church of the East
    by Christoph Baumer

The Best Books on the History of Christianity, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch

How can one get to grips with a subject as huge as the history of Christianity, a 2000 year-old religion with adherents in every corner of the globe? The popular and distinguished Oxford historian, Diarmaid MacCulloch, recommends books that will help you make a start.

    The best books on The Enlightenment, recommended by Jonathan Israel

  • Read

    1

    The Crisis of the European Mind
    by Paul Hazard

  • Read

    2

    The Enlightenment in America
    by Henry May

  • Read

    3

    The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture
    by Louis Dupré

  • Read

    4

    The Religious Enlightenment
    by David Sorkin

  • Read

    5

    Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790
    by Jonathan Israel

The best books on The Enlightenment, recommended by Jonathan Israel

Which are the best books on the Enlightenment? Jonathan Israel, one of the leading historians of early modern Europe, recommends his top five.

    The best books on Charles de Gaulle, recommended by Julian Jackson

  • Read

    1

    The Complete War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle
    by Charles De Gaulle

  • Read

    2

    Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb
    by François-René de Chateaubriand

  • Read

    3

    Notre Jeunesse
    by Charles Péguy

  • Read

    4

    Memoirs: Fifty Years of Political Reflection
    by Raymond Aron

  • Read

    5

    The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944
    by Henry Rousso

The best books on Charles de Gaulle, recommended by Julian Jackson

Charles de Gaulle had ‘a certain idea of France’ which even he didn’t manage to articulate clearly. De Gaulle biographer and one of Britain’s leading historians of modern France, Julian Jackson, talks us through some key books to get a sense of France’s wartime leader and president, Charles de Gaulle.

    The best books on Belgium, recommended by Martin Conway

  • Read

    1

    The Sorrow of Belgium
    by Hugo Claus

  • Read

    2

    Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980
    by Guy Vanthemsche

  • Read

    3

    King Ottokar’s Sceptre
    by Hergé

  • Read

    4

    The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 1945-1965
    by Pieter Lagrou

  • Read

    5

    Souvenirs Pieux (Dear Departed)
    by Marguerite Yourcenar

The best books on Belgium, recommended by Martin Conway

With a keen awareness of the vicissitudes of history and an ironic sense of national identity, Belgium is a country others could learn a lot from. Historian Martin Conway recommends some books to better understand Belgium/België/Belgique.

    The best books on American Imperialism, recommended by A G Hopkins

  • Read

    1

    Expansionists of 1898: The Acquisition of Hawaiʻi and the Spanish Islands
    by Julius William Pratt

  • Read

    2

    Denial of Empire: The United States and Its Dependencies
    by Whitney T Perkins

  • Read

    3

    The Tragedy of American Diplomacy
    by William Appleman Williams

  • Read

    4

    The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion 1860-1898
    by Walter LaFeber

  • Read

    5

    Cuba in the American Imagination: Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos
    by Louis A Pérez

The best books on American Imperialism, recommended by A G Hopkins

When George W Bush declared that America “has never been an empire,” he elided a half century of colonial rule over its overseas dependencies. But American expansionism has manifested in other forms too, says A G Hopkins, imperial historian and author of a panoramic new work of American history.

    The best books on US Intervention, recommended by Lawrence Kaplan

  • Read

    1

    Promised Land, Crusader State
    by Walter McDougall

  • Read

    2

    Ordinary Men
    by Christopher Browning

  • Read

    3

    Strategies of Containment
    by John Gaddis

  • Read

    4

    Dispatches
    by Michael Herr

  • Read

    5

    American Pastoral
    by Philip Roth

The best books on US Intervention, recommended by Lawrence Kaplan

The foreign affairs commentator explains why US presidents have less room to manoeuvre on foreign policy than they think, and why President Obama had to set aside his “minimalist” inclinations.

    The best books on Hidden History, recommended by Mike Dash

  • Read

    1

    The Tailor-King
    by Anthony Arthur

  • Read

    2

    Marpingen
    by David Blackbourn

  • Read

    3

    The Big Con
    by David W Maurer

  • Read

    4

    Up in the Old Hotel
    by Joseph Mitchell

  • Read

    5

    The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln
    by Bernard Wasserstein

The best books on Hidden History, recommended by Mike Dash

The best stories from history lie beyond the margins of textbooks, says Mike Dash. He tells us about five extraordinary tales from the past, from visions of the Virgin Mary to the golden age of American con artistry.

    The best books on The Reformation, recommended by Peter Marshall

  • Read

    1

    Christianity In The West 1400-1700
    by John Bossy

  • Read

    2

    Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe
    by Brad Gregory

  • Read

    3

    Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet
    by Lyndal Roper

  • Read

    4

    The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village
    by Eamon Duffy

  • Read

    5

    For The Sake Of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation
    by R W Scribner

The best books on The Reformation, recommended by Peter Marshall

Half a millennium ago this month, Martin Luther, an unknown friar in an obscure town in eastern Germany may or may not have posted a list of complaints to the door of his local church. His actions would lead to what was later called ‘the Reformation’ — a grisly period in European history that nonetheless paved the way for a more tolerant and pluralistic society. Peter Marshall, one of the period’s leading scholars, talks us through the best books on the Reformation.

    Peter Frankopan on History

  • Read

    1

    Five Plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard
    by Anton Chekhov

  • Read

    2

    De Administrando Imperio
    by Constantine Porphyrogenitus

  • Read

    3

    The Alexiad
    by Anna Komnene

  • Read

    4

    Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North
    by Ibn Fadlan

  • Read

    5

    Landscapes of Power
    by Caterina Franchi (Editor), Maximilian Lau (Editor) & Morgan Di Rodi (Editor)

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.

    The best books on The Glorious Revolution, recommended by Steven Pincus

  • Read

    1

    The History of England from the Accession of James II
    by Thomas Babington Macaulay

  • Read

    2

    The English Revolution 1688-1689
    by GM Trevelyan

  • Read

    3

    The Revolution of 1688 in England
    by JR Jones

  • Read

    4

    The Anglo-Dutch Moment
    by Jonathan I Israel

  • Read

    5

    Merchants and Revolution
    by Robert Brenner

The best books on The Glorious Revolution, recommended by Steven Pincus

When William of Orange came from Holland to take the English throne in 1688, was it a foreign invasion, or a revolution from within? Yale historian, Steven Pincus, talks us through the conflicting views on the Glorious Revolution and argues for a new perspective.

    The best books on The Renaissance, recommended by Jerry Brotton

  • Read

    1

    Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy
    by Michael Baxandall

  • Read

    2

    Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare

  • Read

    3

    Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance
    by Lisa Jardine

  • Read

    4

    The Printing Press as an Agent of Change
    by Elizabeth L Eisenstein

  • Read

    5

    The Reformation
    by Diarmaid MacCulloch

The best books on The Renaissance, recommended by Jerry Brotton

A century-and-a-half ago the Swiss art historian, Jacob Burckhardt, popularized the idea of a ‘Renaissance’ in 14th century Italy. For most people, the term still conjures up works of art by the likes of Michelangelo or Leonardo. But there is much, much more to it than that. Professor of Renaissance studies, Jerry Brotton, picks the best books to read for a more complete understanding of the Renaissance.

    The Best Renaissance Books, recommended by Kenneth Bartlett

  • Read

    1

    The Prince
    by Niccolo Machiavelli

  • Read

    2

    Ricordi
    by Francesco Guicciardini

  • Read

    3

    The Book of the Courtier
    by Baldesar Castiglione

  • Read

    4

    The Lives of the Artists
    by Giorgio Vasari

  • Read

    5

    The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
    by Benvenuto Cellini

The Best Renaissance Books, recommended by Kenneth Bartlett

If you’re going to look at the past, you have to understand the people who were living there and see the world through their eyes, says historian and Renaissance specialist Kenneth Bartlett. He explains that while Machiavelli is much misunderstood and maligned, Donald Trump is a Machiavellian in the truest sense of the word. He picks the best books of the Italian Renaissance.

    The best books on Microhistory, recommended by Jonathan Healey

  • Read

    1

    The Return of Martin Guerre
    by Natalie Zemon Davis

  • Read

    2

    The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History
    by Robert Darnton

  • Read

    3

    Poverty and Piety in an English Village: Terling, 1525-1700
    by David Levine & Keith Wrightson

  • Read

    4

    The History of Myddle
    by Richard Gough

  • Read

    5

    Vermeer's Hat: The seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world
    by Timothy Brook

The best books on Microhistory, recommended by Jonathan Healey

The historian defines and discusses micro-history, choosing five books that use historical minutiae to answer big questions about the past.

    The best books on The French Revolution, recommended by Lynn Hunt

  • Read

    1

    The Ancien Régime and the Revolution
    by Alexis de Tocqueville

  • Read

    2

    Interpreting the French Revolution
    by François Furet

  • Read

    3

    Citizens
    by Simon Schama

  • Read

    4

    Twelve Who Ruled
    by RR Palmer

  • Read

    5

    The New Regime
    by Isser Woloch

The best books on The French Revolution, recommended by Lynn Hunt

It’s a revolution that still resonates and yet it resists easy interpretation. Lynn Hunt, a leading historian of the French Revolution, tells us what the events of 1789 and later years really meant, and what relevance they have for us today.

    The best books on Jewish History, recommended by Gershon Hundert

  • Read

    1

    Border lines
    by Daniel Boyarin

  • Read

    2

    Between Muslim and Jew
    by Steven Wasserstrom

  • Read

    3

    The Compunctious Poet
    by Ross Brann

  • Read

    4

    Two Nations in Your Womb
    by Israel Jacob Yuval

  • Read

    5

    Founder of Hasidism
    by Murray Jay Rosman

The best books on Jewish History, recommended by Gershon Hundert

Gershon Hundert, Leanor Segal Professor of Jewish Studies at McGill University, talks about recent revisions to the conventional understanding of Jewish history and selects the most influential current writing on the subject.

    The best books on Modern German History, recommended by Hester Vaizey

  • Read

    1

    Ordinary Men
    by Christopher Browning

  • Read

    2

    Jews, Germans, and Allies: Close Encounters in Occupied Germany
    by Atina Grossmann

  • Read

    3

    A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz
    by Goran Rosenberg

  • Read

    4

    Dissonant Lives: Generations and Violence Through the German Dictatorships
    by Mary Fulbrook

  • Read

    5

    Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
    by Anna Funder

The best books on Modern German History, recommended by Hester Vaizey

In the 20th century, Germany suffered defeat in two world wars and withstood two kinds of dictatorship. Yet today it is Europe’s strongest economy. Hester Vaizey, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and author of Born in the GDR, selects five brilliant books on a tumultuous century.

    The best books on Late Antiquity, recommended by Peter Brown

  • Read

    1

    The Social And Economic History Of Roman Empire
    by Michael Rostovtzeff

  • Read

    2

    A History of Education in Antiquity
    by Henri-Irénée Marrou

  • Read

    3

    Philosophy as a Way of Life
    by Pierre Hadot

  • Read

    4

    Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam
    by GW Bowersock

  • Read

    5

    Pauvreté économique et pauvreté sociale à Byzance
    by Evelyne Patlagean

The best books on Late Antiquity, recommended by Peter Brown

The Best Books to Read on Late Antiquity — a Five Books Reading List

    The best books on The Opium War, recommended by Julia Lovell

  • Read

    1

    Narcotic Culture
    by Frank Dikotter, Lars Laamann and Zhou Xun

  • Read

    2

    Opium, Empire and the Global Political Economy
    by Carl Trocki

  • Read

    3

    The Opium War
    by Peter Ward Fay

  • Read

    4

    The Inner Opium War
    by James Polachek

  • Read

    5

    Britain’s Gulag
    by Caroline Elkins

The best books on The Opium War, recommended by Julia Lovell

The 19th century opium war marked the clash of the world’s great empires of the age – Britain and China. Historian Julia Lovell says its legacy of Chinese humiliation is still felt keenly in Beijing.

    The best books on Adam and Eve, recommended by Stephen Greenblatt

  • Read

    1

    The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary
    by Robert Alter

  • Read

    2

    On Genesis
    by Augustine

  • Read

    3

    Paradise Lost
    by John Milton

  • Read

    4

    The Bible According to Mark Twain
    by Mark Twain

  • Read

    5

    The Symbolism of Evil
    by Paul Ricoeur

The best books on Adam and Eve, recommended by Stephen Greenblatt

Who were Adam and Eve, really? Over many centuries, the origin story has undergone countless transformations. The Pulitzer Prize-winner and Harvard professor Stephen Greenblatt chooses five books that explore the history of Adam and Eve, and tells us why the world isn’t ready to leave the narrative of Eden behind

    The best books on The History of Economic Thought, recommended by Niall Kishtainy

  • Read

    1

    The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think
    by Mary Morgan

  • Read

    2

    Red Plenty
    by Francis Spufford

  • Read

    3

    Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown
    by Philip Mirowski

  • Read

    4

    Economics and Utopia: Why the Learning Economy is Not the End of History
    by Geoffrey Hodgson

  • Read

    5

    Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins of Rational Choice Liberalism
    by S M Amadae

The best books on The History of Economic Thought, recommended by Niall Kishtainy

Many people feel dissatisfied with aspects of neoliberalism, but fewer know what it is or where it came from. Economic historian Niall Kishtainy recommends some of his favourite books on the history of economic thought, books that use intellectual history to examine issues confronting us in the real world.

    The best books on The Saints, recommended by Simon Yarrow

  • Read

    1

    Confessions of St Augustine
    by St Augustine

  • Read

    2

    The Cult of the Saints Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity
    by Peter Brown

  • Read

    3

    Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary
    by Miri Rubin

  • Read

    4

    Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits
    by Allan Greer

  • Read

    5

    Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them
    by Robert Orsi

The best books on The Saints, recommended by Simon Yarrow

Heroes are universal to human culture and, in Christian culture, they manifested themselves as saints. Historian Simon Yarrow recommends the best books to understand the saints, from their widespread appearance in late antiquity to their continuing influence in modern America.

    The best books on The Dutch Masters, recommended by Adam Eaker

  • Read

    1

    Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy
    by Mark Doty

  • Read

    2

    The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
    by Simon Schama

  • Read

    3

    Vermeer
    by Lawrence Gowing

  • Read

    4

    Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market
    by Svetlana Alpers

  • Read

    5

    Art of the Everyday: Dutch Painting and the Realist Novel
    by Ruth Bernard Yeazell

The best books on The Dutch Masters, recommended by Adam Eaker

The past may be a foreign country, but the world portrayed in the art of the Dutch Masters is not so very far from our own, says Adam Eaker of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For a society that struggles with materialism and consumption, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the 17th century Golden Age.

    Will McMorran recommends the best books on the Marquis de Sade

  • Read

    1

    The 120 Days of Sodom
    by Marquis de Sade

  • Read

    2

    Eugenie De Franval and Other Stories
    by Marquis de Sade

  • Read

    3

    Sade/Fourier/Loyola
    by Roland Barthes

  • Read

    4

    The Sadeian Woman
    by Angela Carter

  • Read

    5

    Quills and Other Plays
    by Doug Wright

Will McMorran recommends the best books on the Marquis de Sade

There are few 18th century French aristocrats with as much name recognition as the Marquis de Sade. His life was an eventful one and his books remain shocking. Will McMorran, Sade’s translator, reflects on the man, his life and his literary works. He recommends the best books by or about the Marquis de Sade.

    The best books on Military Strategy, recommended by Antulio Echevarria II

  • Read

    1

    The Art of War
    by Sun Tzu & Sun Zi

  • Read

    2

    On War
    by Carl von Clausewitz

  • Read

    3

    Strategy: A History
    by Lawrence Freedman

  • Read

    4

    Modern Strategy
    by Colin Gray

  • Read

    5

    The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective
    by Hew Strachan

The best books on Military Strategy, recommended by Antulio Echevarria II

Texts about military strategy take us back into the mists of time but what it is, and what the nature of war is, remains hotly debated. Antulio Echevarria II of the US Army War College talks us through key books, both old and new, on military strategy.

    The best books on El Alamein, recommended by Simon Ball

  • Read

    1

    Pendulum Of War: Three Battles at El Alamein
    by Niall Barr

  • Read

    2

    The Desert War: The Classic Trilogy on the North African Campaign 1940-43
    by Alan Moorehead

  • Read

    3

    Rommel
    by Desmond Young

  • Read

    4

    Montgomery and the Eighth Army
    by Bernard Montgomery and Stephen Brooks (ed)

  • Read

    5

    The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain
    by Stephen Bungay

The best books on El Alamein, recommended by Simon Ball

Churchill hailed the Allied victory at the Battle of El Alamein as “the end of the beginning” for Hitler in World War II. But in that very same speech, he downplayed its significance. Historian Simon Ball separates clichés from facts and chooses the best of the vast number of books written about El Alamein, the Desert War and World War II in general.

    Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough recommends the best books on the Vikings

  • Read

    1

    The Vinland Sagas

  • Read

    2

    A Description of the Northern Peoples
    by Olaus Magnus

  • Read

    3

    Vikings and Gods in European Art
    by David Wilson

  • Read

    4

    Ivory Vikings
    by Nancy Brown

  • Read

    5

    Ohthere's Voyages

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough recommends the best books on the Vikings

The Vikings discovered America and traded slaves in Baghdad. They sometimes buried their dead in ships, but probably did not burn them. And they did not wear horned helmets. Historian Eleanor Barraclough separates myth from reality and recommends books on the medieval Norse pillagers who have fascinated everyone from Hollywood to Hitler.

    The best books on Jacobitism, recommended by Murray Pittock

  • Read

    1

    English Society 1660-1832
    by Jonathan Clark

  • Read

    2

    The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1715-1754
    by Romney Sedgwick ed.

  • Read

    3

    Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788
    by Paul Monod

  • Read

    4

    1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion
    by Daniel Szechi

  • Read

    5

    France and the Jacobite Rising of 1745
    by Frank McLynn

The best books on Jacobitism, recommended by Murray Pittock

The failure of the Stuarts to win back the English or Scottish throne changed the course of history, enabling the buildup of a highly centralized British state and, possibly, America’s war for independence. Murray Pittock chooses the best books on Jacobitism, the 18th century phenomenon that nearly overthrew the British government.

    The best books on American History, recommended by Brent Glass

  • Read

    1

    The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
    by David McCullough

  • Read

    2

    Wilderness At Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent
    by Ted Morgan

  • Read

    3

    The Story of American Freedom
    by Eric Foner

  • Read

    4

    This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
    by Drew Gilpin Faust

  • Read

    5

    In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
    by Hampton Sides

The best books on American History, recommended by Brent Glass

Which are the best books on American history? Brent Glass, Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the world’s largest museum devoted to telling the story of America, chooses five standout books in a crowded field.

    The best books on Eugenics, recommended by Philippa Levine

  • Read

    1

    In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity
    by Daniel Kevles

  • Read

    2

    The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism
    by Stefan Kuhl

  • Read

    3

    Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America
    by Alexandra Minna Stern

  • Read

    4

    The Hour of Eugenics: Race, Gender, and Nation in Latin America
    by Nancy Leys Stepan

  • Read

    5

    Heredity and Hope: The Case for Genetic Screening
    by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

The best books on Eugenics, recommended by Philippa Levine

The term ‘eugenics’ elicits queasiness amongst those who associate it with the Nazis. But Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Margaret Sanger were among its many proponents in the interwar period. Why? Philippa Levine, professor of history at the University of Texas, explains.

    The best books on Race and Slavery, recommended by David Olusoga

  • Read

    1

    Bury the Chains
    by Adam Hochschild

  • Read

    2

    Islam’s Black Slaves
    by Ronald Segal

  • Read

    3

    Freedom
    by Leith Mullings, Manning Marable & Sophie Spencer-Wood

  • Read

    4

    The Interesting Narrative
    by Olaudah Equiano

  • Read

    5

    Kolyma Tales
    by Varlam Shalamov

The best books on Race and Slavery, recommended by David Olusoga

Race is a real and powerful force and one he has spent his adult life trying to understand,  says Anglo-Nigerian historian, writer and producer, David Olusoga. He talks us through five books on the tragedy of slavery—from the horrors of the gulag, to the plantations of Virginia, to the Islamic slave trade.

    The best books on Dante, recommended by Nick Havely

  • Read

    1

    The Divine Comedy I: Inferno
    by Robert M Durling

  • Read

    2

    Dante: A Brief History
    by Peter S Hawkins

  • Read

    3

    Dante in English
    by Eric Griffiths & Matthew Reynolds

  • Read

    4

    Dante on View
    by Antonella Braida and Luisa Calè

  • Read

    5

    Linden Hills
    by Gloria Naylor

The best books on Dante, recommended by Nick Havely

Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy has inspired countless thinkers and writers since it was first published almost 700 years ago. Here, Dante scholar and author Nick Havely picks the best five books on how one medieval poet had such a lasting impact on world literature, and how Dante’s vitality transmits into modern culture.

    The best books on Europe’s Vanished States, recommended by Norman Davies

  • Read

    1

    The Last King of Poland
    by Adam Zamoyski

  • Read

    2

    Iron Kingdom
    by Christopher Clark

  • Read

    3

    The Mediterranean in History
    by David Abulafia

  • Read

    4

    The Goths
    by Peter Heather

  • Read

    5

    Realm of the Black Mountain
    by Elizabeth Roberts

The best books on Europe’s Vanished States, recommended by Norman Davies

The rise of China means the study of its history is suddenly in vogue. But, says historian Norman Davies, there’s as much to learn, if not more, from looking at states that have disappeared

    The best books on Marx and Marxism, recommended by Terrell Carver

  • Read

    1

    Karl Marx
    by Isaiah Berlin

  • Read

    2

    Karl Marx: His Life and Thought
    by David McLellan

  • Read

    3

    Karl Marx's Theory of History
    by G. A. Cohen

  • Read

    4

    The Young Karl Marx
    by David Leopold

  • Read

    5

    Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life
    by Jonathan Sperber

The best books on Marx and Marxism, recommended by Terrell Carver

Few people have had their ideas reinvented as many times as the German intellectual and political activist, Karl Marx. Professor of political theory, Terrell Carver, takes us through the most influential books, in English, about Marx, Marxism and his friend, publicist and financial backer, Friedrich Engels.

    The best books on Modern Irish History, recommended by Richard Bourke

  • Read

    1

    A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
    by James Joyce

  • Read

    2

    Modern Ireland: 1600-1972
    by Roy Foster

  • Read

    3

    War and an Irish Town
    by Eamonn McCann

  • Read

    4

    States of Ireland
    by Conor Cruise O’Brien

  • Read

    5

    Celtic Revivals: Essays in Modern Irish Literature
    by Seamus Deane

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.

    P W Singer and August Cole choose the best books on World War III

  • Read

    1

    Red Storm Rising
    by Tom Clancy

  • Read

    2

    Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III
    by Harold Coyle

  • Read

    3

    On The Beach
    by Nevil Shute

  • Read

    4

    World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
    by Max Brooks

  • Read

    5

    The Postman
    by David Brin

P W Singer and August Cole choose the best books on World War III

What will the next global conflict look like? Two of America’s leading defence experts, P W Singer and August Cole, turned to science fiction to explore the prospect of a future war, and how existing technology might be used in one. Here, they choose five novels depicting a fictional World War Three that served as inspiration.

    The best books on Minority Survival in China, recommended by James Palmer

  • Read

    1

    The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
    by James C Scott

  • Read

    2

    The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China
    by Mark C Elliott

  • Read

    3

    Wolf Totem
    by Jiang Rong

  • Read

    4

    The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History
    by Rian Thum

  • Read

    5

    Forgotten Kingdom: Lijiang and the Naxi People
    by Peter Goullart

The best books on Minority Survival in China, recommended by James Palmer

China’s minority peoples have shaped the country’s history and its identity. They led its most successful dynasty, the Qing. But nowadays, their role has been reduced to that of tourist spectacle. Beijing-based writer James Palmer picks the best books on China’s ethnic minorities.

    The best books on Socrates, recommended by M M McCabe

  • Read

    1

    Apology
    by Plato

  • Read
    The Clouds aristophanes

    2

    The Clouds
    by Aristophanes

  • Read

    3

    Theaetetus
    by Plato

  • Read

    4

    Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher
    by Gregory Vlastos

  • Read

    5

    The Art of Living
    by Alexander Nehamas

The best books on Socrates, recommended by M M McCabe

The classical Greek philosopher is credited with laying the foundation of Western philosophy – without ever having written a word. Here, the eminent scholar M M McCabe enters into dialogue with Five Books to recommend the best texts through which we might understand Socrates, and engage with the eternal question: How best to live?

    The best books on Jesus, recommended by Robert Morgan

  • Read

    1

    Jesus and the Word
    by Rudolf Bultmann

  • Read

    2

    The Quest of the Historical Jesus
    by Albert Schweitzer

  • Read

    3

    The Shadow of the Galilean
    by Gerd Theissen

  • Read

    4

    The Birth of the Messiah
    by Raymond Brown

  • Read

    5

    Born of a Virgin?
    by Andrew Lincoln

The best books on Jesus, recommended by Robert Morgan

New Testament scholar Robert Morgan chooses his favourite books on Jesus.

    The best books on The History of Science, recommended by Matthew Cobb

  • Read

    1

    Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
    by John Pickstone

  • Read

    2

    The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix
    by James Watson

  • Read

    3

    The Scientific Revolution
    by Stephen Shapin

  • Read

    4

    This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age
    by William E. Burrows

  • Read

    5

    Galen and the World of Knowledge
    by Christopher Gill (Editor)

The best books on The History of Science, recommended by Matthew Cobb

The scientist and historian picks the best books on the history of science.

    The best books on Albert Einstein, recommended by Andrew Robinson

  • Read

    1

    Albert Einstein: A Biography
    by Albrecht Folsing

  • Read

    2

    Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness
    by John S. Rigden

  • Read

    3

    The Born-Einstein Letters,1916-1955
    by Albert Einstein and Max Born

  • Read

    4

    The Einstein File
    by Fred Jerome

  • Read

    5

    Einstein on Politics
    by David Rowe and Robert Schulmann

The best books on Albert Einstein, recommended by Andrew Robinson

On the centenary of the theory of general relativity, Einstein biographer, Andrew Robinson, picks and talks through the five best books on the life and times of the ‘unique genius.’

    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art, recommended by Marc Michael Epstein

  • Read

    1

    The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion
    by Leo Steinberg

  • Read

    2

    Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art
    by Michael Camille

  • Read

    3

    The Reformation of the Image
    by Joseph Leo Koerner

  • Read

    4

    Early Medieval Bible Illumination and the Ashburnham Pentateuch
    by Dorothy Verkerk

  • Read

    5

    Anachronic Renaissance
    by Alexander Nagel & Christopher Wood

The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art, recommended by Marc Michael Epstein

The professor of religion explains how medieval Jews and Christians collaborated. He recommends five books that have changed the way we look at medieval art.

    The best books on Isaiah Berlin, recommended by Henry Hardy

  • Read

    1

    Liberty
    by Isaiah Berlin

  • Read

    2

    The Proper Study of Mankind
    by Isaiah Berlin

  • Read

    3

    Personal Impressions
    by Isaiah Berlin

  • Read

    4

    The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History
    by Isaiah Berlin

  • Read

    5

    The Book of Isaiah: Personal Impressions of Isaiah Berlin
    by Henry Hardy

The best books on Isaiah Berlin, recommended by Henry Hardy

He was one of the great intellectuals of the 20th century, but a people person with little interest in publishing books. Henry Hardy, the editor who helped publish many of them, chooses the best books by (and one about) Isaiah Berlin.

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