• The best books on New York History - The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto
  • The best books on New York History - New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan by Jill Lepore
  • The best books on New York History - Slavery in New York by Ira Berlin & Leslie Harris (editors)
  • The best books on New York History - Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 by George Chauncey
  • The best books on New York History - New York and Los Angeles by David Halle (editor)

The best books on New York History, recommended by Louise Mirrer

Like several of the great cities of the world, New York’s openness to people born elsewhere and relative tolerance lay at the foundation of its success, though darker episodes in the city’s 400-year history also need attention. Historian Louise Mirrer, President of the New-York Historical Society, recommends books that are essential to understanding the essence of the Big Apple.

  • The best books on The Venetian Empire - Venice: A Documentary History 1450-1630 by Brian Pullan & David Chambers
  • The best books on The Venetian Empire - The Military Organization of a Renaissance State: Venice 1400-1617 by John Rigby Hale & Michael E. Mallett
  • The best books on The Venetian Empire - Venice: A Maritime Republic by Frederic Chapin Lane
  • The best books on The Venetian Empire - Venice: the Hinge of Europe by William McNeill
  • The best books on The Venetian Empire - The Venetian Empire: A Sea Voyage by Jan Morris

The best books on The Venetian Empire, recommended by Georg Christ

The Venetian Republic was one of the mightiest empires of early modern Europe, with its Terraferma dominions on land and a maritime empire, the Stato da Màr,  that stretched across the Mediterranean. Its unique strength lay in long-distance trade and, as historian Georg Christ explains, in some ways, it resembled a company more than a state. Here, he recommends books to better understand the Venetian empire, what it was and how it grew.

  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights by Charles Marsh
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David J. Garrow
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle by Clayborne Carson, Darlene Clark Hine, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill & Vincent Harding
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and assisted by Alex Haley, Laurence Fishburne (narrator)

The best books on The Civil Rights Era, recommended by Lerone Martin

The struggle for Black freedom in America has been going on since the first enslaved Africans were brought to the continent, but it was the civil rights era of 1954 to 1968 that finally resulted in a raft of legislation that gave equal citizenship to Black people in the United States. Here, Professor Lerone Martin of Stanford University recommends the best books to understand the American civil rights movement, with a focus on some of the individuals who were key to its success.

  • The best books on American Naval History - US Navy: A Concise History by Craig L. Symonds
  • The best books on American Naval History - Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian W. Toll
  • The best books on American Naval History - Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery by Nathaniel Philbrick
  • The best books on American Naval History - The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War by Samuel Eliot Morison
  • The best books on American Naval History - Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy by Trent Hone

The best books on American Naval History, recommended by John Kroger

The story of the American navy is deeply intertwined with that of the nation, says John Kroger—former Chief Learning Officer to the US Navy—although we don’t always afford naval history the attention it deserves. Here he selects five of the best books about American naval history and predicts a renewed focus on Pacific naval defenses in the coming decades.