• The best books on Charlemagne - King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne by Janet Nelson
  • The best books on Charlemagne - Charlemagne: Empire and Society by Joanna Story (editor)
  • The best books on Charlemagne - Ich und Karl der Große: Das Leben des Höflings Einhard by Steffen Patzold
  • The best books on Charlemagne - Charlemagne's Practice of Empire by Jennifer Davis
  • The best books on Charlemagne - Conquest and Christianization: Saxony and the Carolingian World, 772–888 by Ingrid Rembold
  • The best books on Charlemagne - Saxon Identities, AD 150-900 by Robert Flierman

The best books on Charlemagne, recommended by Carine van Rhijn

We call him Charlemagne, but it was not a name that was used in his own lifetime. His conquests stretched across vast swathes of Europe, but he probably didn’t set out to become an emperor. Much has been written about him, but very little is known. Dutch historian Carine van Rhijn, a lecturer at the University of Utrecht, recommends the best books on Charles, King of the Franks.

  • The best books on The Ghana - Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century by E.W. Bovill
  • The best books on The Ghana - Ancient Ghana and Mali by Nehemiah Levtzion
  • The best books on The Ghana - Social History of Timbuktu: The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400-1900 by Elias Saad
  • The best books on The Ghana - Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples by David C. Conrad
  • The best books on The Ghana - Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh Al-Sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents by John Hunwick

The best books on The Ghana, Mali and Songhai African Empires, recommended by Michael Gomez

Long before the Europeans arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, sub-Saharan West Africa saw the emergence of a series of African empires that lasted for centuries and stretched over vast swathes of the continent. They were known as the Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires. Here, historian Michael Gomez discusses what led to their greatness, what sustained them and why they fell.