World history is an increasingly exciting subject for books. In a sign of the vitality of the field, it was a book of global history covering several millennia about the human history of the oceans—David Abulafia's The Boundless Sea—that won the UK's most prestigious prize, the Wolfson History Prize, in 2020. Books taking a more global, long-term perspective have also become bestsellers, like Sapiens, by the Israeli historian Yuval Harari, and The Silk Roads, by Oxford historian Peter Frankopan (now also available in an illustrated edition for kids/teenagers).
The focus on greater diversity in publishing also bodes well for readers interested in learning the history of the world, as books about countries and peoples not previously given much attention are awarded prestigious prizes. Below, we’ve collected together all our books relating to world history themes, as well as all our interviews about the history of particular countries or regions (we also have specialist sections devoted to American history, British history, German history and Russian history).
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The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
by Kenneth Pomeranz -
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Cotton: the Fabric that made the Modern World
by Giorgio Riello -
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The City of Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World
by Anne Gerritsen -
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Vermeer's Hat: The seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world
by Timothy Brook -
5
Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science
by James Poskett
The best books on Global History, recommended by Maxine Berg
The best books on Global History, recommended by Maxine Berg
From the Indian cottons that were traded around Asia and Africa in the Middle Ages, to the global dominance of the blue-and-white pottery of Jingdezhen, historian Maxine Berg introduces five books that transformed our understanding of the past millennium and are significant milestones in the development of the vibrant field of global history.
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.
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Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History
by David Christian -
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Origins: How The Earth Made Us
by Lewis Dartnell -
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The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity
by Fred Adams & Gregory Laughlin -
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Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
by Carl Sagan -
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Diaspora
by Greg Egan
The best books on Big History, recommended by Toby Ord
The best books on Big History, recommended by Toby Ord
‘Big history’ looks at history on the timescale of the Earth and the universe, rather than just the short period of time that humanity has been around. Here, Toby Ord, a moral philosopher at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, recommends books to get a handle on it, and explains why now is a critical time for Homo sapiens.
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The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture
by Peter Garnsey & Richard Saller -
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The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India, Awadh and Punjab, 1707-48
by Muzzafar Alam -
3
A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology
by Pamela Kyle Crossley -
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Empire: The Russian Empire and its Rivals (from the 16th century to the present)
by Dominic Lieven -
5
The Birth of the Modern World 1780-1914
by C.A. Bayly
The best books on Empires, recommended by Peter Fibiger Bang
The best books on Empires, recommended by Peter Fibiger Bang
Empires are a reflection of the fact some states are stronger than others and are by no means just a relic of the past, says Peter Fibiger Bang, historian of empire and world history at the University of Copenhagen. Here, he recommends books on a variety of empires, from the ancient Romans to the Mughal, Qing and Russian empires and explains what it is that made some empires so durable and resilient across the centuries.
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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.
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.
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.
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The Persian Empire
by J M Cook -
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Discovering Cyrus: a Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World
by Reza Zaghamee -
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The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
by Amélie Kuhrt -
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The Palace of Darius at Susa: The Great Royal Residence of Achaemenid Persia
by Jean Perrot -
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Creation
by Gore Vidal
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
At the height of its greatness, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever known. Too often it is given merely a villainous walk-on part in the heroic history of classical Greece. Here, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explains why that needs correcting, looks at its cultural achievements and discusses why the first Persian empire is worth studying in its own right and on its own terms.
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Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century
by E.W. Bovill -
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Ancient Ghana and Mali
by Nehemiah Levtzion -
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Social History of Timbuktu: The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400-1900
by Elias Saad -
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Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples
by David C. Conrad -
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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
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.
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The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail
by W. Jeffrey Bolster -
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Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters
by Kate Brown -
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Ecological Imperialism
by Alfred Crosby -
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The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World
by John F. Richards -
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The Ecology of Oil: Environment, Labor, and the Mexican Revolution, 1900-1938
by Myrna I. Santiago
The best books on Environmental History, recommended by John R McNeill
The best books on Environmental History, recommended by John R McNeill
Environmental history is the study of the relationship between society and the natural world—both in terms of human impacts on the environment, and the constraints placed upon cultures by the landscapes they live in. Here, John R. McNeill, a pioneer of the field, recommends five of the best environmental history books with ambition, engaging prose, and heft.
The best books on The History of War, recommended by Jeremy Black
In military terms, the traditional view is that the rest of the world is struggling to catch up with the West, says Professor Jeremy Black. But, as some of his book choices reveal, this is historically inaccurate
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Negotiating Mughal Law: A Family of Landlords across Three Indian Empires
by Nandini Chatterjee -
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The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504–1719
by Munis Faruqui -
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Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship & Sainthood in Islam
by A. Azfar Moin -
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Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court
by Audrey Truschke -
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Writing Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary
by Rajeev Kinra
The best books on The Mughal Empire, recommended by Richard M. Eaton
The best books on The Mughal Empire, recommended by Richard M. Eaton
The Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent for three centuries, a multicultural empire that brought together an extraordinary mix of Mongol, Islamic, Persian and Indian practices, religious beliefs and philosophies. Here, historian Richard M. Eaton, a professor at the University of Arizona, chooses some of the best scholarly works on the Mughals that shed new light on how the empire functioned.
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The Silk Road: A New History
by Valerie Hansen -
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Sogdian Traders: A History
Étienne de la Vaissière (trans. James Ward) -
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Diary: Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law
Ennin (trans. E O Reischauer) -
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Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
by Peter Hopkirk -
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Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes
by Susan Whitfield
The best books on The Silk Road, recommended by Valerie Hansen
The best books on The Silk Road, recommended by Valerie Hansen
From the Han dynasty to the time of Marco Polo, the routes connecting Asia, Africa and Europe—now known as the Silk Road—were responsible for enormous amounts of global trade. Yale historian Valerie Hansen, author of The Silk Road: A New History, introduces us to its rich history: “one of the reasons the Silk Road is a misnomer is that silk was not the main good moving along.”
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The Return of Martin Guerre
by Natalie Zemon Davis -
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The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History
by Robert Darnton -
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Poverty and Piety in an English Village: Terling, 1525-1700
by David Levine & Keith Wrightson -
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The History of Myddle
by Richard Gough -
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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 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.
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The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848
by Eric Hobsbawm -
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Europe Between the Revolutions 1815-1848
by Jacques Droz -
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A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution
by François Furet & Mona Ozouf -
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Revolution and the Republic: A History of Political Thought in France Since the Eighteenth Century
by Jeremy Jennings -
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The Enlightenment That Failed
by Jonathan Israel
The best books on The Age of Revolution, recommended by Paschalis Kitromilides
The best books on The Age of Revolution, recommended by Paschalis Kitromilides
The American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 upended the political order on both sides of the Atlantic. The battle of Waterloo in 1815 did not bring things to a close. Revolutionary activity continued in Europe and Latin America with varying degrees of success right through to 1848. Here political scientist Paschalis Kitromilides, Professor Emeritus at the University of Athens, discusses the various forces that drove the ‘age of revolution.’
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The Guns of August
by Barbara W Tuchman -
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The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present
by John Pomfret -
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An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943
by Rick Atkinson -
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A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
by William Bernstein -
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Bolívar: American Liberator
by Marie Arana
Best Books for History Reading Groups, recommended by Donna McBride
Best Books for History Reading Groups, recommended by Donna McBride
It’s a golden age for narrative history, with lots of highly readable books bringing to life many different aspects of the past, says historian Donna McBride. A Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, she has led ‘The Historians’ reading group there for the last five years. Here, she recommends some of the best popular histories the group has read and shares some tips on how to set up and run your own history reading group.
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Common Prostitutes and Ordinary Citizens: Commercial Sex in London, 1885-1960
by Julia Laite -
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The World of Prostitution in Late Imperial Austria
by Nancy M. Wingfield -
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Code of Misconduct: Regulating Prostitution in Late Colonial Bombay
by Ashwini Tambe -
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When Sex Threatened the State: Illicit Sexuality, Nationalism, and Politics in Colonial Nigeria 1900-1958
by Saheed Aderinto -
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Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public Health, and Gender Politics in Revolutionary Mexico City
by Katherine Elaine Bliss
History of Prostitution Books, recommended by Siobhán Hearne
History of Prostitution Books, recommended by Siobhán Hearne
Societies of all different stamps have tried to eliminate prostitution but it never works and there are always unintended consequences. Siobhan Hearne, a historian of sexuality in Tsarist and Soviet Russia, explains how exploring the history of prostitution provides fascinating insights into social and political history as well as offering some genuine, and very clear, lessons from the past.
The best books on Pakistan’s History and Identity, recommended by Mani Shankar Aiyar
India’s first-ever consul general to Karachi says Pakistan is not a failed state. He is convinced that its middle class will save it from the Taliban, and that it can engage with India and set aside historic hostilities.
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Chinese Hegemony: Grand Strategy and International Institutions in East Asian History
by Feng Zhang -
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Sacred Mandates: Asian International Relations since Chinggis Khan
by Timothy Brook (ed.) -
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The Annals of King T'aejo: Founder of Korea's Choson Dynasty
by Choi Byonghyon -
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Tradition, Treaties, and Trade: Qing Imperialism and Choson Korea, 1850-1910
by Kirk W. Larsen -
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Cold War Crucible: The Korean Conflict and the Postwar World
by masuda hajimu
The best books on China Korea Relations, recommended by Odd Arne Westad
The best books on China Korea Relations, recommended by Odd Arne Westad
China has had close political and cultural relations with Korea for centuries and the history of that relationship can shed light on China’s approach to international relations more broadly—including in its imperial past. Yale historian Odd Arne Westad recommends the best books on China, Korea and the relationship between them.
The best books on Turkish History, recommended by Norman Stone
Turkey is rediscovering its Ottoman past, says the British professor living in Ankara. He picks five books for compelling insights into Turkish history.
The best books on Latin American History, recommended by James Dunkerley
Professor James Dunkerley at Queen Mary’s, University of London, says that ‘Latin America’ is a term that only dates from the 1830s. He chooses five books that illuminate the cultural and political history of the continent.
The best books on The History of Iraq, recommended by Kanan Makiya
The Iraqi democracy and civil rights campaigner says the Iran-Iraq war is one of the single largest unappreciated great events of modern Middle Eastern history. He chooses the best books on Iraqi history.
The best books on Iranian History, recommended by Ali Ansari
A better understanding of Iran starts with a better understanding of the country’s history. Historian Ali Ansari talks us through some of the most influential works about Iranian history available in English.
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 books on Romani History and Culture, recommended by Yaron Matras
Their language indicates they originated in India, but the music they play is world music. Some will tell your fortune but they don't believe in supernatural powers. Yaron Matras recommends the best books and dispels some common myths about Gypsies.
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Steven Kaplan
From body and blood of Christ or an act of seduction to a means of social control and even a weapon of war – Professor Steven Kaplan picks the best books on the history and power of food.