©Sophie Lambroschini
Books by Yanni Kotsonis
Yanni Kotsonis is professor of history and founding director of the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University. He is the author of States of Obligation: Taxes and Citizenship in the Russian Empire and Early Soviet Republic and Making Peasants Backward: Agricultural Cooperatives and the Agrarian Question in Russia, 1861–1914.
“The book is provocative, not only in what it argues about Greece, but what that means for nationalism generally—in particular states forged around the wholesale expulsion of an ethnic or religious group. It’s a very sad story with, as the title of the book suggests, horrible levels of violence.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction Books of Early 2025
Sophie Roell, Journalist
Interviews with Yanni Kotsonis
The best books on Modern Greek History, recommended by Yanni Kotsonis
If you’re heading to Greece this summer, it might be worth learning more about the modern history of the country you’re visiting. Yanni Kotsonis, a professor of history at NYU and author of The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism, recommends a variety of books to get you started, from a short history of Greece to a novel by one of the country’s greatest writers.
Interviews where books by Yanni Kotsonis were recommended
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1
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom
by David Woodman -
2
The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century
by Tim Weiner -
3
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
by Selena Wisnom -
4
The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb
by Garrett Graff -
5
The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life
by Sophia Rosenfeld -
6
Augustine the African
by Catherine Conybeare
New History Books
New History Books
It’s a golden age for historical writing, as well-researched and sometimes quite specialist books by historians are written in an engaging style for a broad audience. History books out in recent months range from ancient Assyria to the CIA in the 21st century.
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1
The Greek Revolution and the Violent Birth of Nationalism
by Yanni Kotsonis -
2
Abortion: A History
by Mary Fissell -
3
Maria Theresa: Empress
by Richard Bassett -
4
Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives
by Michael Joseph Gross -
5
House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
by Eva Dou
Notable Nonfiction Books of Early 2025, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction Books of Early 2025, recommended by Sophie Roell
As March draws to a close, Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, looks at some of the nonfiction books that have come out in the first three months of 2025, from the biography of one of the world’s great female leaders to better ways to measure a country’s economy.
