History book recommendations
Hey all, I'm trying to get into reading historical books - I have a broad range of interests and would be open to trying anything. The only thing that bothers me is when the author is very clearly pushing an agenda. For example, last year I read Band of Brothers which I really enjoyed, but I felt there was quite a bit of American propaganda mixed in which detracted from the historical aspect.
I typically read more fantasy/scifi novels:
Examples of some of my favorite fiction series:
- Dune
- Mistborn Trilogy by Sanderson
- Cradle series by Will Wight
- progression fantasy in general
- LOTR
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I'm interested in more historical novels because i've listened to a handful of excellent history podcasts and think I would enjoy getting closer to the source, but I've been struggling to pick a book because I'm afraid of choosing one that is too dry.
Podcasts I enjoyed:
- History of Rome by Mike Duncan
- Revolutions by Mike Duncan
- Hardcore History by Dan carlin
Please give me some recommendations!
While is now considered biased and it’s probably outdated, I have always liked A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.
I think part of the point of A People's History of the United States is that all history is biased, but Zinn at least tries to be up front about what his biases are.
Agree I just have gotten into enough arguments when recommending it before that I thought a disclaimer was appropriate.
I agree; my comment was meant to add to yours and not to disagree. I think it's a book everyone should read even if you disagree with Howard Zinn's biases.
I've been reading a lot of history recently! My #1 rec would be to see if your local library has a history book club and if so to join that and read whatever they are reading
But here are some I've read recently and liked:
You can also look at my nonfiction books-read list on goodreads (and feel free to friend me if you want)!
I got super into naval history from the 1700s for a minute. If you are into something more specific and less general, the book "The Wager" by David Grann was pretty interesting. There is a fiction book that takes place in the same era called "The Terror" that I also quite enjoyed. Both of the titles are the names of ships. There are a lot of navigation failures and mutiny and trying to survive on deserted little islands after shipwreck.
My favorite history books usually center around viruses and medicine. It's fascinating to me what humanity has endured and how recent things like vaccines and antibiotics are in the grand scheme of things. A couple recommendations from that history sub-genre:
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (cholera)
The Speckled Monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell (battling smallpox in England and in the Colonies)
Emporer of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (history of cancer)
Rabid by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy (I love reading about smallpox the most, but this book about rabies was crazy.)
I don't have a lot of time on my hands for an extensive reply. I would like to note though that Mike Duncan and Dan Carlin both fall firmly in the pop history category. Both are highly entertaining and tell good stories, but their work often is not entirely accurate or missing a lot of (modern) sources and information.
It is of course fine if you still enjoy their work, but I feel like you should keep that in mind. Because some people walk away from their work feeling as if they now have all information available to them, which is patently not the case.
I know some people dislike reddit, but for a quick overview AskHistorians is still a good resource on these matters. Here is a thread on Dan Carlin and here is one on Mike Duncan, just the first two I could quickly find.
While we are on reddit, while I was still a mod on /r/history we did keep a pretty nice list of books and podcasts in our wiki, which is still there and can be found here. There are still some lighter works in there, but given what you have said you might find it still a bit dense.
On the AskHistorians books wiki they also have a general section which does list quite a few fairly accessible books about broad subjects you might be interested in.
Excellent, thanks! I’ll take a look at those reddit book lists
Mike Duncan and Dan Carlin being “pop history” is a good point, this is a big reason why Im interested in reading historical books. I’d like to get a little more in depth than the pop history podcasts go.
Here's a variety of history books that I have enjoyed in recent years. I'd say just follow your gut and go with whichever ones sound the most interesting, hopefully you'll find something that scratches your particular itch.
David Grann, 'The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
Christopher R. Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
Colin Woodard, The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Tribe in American History
Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Hey, I just finished reading The Lost City of Z - just wanted to say thanks so much for the recommendation, it was really excellent.
I’m going to read Killers of the Flower moon next, another David Grann book!
Oh that's great, very glad you liked it! I also enjoyed Flowers but Grann does take a more methodical and journalistic approach with it by comparison as he puts much greater focus on the birth of the FBI (something Scorsese's film largely ignored). The Wager is also a fun read, more in line with Z tonally.
Probably the best, most comprehensive history book I have read is The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. It won the Pultizer when it came out and it deserved it. As the title suggests, it is primarily about the Manhattan Project, but it is so comprehensive that it begins in the late 1800s with the development by Rutherford of modern atomic theory and it goes from there. It covers the German and Japanese bomb projects as well, as well as delving into the biographies of the major players involved. It is long, but if you are at all interested in atomic history I cannot recommend it enough. From your list of favorite fiction books it seems like you would not shy away from epics, and this is certainly a historical epic!
Some accessible history books I have enjoyed (though some are very sad). included the Anarchy by Dalyrimple, We regret to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, King Leopold's Ghost, the Ghost Map, Cadillac Desert, Facing the mountain by Daniel Brown, the Unwomanly face of war, Bury my heart at Wounded knee.
Historical fiction, I Claudius, the Physician by Noah Gordon
Does anyone have any recommendations for overview-ish books about non-European/non-American history?
I read 1491 and liked it, but I'd be okay with something a more academic if it's relatively accessible. I'd love to read more about pre-Columbian America, but might want something with a bit narrower of a focus — maybe just about one culture or time period or something. I'd also be especially interested in recommendations for books about Imperial China or Polynesia if anyone knows anything good like that. Or anything really...
I gotta go to work, but The Indifferent Stars Above is about the Donner party and it's in my top threeeeeee
Which one of your previous top 3 did it eat?
Eat, Pray, Love /s
I really enjoyed The Penguin History of the World by J.M. Roberts. I don't recall it being biased in any way, but it's been quite some years since I read it.
Clarify for me (us?), do you have an interest in historically based fic-story, like Band of Brothers, books that are historical accounts but with a focus on accuracy, or either? For instance, I'm reading Forget the Alamo, a book about how the fictional story of the Alamo and the narrative that Mexico tried to take Texas from the US became ironclad Texas history, when there is copious evidence to the direct opposite. The author detailedly goes through the historical timeline, so the reader can make their own conclusions from the complete story, but the author has a motive.
I’d be open to either, although i think I’d be more interested in books with a focus on accuracy.
If you have any interest in the implosion of the Evangelical western church, Jesus and John Wayne is a walk through the timeline that got us today's Christians. It's not a conversion book, there isn't a focus to proselytize to the reader that I can recall, but it makes it much easier to understand the modern evangelical's fear of government/pop culture/change/etc
My broth-il loves historical fiction and raves about The Killer Angels, I can't attest to it, but he is an avid reader and tends to favor authors who puts emphasis on quality of writing and detail.
As for my personal historical-ish favorites:
I went on a run of current political events run for a few months and thought
ENOUGH by Cassidy Hutchinson was a candid inside look into the Trump WH and the personal experience of working for someone you held in the highest regard and what it takes for you to end up in front of Congress testifying against them. I read it out of curiosity, but also because I want to humanize the people I consider "Other" and her book really helped with that. Her behavior in the media and in public is consistent with how she describes herself in the book and that lends credence to her word.
PERIL by Bobwoodward is written by one of the original Watergate journalists and is a look into current (Trump/Biden) presidencies, but focuses on Trump. I haven't finished it, but it's well written and interesting insight into the goings on of recent government.
THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING, a new human history, by David Graeber/Wengrow is exactly what the title suggests. A timeline of human history and a deeply complex, philosophical, and scientific book. Not a light read, but dense in history.
SAPIENS, A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is what it sounds like as well. It's a telling of human history, considered "One of those books that everyone should read." Not too long, very interesting, and not too heady.
CASTE by Isabel Wilderson is a fascinating dive into the caste system in the US and contrasts it to the one in India. It is well researched, documented, and written, but it does not read as academic. She is making a case, but only by telling us stories and then backing that up with data.
GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL by Jared Diamond should only be read if you don't want to read SAPIENS, they fulfill the same purpose and are just different styles.
I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy is the story of her childhood in Hollywood. It is gut wrenching, even if you don't know who this woman is (I did not), and a good historical reminder of what Hollywood does to children. But more importantly, it's just a fascinatingly candid and clear look at herself and there's no "Happy" ending. The book ends with where she is now, in the middle of her life. This book is not an afterthought at the end of the list, it's one of the best things I read last year and most of these are books from my list last year.
I tend to skew towards Military history these days, but since you mentioned Band of Brothers, you may still be interested.
Anything by Antony Beevor is worth a read. For example, his book Stalingrad is a fantastic account of the siege.
I also really enjoy anything by Ian Kershaw. He is primarily focused on WW2 era Germany, but if you're interested in that then any book of his on a topic you want to learn more about is a good idea.
I still love John Keegan. Some people like to hate on his work and he definitely leans pro-British, but in my opinion no author does a better job of helping you understand what happened in a battle. I'm absolutely biased and love most of his books. I thought his book on the American civil war was a particularly good read.
Let me recommend everything Adam Tooze has written on political economic history, both books and his newsletter, Chartbook (example). I’m about halfway through Shutdown. Tooze is an entertaining writer with a keen sense for attention spans, and someone who can make dry statistics about esoteric economic data compelling.
Missed this topic initially. It's a great one.
History - I gave all of these top ratings in my personal reading tracker:
Historical fiction - As someone who also loves the world building in fantasy and sci-fi, I have come to find that historical fiction scratches the same itch. I also feel like it's easier to find quality than in sci-fi/fantasy. A few suggestions:
If you like Dune, I'd read a big inspiration for the novel - T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" or "Revolt in the Desert" (The name depending on the version you get). The author is Lawrence from "Lawrence of Arabia" fame. The book has a colonial slant, but considering his positions on the conflict and colonialism in general I'd still recommend.